Rambus Inc.

Infineon Technologies Ag

Hefei Reliance Memory Limited

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Qimonda Ag

International Business Machines Corporation

Qimonda North America Corporation

Infineon Technologies North America Corp.

Thomas Vogelsang

Frederick Abbott Ware

Michael Guidash

Jay Endsley

Craig M Smith

James Edward Harris

John Eric Linstadt

Brent Steven Haukness

Ely K Tsern

Steven Cameron Woo

Ian P Shaeffer

Michael Raymond Miller

Wayne Frederick Ellis

John W Ladd

Suresh Rajan

Liji Gopalakrishnan

Gary Bela Bronner

Deepak Chandra Sekar

Alexander Caldwell Schneider

Michael T Ching

William N Ng

Song Xue

Craig Edward Hampel

David Geoffrey Stork

Gerhard Mueller

Kenneth Lee Wright

Gerd Frankowsky

Oliver Kiehl

Hartmud Terletzki

Collins Williams

Mike A Killian

Ernst Stahl

Manfred Reithinger

Scott C Best

Richard E Perego

Wolfgang Roesner

Patrick R Gill

Evan Lawrence Erickson

Mark D Kellam

Torsten Partsch

John Welsford Brooks

Frank Armstrong

Michael A Killian

Adam B Wilson

Stephen Charles Bowyer

William R Tonti

Martin Brox

Helmut Schneider

Russell J Houghton

Dongyun Lee

Maxim W Smirnov

Wolfgang Hokenmaier

Marko Aleksić

Jie Shen

Paul Damian Franzon

Amogh Agrawal

Michael Alexander Hamburg

Joseph James Tringali

Harald Lorenz

Pooneh Safayenikoo

Yeuyong Wang

A memory includes a local control circuitry that manages scrub transactions using a set of sense amplifiers separate from those used for access (read and write) transactions. The local control circuitry interrupts scrub transactions to prioritize access requests, thereby offering improved memory performance. The local control circuitry also divides scrub transactions into phases and periods based on whether the scrub transaction requires access to bitlines used for read and write access. This division allows the local control circuitry to interleave and interrupt scrub transactions with access transactions in a manner that minimizes access interference.

Dynamic, random-access memory with hidden memory scrubbing

Power consumption in a three-dimensional stack of integrated-circuit memory dies is reduced through selective enabling/disabling of physical signaling interfaces in those dies in response to early transmission of chip identifier information relative to command execution.

Load-reduced DRAM stack

Technologies for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices with variable burst lengths are described. One DRAM device includes a first mode of operation having a first burst length and a first column address range and a second mode of operation having a second burst length and a second column address range. Only one of the first burst length and the second burst length is a power of two. A first product of the first column address range and the first burst length and a second product of the second column address range and the second burst length are substantially the same. The DRAM device includes an error correction code (ECC) block to generate, receive, and store ECC parity associated with data in the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation.

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device with variable burst lengths

Multidrop optical connections are used for an optical memory module. Multiple buffer integrated circuits on a module each receive information from the host system using different wavelengths of light transmitted on the same waveguide. Multiple buffer integrated circuits each transmit information back to the CPU using different wavelengths of light transmitted on another waveguide. Wavelength resonant ring couplers disposed on the buffer integrated circuits are used to separate the wavelength being received by a particular buffer integrated circuit from the wavelengths of light destined for other buffer integrated circuits on the same waveguide. Wavelength resonant ring modulators also disposed on the buffer integrated circuits modulate specific wavelengths of light unique to each buffer integrated circuit to transmit information to the CPU.

Multidrop optical input/output module

An integrated circuit (IC) memory device includes an array of storage cells configured into multiple banks. Interface circuitry receives refresh commands from a host memory controller to refresh the multiple banks for a first refresh mode. On-die refresh control circuitry selectively generates local refresh commands to refresh the multiple banks in cooperation with the host memory controller during a designated hidden refresh interval in a second refresh mode. Mode register circuitry stores a value indicating whether the on-die refresh control circuitry is enabled for use during the second refresh mode. The interface circuitry includes backchannel control circuitry to transmit a corrective action control signal during operation in the second refresh mode.

Memory device having hidden refresh

A 3D DRAM architecture may have one or more layers of cells where the access transistors of the memory cell array are fabricated among the metal layers rather than in the semiconductor (e.g., silicon) substrate. Counter and counter control circuits for each row in the memory cell array are fabricated under the array. These counters track the number of row hammers each row experiences. When a counter indicates a row has experienced a threshold number of row hammers, that row is refreshed. The row may be refreshed immediately after the current row is closed. The row may be scheduled to be refreshed as part of a regular refresh sequence. A signal may be sent to the memory controlling indicating that the bank with the row being refreshed immediately should not be accessed until the refresh is complete.

