Intel Corporation
WORKLOAD-DEPENDENT AGE TRACKING FOR NON-VOLATILE MEMORY

Abstract:

Workload-dependent age tracking can improve quality of service in non-volatile memory (NVM). In one example, an NVM controller includes an age counter for each memory access command in a queue. Instead of incrementing the age counters every clock cycle (or other predetermined number of clock cycles), the age counters are adjusted (e.g., incremented) at an aging rate that is based on an average rate of scheduled commands for the queue. Thus, aging of commands in the queues speeds up or slows down depending on the workload. By aging commands at the rate of commands being scheduled, the scenario in which many commands become "starved" at the same time can be avoided, improving QoS and reducing errors.