Interconnected DRAM Interfaces for High-Capacity Memory Channels
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional memory systems face limitations in the number of DRAM components that can be connected to a single channel, leading to degraded signaling integrity and reduced signaling rates as capacity increases.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of redundant and interconnected data interfaces in DRAM components allows for increased connectivity, enabling more DRAM components per memory channel without compromising signaling speeds through multiplexers and configurable delay elements, which facilitate data alignment and transfer between components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If more DRAM components are connected to a single memory channel, then memory capacity per channel increases, but signaling integrity degrades and signaling rates are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the memory system into multiple independent channels, each capable of handling fewer DRAM components. Within each channel, DRAM components are organized into banks with separate data interfaces. This segmentation reduces the load on individual channels, maintaining signaling integrity while increasing total capacity through parallel channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary components including buffer memory, multiplexers, and delay elements that mediate between DRAM components and the memory channel. These intermediaries manage data flow, align timing, and reduce direct loading on the channel, thereby maintaining signaling integrity while supporting more DRAM components.
2Quantity of substance
If more DRAM components are connected to a single memory channel, then memory capacity per channel increases, but signaling rates are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the memory channel into multiple parallel data paths, each operating at high speed. By dividing the data bus into separate channels and using independent data interfaces for different banks, the system maintains high signaling rates on each path while supporting more total DRAM components through parallel operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamic multiplexing and configurable delay elements that adapt to different operating conditions. The multiplexers dynamically route data between different interfaces based on current traffic patterns, and delay elements are configured to optimize timing for different numbers of DRAM components, thereby maintaining high signaling rates across varying capacities.
3Quantity of substance
If redundant data interfaces are implemented in DRAM components, then connectivity and memory capacity per channel increase, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs DRAM components with multi-functional data interfaces that can operate in different modes. The same physical interface can serve multiple banks or be configured for different data widths, reducing the need for completely separate redundant interfaces. This universal design increases capacity while controlling complexity through shared hardware resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple data interfaces into unified buffer memory structures and shared control logic. Rather than implementing fully independent redundant interfaces, the system combines interfaces that share common functionality, reducing overall complexity while maintaining the capacity benefits of having multiple interfaces available for different banks.
Data Source
AI summary
A memory system includes dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) components that include interconnected and redundant component data interfaces. The redundant interfaces facilitate memory interconnect topologies that accommodate considerably more DRAM components per memory channel than do traditional memory systems, and thus offer considerably more memory capacity per channel, without concomitant reductions in signaling speeds. Each DRAM component includes multiplexers that allow either of the data interfaces to write data to or read data from a common set of memory banks, and to selectively relay write and read data to and from other components, bypassing the local banks. Delay elements can impose selected read/write delays to align read and write transactions from and to disparate DRAM components.