how to refresh a php variable without reloading page

function data() {
        var ret = [];
        ret.push({
          y: 'Today',
          a: <?php echo $data; ?>
        });
      return ret;
    }

var graph = Morris.Bar({
        element: 'graph',
        data: data(),
        xkey: 'y',
        ykeys: ['a'],
        labels: ['random label']
    });

function update() {
      graph.setData(data());
    }

setInterval(update, 60000);