Memory device and method for organizing a homogeneous memory
View Patent ↗A memory device comprising a memory controller and a homogeneous memory accessible by the memory controller, wherein the homogeneous memory is divided by the memory controller in a first memory partition and a second memory partition, wherein the first memory partition is allocated to a first type of information comprising user data and ECC data that are arranged interleaved with the user data, and wherein the second memory partition is allocated to a second type of information comprising further user data.
1. A memory device comprising
a memory controller; and
a homogeneous memory accessible by the memory controller, the memory controller to divide the homogeneous memory into a first physical memory partition and a second physical memory partition, wherein a boundary between the first physical memory partition and the second physical memory partition is defined by a low starting address of a continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition, the first physical memory partition is allocated to a first type of information comprising user data and ECC data for the user data, the ECC data being interleaved in the user data, the second physical memory partition is allocated to a second type of information comprising further user data, and in response to a defective memory unit being detected in the homogeneous memory, the memory controller to dynamically redivide the homogeneous memory to change the low starting address of the continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition based on an address of the detected defective memory unit, wherein the detected defective memory unit is changed either from the first physical memory partition to the second physical memory partition or from the second physical memory partition to the first physical memory partition based on the change in the low starting address of the continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition.
2. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the memory controller is arranged to repartition a memory unit of the second memory partition to the first physical memory unit partition to allocate the memory unit to the first type of information, and to restrict an access to the memory unit to read only when the access to the memory unit is related to a part of the homogeneous memory that is allocated to the first physical memory partition.
3. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the memory controller is arranged to adjust the ECC data as a function of a bit error rate.
4. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second type of information comprises further ECC data.
5. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the memory controller is arranged to maintain a lookup table indicating defective memory in the homogeneous memory.
6. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first physical memory partition comprises unused memory bits that are interleaved with the user data and the ECC data.
7. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the memory controller comprises an address modifier,
wherein the address modifier is arranged to manage accesses to the first physical memory partition and the second physical memory partition with respect to the first type of information and the second type of information.
8. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous memory comprises a continuous address space,
wherein the first physical memory partition has a first continuous sub address space and the second physical memory partition has the continuous sub address space above the first continuous sub address space,
wherein the memory controller is arranged to fill up the first physical memory partition with the first type of information bottom-up, and
wherein the memory controller is arranged to fill up the second physical memory partition with the second type of information top-down.
9. The memory device as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the boundary between the first and second physical memory partitions of the homogeneous memory is based on a dynamic threshold that represents the low address of the second physical memory partition.
10. The memory device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the memory controller is arranged to define the threshold based on a memory capacity needed for the first type of information.
11. The memory device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the memory controller is arranged to apply a data compression scheme to the further user data stored in the second physical memory partition when the homogeneous memory is divided such that a remaining storage capacity of the second physical memory partition is exceeded by the further user data without the data compression scheme.
12. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a size of the continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition is reduced in response to the change the low starting address of the continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition.
13. The memory device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a size of the continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition is increased in response to the change the low starting address of the continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition.
14. A method for organizing a homogeneous memory-accessible by a memory controller, comprising:
dividing the homogeneous memory into a first physical memory partition and a second physical memory partition, wherein a boundary between the first physical memory partition and the second physical memory partition is defined by a low starting address of a continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition;
allocating the first physical memory partition to a first type of information including user data and ECC data for the user data, the ECC data being interleaved in the user data;
allocating the second physical memory partition is allocated to a second type of information including further user data;
detecting a defective memory unit in the homogeneous memory; and
in response to the detected defective memory unit, dynamically redividing the homogeneous memory to change the low starting address of the continuous sub address space of the second physical memory partition based on an address of the detected defective memory unit, wherein the detected defective memory unit is changed either from the first physical memory partition to the second physical memory partition or from the second physical memory partition to the first physical memory partition based on the change in the low starting address of the continuous sub address space of the second physical partition.
15. The method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising:
repartitioning a memory unit of the second physical memory partition to the first physical memory unit partition to allocate the memory to the first type of information; and
restricting an access to the memory unit to read only when the access to the memory unit is related to a part of the homogeneous memory that is allocated to the first physical memory partition.
16. The method as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising: adjusting the ECC data as a function of a bit error rate.
17. The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the homogeneous memory comprises a continuous address space, wherein the first physical memory partition has a first continuous sub address space and the second physical memory partition has the continuous sub address space above the first continuous sub address space, the method further comprising:
filling up the first physical memory partition with the first type of information bottom-up, and
filling up the second physical memory partition with the second type of information top-down.
18. The method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the boundary between the first and second physical memory partitions of the homogeneous memory is based on a threshold that represents the low address of the second physical memory partition.
19. The method as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the threshold is defined based on a memory capacity needed for the first type of information.
20. The method as claimed in claim 18 , further comprising: applying a data compression scheme to the further user data stored in the second physical memory partition when the homogeneous memory is divided such that a remaining storage capacity of the second physical memory partition is exceeded by the further user data without the data compression scheme.