Eye Current

ECC comming to a PC near you?

Error Correction Code is nothing new to us that have been maintaining classic DCS systems. The process invisible to us in operation is all about single bit memory error correction. Common in vintage processors from the 70's and 80's, Not only could errors get corrected but they also got logged so that repairs could be made before a hard error would occurs. Events like this is what makes a Preventive Maintenance program pay for itself.

Some of the earlier PC's did have parity checking, but the problem is; "What do you do once you discover an error?" You have a choice of ignoring the error and living with the consequences or simply halt the program. Real error corection has never been a popular alternative except in servers.

We have all seen on our PC's the window that tells us the application is going to be shut down and do we want to notify Microsoft? Microsoft is now claiming that single bit memory errors are a major cause of these crashes.

Desktop and notebook computers may need to adopt error-correcting code (ECC) memory to combat rising system crashes from single-bit memory errors, according to a confidential white paper written by Microsoft Corp. The software giant raised the issue in a panel discussion on memory at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference here although it admits its data on system failures is still inconclusive.

For about four years Microsoft has been collecting data through its Online Crash Analysis (OCA) tool that reports system crashes to a Microsoft Web site. About 18 months ago it began sharing OCA data and the white paper with systems and chip makers. According to one source, the report said single-bit error rates in DRAM are now among the top ten causes of systems failures.

Microsoft admits the data is still inconclusive because OCA does not provide enough detail about the types of systems that crash and the memory they use. As it tries to improve the tool, Microsoft is asking OEMs to help provide more data and to consider ECC memory in desktops and notebooks.

posted by Ray L. @ 11:49 AM