TW201705001A - Computer system and control method for random access memory - Google Patents

Abstract

A computer system is provided. The computer system comprises: a central processing unit; a system memory; and a storage device, comprising: a random access memory; a non-volatile memory; and a memory controller arranged for controlling access of the random access memory and the non-volatile memory, wherein the memory controller further activates a random access memory disk on the random access memory, and copies the data stored in the non-volatile memory to the random access memory disk for fast data access.

Description

Computer system and random access memory control method

The present invention relates to computer systems, and more particularly to a random access memory control method and computer system therefor.

The use of random access memory (RAM disk) technology in operating systems currently running on computer systems has become increasingly popular. Since the random access memory has a relatively short fast access time (about 10 ns), the user can eliminate the hard disk read/write time (about 10 ms) and the solid state hard disk paging access time (about 100μs) and feel that the access data is slow. However, the random access memory disk system is a volatile storage device, and its data backup often becomes the biggest trouble for users. If the capacity of the random access memory disk opened by the user is larger, it often causes a large amount of storage or reading time when the computer is turned on or off, thereby degrading the performance when the power is turned on and off. However, with the evolution of the storage device interface, the bandwidth of PCIe Gen. 3x4 (4 GB/s) is now available. Therefore, in the continuous access time, the solid state hard disk is no longer a burden on the system, but for random access, it is still limited by the paging access time of the SSD.

The invention provides a computer system comprising: a central processing unit; a system memory; a storage device comprising: a random access memory; a non-volatile memory; and a memory controller for controlling Accessing the non-volatile memory, wherein the memory controller further enables a random access memory disk on the random access memory and copies the data stored in the non-volatile memory to the Random access memory disk for fast data access.

The present invention further provides a random access memory control method for a computer system, the computer system comprising: a central processing unit; a system memory; and a storage device including a non-volatile memory and a random memory Taking a memory and a memory controller for controlling access of the non-volatile memory and the random access memory, the method comprising: enabling the memory controller to enable the random access memory Random access memory disk; and using the memory controller to copy the data stored in the non-volatile memory to the random access memory disk for fast data access.

100‧‧‧ computer system

110‧‧‧Central Processing Unit

120‧‧‧System Memory

130‧‧‧ Platform Control Hub

140‧‧‧Storage device

141‧‧‧ memory controller

142‧‧‧ Non-volatile memory

143‧‧‧ Random access memory

144‧‧‧ Random Access Memory Disk

210‧‧‧First memory space

220‧‧‧Second memory space

230‧‧‧ third memory space

S310-S320‧‧‧Steps

1 is a block diagram showing a computer system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2A-2B are diagrams showing the memory space allocation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart showing a method of controlling a random access memory disk in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The above described objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the description of the appended claims.

1 is a block diagram showing a computer system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, the computer system 100 includes a central processing unit 110, a system memory 120, a platform controller hub (PCH) 130, and a storage device 140. The storage device 140 includes a memory controller 141, a non-volatile memory 142, and a random access memory 143. The memory controller 141 supports a non-volatile memory (Non-volatile Memory Express). The NVMe) standard, and the non-volatile memory 142 is, for example, a NAND flash memory, and the random access memory 143 is a dynamic random access memory (for example, LPDDR3 DRAM). In addition, the central processor 110 and the platform control hub 130 communicate through a direct media interface (DMI), and the PCIe bus is used as a communication bridge between the platform control hub 130 and the storage device 140.

In one embodiment, the central processing unit 110 includes a memory controller (not shown) for controlling data access of the system memory 120, wherein the system memory 120 is, for example, a dynamic random access memory, through DDR. The bus bar is connected to the central processing unit 110, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

It should be understood that the memory controller 141 writes data to the non-volatile memory 142 through a Flash Translation Layer, which is responsible for providing the file system and non-volatile. The correspondence between the physical data layers in the sexual memory 142 allows the operating system to still see the same file system as a conventional conventional hard disk.

2A-2B are diagrams showing the memory space allocation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that the conventional random access memory disk system utilizes system memory, and the system software simulates a storage device controller for control. The random access memory disk in the present invention utilizes the random access memory 143 in the storage device 140, that is, the random access memory disk 144 controlled by the memory controller 141 in the random access memory 143. . Therefore, the I/O of the random access memory disk 144 of the random access memory 143 needs to be executed by the instruction of the NVMe.

For example, the memory controller 141 utilizes a vendor specific feature provided by the NVMe standard to enable random access memory on the random access memory 143 using a set feature instruction. Volume disk 144. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the random access memory disk is not yet enabled, the memory space of the entire non-volatile memory 142 is referred to as the first memory space 210. In general, the capacity of the non-volatile memory 142 is much larger than the capacity of the random access memory 143. When the random access memory disk 144 on the random access memory 143 is enabled, the memory controller 141 divides a second memory space 220 into the random access memory 143 for random access memory magnetic The disc 144 is used. In addition, the memory controller 141 further divides a third memory space 230 in the first memory space 210 for the random access memory disk 144 for backup, as shown in FIG. 2B.

