Virtual grouping of memory

Abstract

The present disclosure includes identifying, in a memory system, a capacity for each of a plurality of memory modules for a first memory channel having a first amount of memory and a second memory channel having a second amount of memory; determining a memory segment size from the capacities of the memory modules; identifying a first memory segment of the memory segment size for the first memory channel and a second memory segment of the memory segment size for the second memory channel; and creating a virtual group that includes the first memory segment and the second memory segment and that uses less than the entire first amount of memory from the first memory channel.

1 . A method, comprising:
 identifying, in a memory system, a capacity for each of a plurality of memory modules for a first memory channel having a first amount of memory and a second memory channel having a second amount of memory;   determining a memory segment size from the capacities of the memory modules;   identifying a first memory segment of the memory segment size for the first memory channel and a second memory segment of the memory segment size for the second memory channel; and   creating a virtual group that includes the first memory segment and the second memory segment and that uses less than the entire first amount of memory from the first memory channel.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first amount of memory and the second amount of memory are not equal. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first memory channel is connected to a first memory controller and the second memory channel is connected to a second memory controller. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the memory segment size is a capacity of one or more memory modules in common for each of the first memory channel and the second memory channel. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the memory segment size is a size of a smallest memory module in common for each of the first memory channel and the second memory channel. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the capacity for each of a plurality of memory modules comprises:
 collecting vital product data for each of the plurality of memory modules; and   determining the capacity from the vital product data for each of the plurality of memory modules.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining memory access characteristics of an application; and   assigning the virtual group to the application based on the memory access characteristics.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 collecting performance information from the memory modules having memory in the virtual group; and   determining memory module population rules from the performance information for the memory modules having memory in the virtual group.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising configuring memory modules in the memory system according to the memory module population rules. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein at least one memory access characteristic involves memory mirroring. 
     
     
         11 . A method, comprising:
 identifying a capacity for each of a plurality of memory modules for a first memory channel and a second memory channel in a memory system;   determining a first portion of memory modules and a second portion of memory modules from the capacities of the memory modules for each of the first and second memory channels;   creating a first virtual group that includes the first portion of the memory modules from the first memory channel and the first portion of memory modules from the second memory channel; and   creating a second virtual group that includes the second portion of the memory modules from the first memory channel and the second portion of memory modules from the second memory channel.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first memory channel and the second memory channel are connected to a memory buffer. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein identifying the capacity for each of a plurality of memory modules comprises:
 collecting vital product data for each of the plurality of memory modules; and   determining the capacity from the vital product data for each of the plurality of memory modules.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining memory access characteristics of an application; and   assigning the virtual group to the application based on the memory access characteristics.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 collecting performance information from the memory modules in the virtual group; and   determining memory population rules from the performance information for the memory modules in the virtual group.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising configuring memory modules in the memory system according to the memory population rules. 
     
     
         17 - 20 . (canceled)