System and method for memory hub-based expansion bus
First Claim
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1. A memory system, comprising:
- a memory hub controller adapted to provide memory command packets including information to access memory devices;
a memory module having a plurality of memory devices coupled to a memory hub, the memory hub adapted to receive memory command packets and access the memory devices according to the memory command packets and further adapted to provide memory responses in response thereto, the memory hub includinga switch circuit having a plurality of switch nodes and adapted to couple any one switch node to another switch node,a plurality of link interface circuits, each link interface circuit having a first node coupled to a respective one of the plurality of switch nodes and further having a second node coupled to either the first or second portions of the memory bus, each link interface circuit coupling signals from its first node to its second node,a memory controller coupled to a switch node of the switch circuit to receive memory command packets and translate the same into memory device command signals, anda local memory bus coupled to the memory controller and the memory devices on which the memory device command signals are provided;
a first portion of a memory bus coupled to the memory hub controller and the memory hub on which the memory command packets from the memory hub controller are provided to the memory hub of the memory module and memory responses are provided to the memory hub controller;
an expansion module having a processor circuit adapted to provide memory command packets including information to access the memory devices of the memory module and further adapted to process data included in the memory responses from the memory hub; and
a second portion of the memory bus coupled to the memory hub of the memory module and the processor circuit of the expansion module on which the memory command packets from the processor circuit are provided to the memory hub of the memory module and memory responses are provided to the processor circuit.
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Abstract
A system memory includes a memory hub controller, a memory module accessible by the memory hub controller, and an expansion module having a processor circuit coupled to the memory module and also having access to the memory module. The memory hub controller is coupled to the memory hub through a first portion of a memory bus on which the memory requests from the memory hub controller and memory responses from the memory hub are coupled. A second portion of the memory bus couples the memory hub to the processor circuit and is used to couple memory requests from the processor circuit and memory responses provided by the memory hub to the processor circuit.
270 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A memory system, comprising:
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a memory hub controller adapted to provide memory command packets including information to access memory devices; a memory module having a plurality of memory devices coupled to a memory hub, the memory hub adapted to receive memory command packets and access the memory devices according to the memory command packets and further adapted to provide memory responses in response thereto, the memory hub including a switch circuit having a plurality of switch nodes and adapted to couple any one switch node to another switch node, a plurality of link interface circuits, each link interface circuit having a first node coupled to a respective one of the plurality of switch nodes and further having a second node coupled to either the first or second portions of the memory bus, each link interface circuit coupling signals from its first node to its second node, a memory controller coupled to a switch node of the switch circuit to receive memory command packets and translate the same into memory device command signals, and a local memory bus coupled to the memory controller and the memory devices on which the memory device command signals are provided; a first portion of a memory bus coupled to the memory hub controller and the memory hub on which the memory command packets from the memory hub controller are provided to the memory hub of the memory module and memory responses are provided to the memory hub controller; an expansion module having a processor circuit adapted to provide memory command packets including information to access the memory devices of the memory module and further adapted to process data included in the memory responses from the memory hub; and a second portion of the memory bus coupled to the memory hub of the memory module and the processor circuit of the expansion module on which the memory command packets from the processor circuit are provided to the memory hub of the memory module and memory responses are provided to the processor circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A memory system, comprising:
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first and second memory modules, each memory module having a respective plurality of memory devices and a respective memory hub coupled to the respective plurality of memory devices, the respective memory hubs adapted to receive memory requests for accessing memory locations in the respective plurality of memory devices and provide memory responses in response to receiving the memory requests, the memory hub of at least one of the memory modules including a switch circuit having a plurality of switch nodes and adapted to couple any one switch node to another switch node, a plurality of link interface circuits, each link interface circuit having a first node coupled to a respective one of the plurality of switch nodes and further having a second node coupled to the memory bus, each link interface circuit coupling signals from its first node to its second node, a memory controller coupled to a switch node of the switch circuit to receive memory requests and translate the same into memory device command signals, and a local memory bus coupled to the memory controller and the memory devices on which the memory device command signals are provided; first and second expansion modules, each expansion module having a respective processor circuit adapted to provide memory requests to the memory hubs to access memory locations in the respective plurality of memory devices and receive memory responses from the memory hubs; a memory hub controller adapted to provide memory requests to the memory modules to the memory hubs to access memory locations in the respective plurality of memory devices and receive memory responses from the memory hubs; and a memory bus coupled to the first and second memory hubs, the first and second processor circuits and the memory hub controller, the memory bus configured to couple memory requests to the memory modules and couple memory responses to the memory hub controller and the first and second processor circuits. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification