Advanced Micro Devices Corporation

Qimonda Ag

Infineon Technologies Ag

Ati Technologies Ulc

Aaron John Nygren

Warren Fritz Kruger

Ming-Ju Edward Lee

Xiaoling Xu

Shadi M Barakat

Toan Duc Pham

Thomas Hein

Karthik Gopalakrishnan

Tsun Ho Liu

Michael John Litt

Rex Kho

Anwar Kashem

Otto Schumacher

Martin Maier

James Michael O'Connor

Maksim Kuzmenka

Bryan Black

David Andrew Roberts

Michael Ignatowski

Edoardo Prete

Eric M Scott

Gerry Talbot

W Fritz Kruger

Michael Litt

Implementations herein describe a system including a system-on-chip including at least a host and a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) in communication with the SoC, the DRAM including at least an error correction code engine, the system configured to allow the host to write first data to the DRAM, calculate parity bits for the first write data, store the first write data and the parity bits in a DRAM core of the DRAM, allow the host to write second data to the DRAM, store the second write data in the DRAM core without calculating parity bits for the second write data, enable the DRAM to calculate parity bits of the second write data and compare the parity bits of the second write data to the parity bits of the first write data, and calculate a syndrome based on a comparison to correct errors detected in the DRAM core.

DRAM ECC circuit error detection integrity

A memory includes a read clock circuit and a mode register. The read clock circuit has an output for providing a hybrid read clock signal in response to a clock signal and a read clock mode signal. The mode register provides the read clock mode signal in response to a read clock mode, wherein the read clock circuit provides the hybrid read clock signal as a free-running clock signal that toggles continuously when the read clock mode is a first mode, and as a strobe signal that is active only in response to the memory receiving a read command when the read clock mode is a second mode.

Read clock start and stop for synchronous memories

A memory includes a read clock state machine and a read clock driver circuit. The read clock state machine has a first input for receiving a read command signal, a second input for receiving a read clock mode signal, and an output for providing a drive enable signal. The read clock driver circuit has an output for providing a read clock signal in response to a clock signal when the drive enable signal is active. When the read clock mode signal indicates a read-only mode, the read clock state machine starts toggling the read clock signal during a read preamble period before a data transmission of a first read command, and continues toggling the read clock signal for at least a read postamble period following the data transmission of the first read command.

A high-bandwidth dual-inline memory module (HB-DIMM) includes a plurality of memory chips, a plurality of data buffer chips, and a register clock driver (RCD) circuit. The data buffer chips are coupled to respective sets of the memory chips and transmit data from the memory chips over a host bus at a data rate twice that of the memory chips. The RCD circuit includes a host bus interface and a memory interface coupled to the plurality of memory chips. The RCD circuit implements commands received over the host bus by routing command/address (C/A) signals to the memory chips for providing at least two independently addressable pseudo-channels, the RCD circuit addressing each respective pseudo-channel based on a chip identifier (CID) bit derived from the C/A signals.

High-bandwidth memory module architecture

A memory controller monitors memory command selected for dispatch to the memory and sends commands controlling a read clock state. A memory includes a read clock circuit and a mode register. The read clock circuit has an output for providing a hybrid read clock signal in response to a clock signal and a read clock mode signal. The read clock circuit provides the hybrid read clock signal as a free-running clock signal that toggles continuously, and as a strobe signal that is active only in response to the memory receiving a read command.

A read clock circuit selectively provides a read clock signal from a memory to a memory controller over a memory bus. A pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) driver including an input and an output capable of driving at least three levels indicating respective digital values. A digital control circuit is coupled to the PAM driver and operable to cause the PAM driver to provide a preamble signal before the read clock signal, the preamble signal including an initial toggling state in which the PAM driver toggles between two selected levels at a first rate, and a final toggling state in which the PAM driver toggles between two selected levels at a second rate higher than the first rate, with a length of the initial toggling state and a length of the final toggling state are based on values in a mode register.