Furthermore, the third memory space 230 in the non-volatile memory 142 is managed by the firmware of the memory controller 141 and the second memory space 220 of the random access memory disk 144. The data in the data is synchronized. The present invention can enable the random access memory disk 144 on the random access memory 143 through the instructions of the set features supported by the NVMe standard, and can be regarded as being in the memory control. The second drive under the controller 141 does not require additional resources of the computer system itself to simulate the controller of the storage device. In addition, the firmware of the memory controller 141 can automatically perform synchronization processing of information between the second memory space 220 and the third memory space 230. The user only needs to point the data path to be placed on the conventional random access memory disk to the second disk drive under the memory controller 141 (ie, the random access memory disk 144) to obtain random access. Fast access performance of memory disks. For example, if the operating system often uses database files, these files are often multiples of 4K bits, and their data is not continuous. If the non-volatile memory 142 is used for access, the long page access time cannot be avoided. If such a file is placed in the random access memory disk 144, the fast access performance can be enjoyed.

In addition, the manner in which the random access memory disk 144 (the second memory space 220) in the random access memory 143 is synchronized with the third memory space 230 in the non-volatile memory 142 can further improve the non-volatile property. The life of the memory 142. For example, the operating system has a Temp folder that is often stored in the folder when the operating system is operating. Therefore, the logical block address (LBA) associated with this folder in the non-volatile memory 142 will have a relatively frequent repetitive write. The present invention can be replaced with a random access memory disk 144. Moreover, if the synchronization mode uses timing synchronization, most of the data is written to the random access memory disk 144, and only the last write of the synchronization is simultaneously written to the non-volatile memory 142. . Therefore, the present invention uses the random access memory 143 in the storage device 140 to establish the random access memory disk 144 to store the system file to improve the service life of the non-volatile memory 142, and to perform data synchronization via the firmware. There is no need to consume system resources.

Moreover, if the present invention is combined with a specific software, the software plus can be further achieved. speed. For example, specific data (eg, logical block address and capacity) may be stored by the software to the random access memory disk 144 in the random access memory 143. Therefore, it is not necessary to store complete data in the third memory space 230. Therefore, there is originally data in the first memory space 210, so there is no need to store it in the third memory space 230. The memory controller 141 stores the logical block address and capacity in the third memory space 230 by means of a mark. When the storage device 140 is activated, the memory controller 141 can still search for the data of the first memory space 210 and copy it to the second memory space 220 according to the tag information stored in the third memory space 230. accelerate.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing a random access memory disk control method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In step S310, a random access memory disk 144 is enabled on the random access memory 143 by the memory controller 141. In step S320, the data stored in the non-volatile memory 142 is copied to the random access memory disk 144 by the memory controller 141 for fast data access.

In summary, the present invention provides a computer system and a random access memory disk control method for a storage device, which can utilize random access memory built in a storage device in a computer system to establish random access. Memory disk, and can store the system files or other types of files required by the operating system in the random access memory disk for fast access performance and increase the non-storage in the storage device. The lifetime of volatile memory.

The present invention has been disclosed in the above preferred embodiments, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any one of ordinary skill in the art can make a few changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is therefore defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100‧‧‧ computer system

110‧‧‧Central Processing Unit

120‧‧‧System Memory

130‧‧‧ Platform Control Hub

140‧‧‧Storage device

141‧‧‧ memory controller

142‧‧‧ Non-volatile memory

143‧‧‧ Random access memory

144‧‧‧ Random Access Memory Disk

Claims (10)

A computer system comprising: a central processing unit; a system memory; a storage device comprising: a random access memory; a non-volatile memory; and a memory controller for controlling the non-volatile memory And accessing the random access memory, wherein the memory controller further enables a random access memory disk on the random access memory and stores the data stored in the non-volatile memory Copy to the random access memory disk for fast data access. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the memory controller divides the non-volatile memory into a first memory space, and when the random access memory disk is enabled, the memory The body controller divides the random access memory into a second memory space, wherein the first memory space is larger than the second memory space, and the memory controller is further configured by the first memory space A third memory space is defined, wherein the third memory space is equal to the second memory space. The computer system of claim 1, wherein one of the memory controllers has a tough system for the second memory space and the third memory The spatial data is processed synchronously. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the synchronization process is an instant synchronization process. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the synchronization processing is timing synchronization processing. A random access memory control method for a computer system, the computer system comprising: a central processing unit; a system memory; and a storage device comprising a non-volatile memory, a random access memory, And a memory controller for controlling access of the non-volatile memory and the random access memory, the method comprising: enabling a random access memory on the random access memory by using the memory controller And storing the data stored in the non-volatile memory to the random access memory disk for fast data access by using the memory controller. The random access memory control method according to claim 6, further comprising: dividing the non-volatile memory into a first memory space by using the memory controller; and when the random access memory is magnetic When the disc is enabled, the random access memory is divided into a second memory space by using the memory controller, wherein the first memory space is larger than the second memory space; A third memory space is defined by the memory controller from the first memory space, wherein the third memory space is equal to the second memory space. The random access memory control method according to claim 7, wherein one of the memory controllers synchronizes the data of the second memory space and the third memory space. The random access memory control method according to claim 8, wherein the synchronization processing is an instant synchronization processing. The random access memory control method according to claim 8, wherein the synchronization processing is timing synchronization processing.