Address Detection Circuit for Memory Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Memory devices face data loss due to word line disturbance caused by charge leakage and electromagnetic interference, necessitating frequent refresh operations to maintain data integrity, which increases power consumption and complexity.
Innovation Solution
An address detection circuit that minimizes the number of addresses stored by identifying highly active word lines and selectively refreshing adjacent word lines, thereby reducing area consumption and preventing data loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If frequent refresh operations are performed to prevent data loss from charge leakage and electromagnetic interference, then data integrity is maintained, but power consumption and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of highly active word lines by monitoring access patterns and storing these addresses in advance. This allows the refresh operation to be targeted and timed efficiently, refreshing only necessary memory locations before data loss occurs, rather than performing blanket frequent refreshes across all memory, thus reducing overall power consumption while maintaining data integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of uniformly refreshing all memory locations, the invention applies refresh operations locally only to memory cells associated with highly active word lines. The address detection circuit identifies specific word lines with high access frequency, and the refresh controller targets only these localized regions, reducing the total number of refresh operations and associated power consumption while maintaining data integrity where it matters most.
2Measurement precision
If addresses of all word lines are stored for detection purposes, then complete monitoring capability is achieved, but area consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential information needed for refresh operations - specifically, the addresses of highly active word lines - rather than storing complete monitoring data for all word lines. The address detection circuit processes access patterns and extracts only those addresses that exceed a threshold frequency, storing them in a compact address storage unit. This selective extraction maintains effective monitoring capability while significantly reducing the area required for address storage and processing circuits.
3Reliability
If comprehensive refresh operations are performed on all word lines, then data loss is prevented, but device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The refresh operation is made local and selective based on detected highly active word lines. The address detection circuit identifies specific word lines requiring refresh, and the refresh controller applies refresh operations only to these targeted locations. This localized approach reduces device complexity by eliminating the need for comprehensive refresh logic while maintaining data retention through precise, condition-based refresh operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection and classification of word lines by access frequency before executing refresh operations. The address detection circuit pre-identifies highly active word lines and stores their addresses, allowing the refresh controller to execute simple, targeted refresh operations based on pre-processed information. This preliminary action simplifies the overall system architecture by separating detection from execution, reducing device complexity while ensuring reliable data retention.
Data Source
AI summary
An address detection circuit may include one or more address storage units, an initialization unit suitable for deleting an address stored in an address storage unit having a value greater than N, wherein the value is obtained by dividing a respective total input number that addresses have been inputted after the corresponding address is stored by a respective input number corresponding to the stored address, a detection unit suitable for detecting an address having an input number that is a reference number or more from the addresses stored in the one or more address storage units, and a selection unit suitable for selecting an address storage unit in which an address is not stored and storing an input address in the selected address storage unit.