Read clock toggle at configurable PAM levels

A memory controller monitors memory command selected for dispatch to the memory and sends commands controlling a read clock state. A memory includes a read clock circuit and a mode register. The read clock circuit has an output for providing a hybrid read clock signal in response to a clock signal and a read clock mode signal. The mode register provides the read clock mode signal in response to a read clock mode, wherein the read clock circuit provides the hybrid read clock signal as a free-running clock signal that toggles continuously when the read clock mode is a first mode, and as a strobe signal that is active only in response to the memory receiving a read command when the read clock mode is a second mode.

A memory module includes a memory, a cache to cache copies of information stored in the memory, and a controller. The controller is configured to access first data from the memory or the cache in response to receiving a read request from a processor. The controller is also configured to transmit a first signal a first nondeterministic time interval after receiving the read request. The first signal indicates that the first data is available. The controller is further configured to transmit a second signal a first deterministic time interval after receiving a first transmit request from the processor in response to the first signal. The second signal includes the first data. The memory module also includes a buffer to store a write request until completion and a counter that is incremented in response to receiving the write request and decremented in response to completing the write request.

Nondeterministic memory access requests to non-volatile memory

Apparatuses are provided for adjusting the write timing. For instance, the apparatus can include an address/control bus, a write clock data recovery (WCDR) signal bus, and a timing adjustment module. The address/control bus can be configured to concurrently enable a WCDR mode of operation and an active mode of operation. The WCDR signal bus can be configured to transmit WCDR data to a memory device during the WCDR mode of operation. And the timing adjustment module can be configured to adjust a timing based on a phase shift in the WCDR data.

Command protocol for adjustment of write timing delay

A method and system are provided for adjusting a write timing in a memory device. For instance, the method can include receiving a data signal, a write clock signal, and a reference signal. The method can also include detecting a phase shift in the reference signal over time. The phase shift of the reference signal can be used to adjust a phase difference between the data signal and the write clock signal, where the memory device recovers data from the data signal based on an adjusted write timing of the data signal and the write clock signal.

Adjustment of write timing in a memory device

Techniques are disclosed relating to data inversion encoding. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to perform first and second data bursts that include respective pluralities of data transmissions encoded using an inversion coding scheme. In such an embodiment, the initial data transmission of the second data burst is encoded using the final data transmission of the first data burst. In some embodiments, the first and second data bursts correspond to successive write operations or successive read operations to a memory module from a memory PHY.

Data bus inversion coding

Method and system of adjusting a first phase shift between a first data signal and a clock signal at a sending device. First and second test signals representing first and second test data, respectively, are transmitted to a receiving device. The test signals have respective phase shifts relative to the clock signal. An error detection code is calculated from first and second received data carried by the transmitted signals. The error detection code is transmitted from the receiving device to the sending device. An estimated first received data is calculated from the error detection code, wherein the estimated first received data are calculated under the assumption that the second received data are identical to the second test data. The first phase shift is adjusted on the basis of a comparison of the estimated first received data and the first test data.

Phase shift adjusting method and circuit

A method, system, and computer program product are provided for adjusting write timing in a memory device based on results of an error detection function. For instance, the method can include determining a write timing window between a signal on a data bus and a write clock signal based on the results of the error detection function. The method can also include adjusting a phase difference between the signal on the data bus and the write clock signal based on the write timing window. The memory device can recover data on the data bus based on the adjusted phase difference.

Adjustment of write timing based on error detection techniques

A system and method of data communications between a first device and a second device is disclosed. The method includes generating a first clock signal at the first device and generating a second clock signal having a phase offset from the first clock signal. The clock signals are transmitted from the first device to the second device. The method further includes regulating transmission of a read strobe signal sent from the second device to the first device utilizing the first clock signal. The method also includes regulating transmission of a data transfer signal sent from the second device to the first device utilizing the second clock signal.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Aaron John Nygren