The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The detailed description explains the preferred embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
Referring now to
As is known in the art, an application is typically stored on the mass storage 104 and includes machine executable instructions for performing a task. In this embodiment, each application may be associated with a processor, a portion of the memory 250 or arranged as needed by an operating system.
Thus, as configured
As provided for herein, the memory unit 250 includes further components. The further components provide for the use of a variety of types of memory modules. The memory modules include, for example, various types of RAM, DRAM, SDRAM, DIMM including FBDIMM, MiniDIMM, RDIMM, SODIMM, UDIMM, VLP DIMM, VLP MiniDIMM, including memory making use of DDR, DDR2 and DDR3 and other technologies and physical designs. As the design of memory units is constantly changing, one skilled in the art will recognize that this listing in not exhaustive. merely illustrative and therefore not limiting of types of memory modules that may be included for use in the system 100. An exemplary memory unit 250 is provided in
Referring to
Each frequency controller 252, 254, 256 provides input to a respective selectable memory clock oscillator (where a first selectable memory clock oscillator 261, a second selectable memory clock oscillator 263 and a Nth selectable memory clock oscillator 265 are depicted). The input includes information for frequency selection and oscillator output. Output from each selectable memory clock oscillator 261, 263, 265 provides for a respective memory clock (a first memory clock 411, a second memory clock 421 and an Nth memory clock 431). Thus, a memory clock is provided for each group of memory modules.
Similarly, each voltage controller 253, 255, 257 provides input to a respective memory power supply. For example, the first voltage controller 253 provides input to a first memory power supply 262 (note a second memory power supply 264 and an Nth memory power supply 266 are depicted). The input includes information for selecting operational voltage and providing power output as a respective memory voltage (as depicted, this includes a first memory voltage 312, a second memory voltage 322 and an Nth memory voltage 332). Thus, a memory voltage 312, 322, 332 is provided for each group of memory modules.
As depicted, the memory unit 250 includes a plurality of memory modules. The memory modules are shown in
Although not shown in greater detail herein, one skilled in the art will recognize that each group of memory modules 311, 321, 331 provides memory output. The memory output is typically transformed, as needed, to the voltage and frequency of the bus 113 by the system memory controller 251, or other components as are known in the art.
One skilled in the art will recognize that a variety of benefits may be realized by having a system 100 that provides for using mixed memory types. For example, the teachings herein provide for enhancing system performance as needed by having workloads running in partitions. Flexible configuration options are provided. Overall system memory costs are reduced by only using the most expensive memory devices, typically leading edge capacity or high frequency devices, in a subset of the total system memory. For example, in some embodiments, quality factors are assigned to each memory group (in one embodiment, the assigning occurs in the background of the operating system). High quality memory is partitioned and reserved for applications which demand the quality. In this embodiment, remaining system memory is populated with less costly, slower speed modules for the less demanding applications.
However, in prior art systems, the advantages of using mixed memory types is prevented as all memory modules are electrically connected to the same power boundary and memory clock oscillator.
By creating separate power boundaries for different groups of memory modules and by creating selectable memory clock oscillator frequencies for each of the groups, the system 100 is designed for strategic selection of mixed types of memory module. Since each group of memory modules can be powered by a selectable voltage level and also have a selectable clock frequency value, there is enormous flexibility for populating different types of memory modules. This flexibility allows the system 100 to be tailored to allow the best performance for the least amount of cost.
The memory unit 250 according to the teachings herein provides for a separate power boundary and memory clock oscillator input for each group of memory modules. In typical embodiments, the voltage level and the memory clock oscillator frequency for each power boundary 351, 352, 353 are selectable. Preferably, each power boundary 351, 352, 353 provides a design for accommodating a maximum capacity and speed to be used.
In some embodiments, the system memory controller 251 sets the voltage level and memory clock frequency for each power boundary 351, 352, 353. Setting the operational parameters may involve use of any one of the processors 101, an operating system, a user command and other components. One technique for having the system memory controller 251 set the voltage level and memory clock frequency for each power boundary 351, 352, 353 involves interrogating a selected group of memory modules 311, 321, 331 with a signal and resolving a returned signal to determine operational characteristics.
In other embodiments, the system memory controller 251 provides for obtaining operational parameters for each group of memory modules 311, 321, 331 and providing that information to a user for manual customization. In further embodiments, the system 100 provides correlation between certain processors 101 and groups of memory modules 311, 321, 331.
In further embodiments, one or none of the memory clock frequency and voltage level are selectable for a given group of memory modules. In some of these embodiments, the system memory controller 251 determines operational aspects of the respective power boundary according to a physical address.
An exemplary method for adding memory modules is provided in
In some embodiments, including a computer program product, the computer program senses the type of memory for setting of the voltage level and the memory clock frequency. In some of these embodiments, the sensing is “hard wired,” such as by a means on a pluggable memory card of a given memory type. The hard wired means provides a signal to a respective power supply (or controller thereof) to provide a predetermined voltage level. Typically, the voltage levels available would be governed by design of the power supply and the number of sensing lines dedicated for this function.
As described above, embodiments can be embodied in the form of computer-implemented processes and apparatuses for practicing those processes. In exemplary embodiments, the invention is embodied in computer program code executed by one or more network elements. Embodiments include computer program code containing instructions embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other computer-readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. Embodiments include computer program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor, the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to create specific logic circuits.
While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at east one of the referenced item.