EOS memory is a type of RAM with an integrated error-control device that calculates a checksum for each bit of data in memory to ensure data integrity. It can correct errors of no more than one bit per word, but requires additional overhead in memory.
Error Correcting Code-On-Single in-line memory module memory (EOS) is a type of Random Access Memory (RAM) computer memory module that contains an integrated error-control device. It’s a bit like having another tiny processor located on the RAM chips themselves, whose sole responsibility is to ensure the integrity of data moving to and from the computer’s RAM memory. EOS memory works by calculating a checksum for each bit of data in memory. Comparing the known good checksum to the checksum as data leaves EOS memory lets the memory modules know if the data has been corrupted.
The focal point for understanding how EOS memory works is the checksum. The checksum is a seven-bit, for 32-bit data paths, or eight-bit, for 64-bit data paths, validation sequence generated by EOS memory when data is first received into memory. It is generated based on the binary sequence in the data bytes, creating a unique sequence of characters to represent that specific piece of data.
As long as the data resides in EOS memory, the checksum value is stored along with it. EOS memory keeps it there until the data is requested by a program or the operating system. At that point, it regenerates the checksum based on the stored information, comparing it to the known good checksum. If the two values match, the memory module knows that the data was not corrupted during storage. But if they don’t, the memory module knows something happened to the data.
If the data in the memory module has been corrupted—in other words, if the checksums no longer match—the memory module can attempt to correct the data on its own. EOS memory is capable of automatically correcting errors of no more than one bit per word. While it can detect errors larger than a single bit, it can’t correct them itself; if so, an error message is usually generated, stating that the data is corrupt and alerting the computer user to a possible hardware or software problem in the system.
The main disadvantage of using this type of memory is that storing the checksum value requires some additional overhead in the memory module. This means that when you store, say, one megabyte of data in RAM, your computer actually stores one megabyte plus the checksum value. While this has little impact in most cases, it does mean that with each new bit of data and each new checksum stored, the amount of available RAM is slowly cannibalized by the error control mechanism.
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