Row hammer mitigation

A memory system includes two or more memory controllers capable of accessing the same dynamic, random-access memory (DRAM), one controller having access to the DRAM or a subset of the DRAM at a time. Different subsets of the DRAM are supported with different refresh-control circuitry, including respective refresh-address counters. Whichever controller has access to a given subset of the DRAM issues refresh requests to the corresponding refresh-address counter. Counters are synchronized before control of a given subset of the DRAM is transferred between controllers to avoid a loss of stored data.

Multi-modal refresh of dynamic, random-access memory

A memory module includes one or more memory devices and a memory interface chip coupled to the one or more memory devices via one or more communication links. The memory module further includes a persistent memory storing one or more sets of training and calibration settings corresponding to communication over the one or more communication links, where the one or more sets of training and calibration settings are stored in the persistent memory before operation of the memory module and used to configure one or more components of the memory interface chip during the operation of the memory module.

Memory module with persistent calibration

Systems and techniques that detect and correct failure of data storage and communication operations, including obtaining a first plurality of values, selecting a first plurality of error correction values to generate a first codeword, wherein the first codeword is associated with a plurality of syndrome values that encode a second subset of the first plurality of values, and causing a first processing device or a second processing device to restore the first plurality of values based on the first codeword.

Integration of compression algorithms with error correction codes

Disclosed is a memory system including a memory component having at least one tag row and at least one data row and multiple ways to hold a data group as a cache-line or cache-block. The memory system includes a memory controller that is connectable to the memory component to implement a cache and operable with the memory controller and the memory component in each of a plurality of operating modes including a first and second operating mode having differing addressing and timing requirements for accessing the data group. The first operating mode having placement of each of at least two ways of a data group in differing rows in the memory component, with tag access and data access not overlapped. The second operating mode having placement of all ways of a data group in a same row in the memory component, with tag access and data access overlapped.

System application of DRAM component with cache mode

An application-specific integrated circuit for an artificial neural network is integrated with a high-bandwidth memory. A processing die with tiled neural-network processing units is bonded to a stack of memory dies with memory banks laid out to establish relatively short connections to overlying processing units. The memory banks form vertical groups of banks for each overlying processing unit. A switch matrix on the processing die allows each processing unit to communicate with its vertical group of banks via a short, fast inter-die memory channel or with more remote groups of banks under neighboring processing units.

Methods and circuits for aggregating processing units and dynamically allocating memory

A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) component (e.g., module or integrated circuit) can be configured to have multiple rows in the same bank open concurrently. The controller of the component divides the address space of the banks into segments based on row address ranges. These row address ranges do not necessarily correspond to row address ranges of the bank's subarrays (a.k.a. memory array tiles—MATs). When a command is sent to open a row, the controller marks a plurality of the segments as blocked. The controller thereby tracks address ranges in a bank where it will not open a second row unless and until the first row is closed. The memory component may store information about which, and how many, segments should be blocked in response to opening a row. This information may be read by the controller during initialization.

Memory system with multiple open rows per bank

A memory controller combines information about which memory component segments are not being refreshed with the information about which rows are going to be refreshed next, to determine, for the current refresh command, the total number of rows that are going to be refreshed. Based on this total number of rows, the memory controller selects how long to wait after the refresh command before issuing a next subsequent command. When the combination of masked segments and the refresh scheme results in less than the 'nominal' number of rows typically refreshed in response to a single refresh command, the waiting period before the next command (e.g., non-refresh command) is issued may be reduced from the ‘nominal’ minimum time period, thereby allowing the next command to be issued earlier.

Partial array refresh timing

An interconnected stack of one or more Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) die has a base logic die and one or more custom logic or processor die. The processor logic die snoops commands sent to and through the stack. In particular, the processor logic die may snoop mode setting commands (e.g., mode register set—MRS commands). At least one mode setting command that is ignored by the DRAM in the stack is used to communicate a command to the processor logic die. In response the processor logic die may prevent commands, addresses, and data from reaching the DRAM die(s). This enables the processor logic die to send commands/addresses and communicate data with the DRAM die(s). While being able to send commands/addresses and communicate data with the DRAM die(s), the processor logic die may execute software using the DRAM die(s) for program and/or data storage and retrieval.

Stacked device communication

A stacked memory device includes memory dies over a base die. The base die includes separate memory channels to the different dies and external channels that allow an external processor access to the memory channels. The base die allows the external processor to access multiple memory channels using more than one external channel. The base die also allows the external processor to communicate through the memory device via the external channels, bypassing the memory channels internal to the device. This bypass functionality allows the external processor to connect to additional stacked memory devices.

Stacked memory device with paired channels

Growing community of inventors

Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Thomas Vogelsang