Compaq Computer Corporation, Inc.

Stephen Van Doren

Paul M Goodwin

A memory system has a plurality of interleaved memory ranks that use SDRAMs requiring a periodic refresh, and an arbiter which controls access to the memory ranks and restricts access to a memory rank being refreshed. The memory ranks are interleaved on a memory module. Counting refresh registers on each memory module are associated with the module's memory ranks. The arbiter has its own counting refresh register. At regular intervals, the arbiter broadcasts a refresh signal along with a refresh address to the modules via a transaction bus. The refresh address provided by the arbiter is latched by the refresh registers which then begin counting at a pre-programmed interval. A refresh to a particular memory rank is triggered when a refresh register associated with the memory rank matches a unique identifier assigned to that rank. The arbiter uses its refresh register to identify the memory rank being refreshed, allowing the arbiter to restrict access to that memory rank. As a result, the memory ranks are refreshed sequentially without ongoing control by the arbiter.

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Stephen Van Doren