Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Combinational logic
- Part III Arithmetic circuits
- Part IV Synchronous sequential logic
- Part V Practical design
- Part VI System design
- 21 System-level design
- 22 Interface and system-level timing
- 23 Pipelines
- 24 Interconnect
- 25 Memory systems
- Part VII Asynchronous logic
- Part VIII Appendix: VHDL coding style and syntax guide
- References
- Index of VHDL design entities
- Subject index
25 - Memory systems
from Part VI - System design
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2019
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Combinational logic
- Part III Arithmetic circuits
- Part IV Synchronous sequential logic
- Part V Practical design
- Part VI System design
- 21 System-level design
- 22 Interface and system-level timing
- 23 Pipelines
- 24 Interconnect
- 25 Memory systems
- Part VII Asynchronous logic
- Part VIII Appendix: VHDL coding style and syntax guide
- References
- Index of VHDL design entities
- Subject index
Summary
Memory is widely used in digital systems for many different purposes. In a processor, SDDR DRAM chips are used for main memory and SRAM arrays are used to implement caches, translation lookaside buffers, branch prediction tables, and other internal storage. In an Internet router (Figure 23.3(b)), memory is used for packet buffers, for routing tables, to hold per-flow data, and to collect statistics. In a cellphone SoC, memory is used to buffer video and audio streams.
A memory is characterized by three key parameters: its capacity, its latency, and its throughput. Capacity is the amount of data stored, latency is the amount of time taken to access data, and throughput is the number of accesses that can be done in a fixed amount of time.
A memory in a system, e.g., the packet buffer in a router, is often composed of multiple memory primitives: on-chip SRAM arrays or external DRAM chips. The number of primitives needed to realize a memory is governed by its capacity and its throughput. If one primitive does not have sufficient capacity to realize the memory, multiple primitives must be used – with just one primitive accessed at a time. Similarly, if one primitive does not have sufficient bandwidth to provide the required throughput, multiple primitives must be used in parallel – via duplication or interleaving.
MEMORY PRIMITIVES
The vast majority of all memories in digital systems are implemented from two basic primitives: on-chip SRAM arrays and external SDDR DRAM chips. Here we will consider these memory primitives as black boxes, discussing their properties and how to interface to them. It is beyond the scope of this book to look inside the box and study their implementation.
SRAM arrays
On-chip SRAM arrays are useful for building small, fast, dedicated memories integrated near the logic that produces and consumes the data they store. While the total capacity of the SRAM that can be realized on one chip (about 400 Mb) is small compared with a single 4 Gb DRAM chip, these arrays can be accessed in a single clock cycle, compared with 25 cycles or more for a DRAM access.
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- Digital Design Using VHDLA Systems Approach, pp. 532 - 548Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
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