A 667-Mb/s operating digital DLL architecture for 512-Mb DDR SDRAM

This paper describes an all-digital delay-locked loop (DLL) architecture for over 667 Mb/s operating double-data-rate (DDR) type SDRAMs, which suppresses skews and jitters. Two novel replica adjusting techniques are introduced, in which timing skews caused by the clock input and data output circuits are reduced by a hierarchical phase comparing architecture and a replica check method with slow tester. Further, an improved phase interpolating method suppresses jitters caused by a boundary of the fine and coarse delays. A 512-Mb test device is fabricated using a 0.13-/spl mu/m DRAM process technology, in which skew and jitter suppressed 667-Mb/s (333-MHz) DDR operation has been verified.     

A 256-Mb SDRAM using a register-controlled digital DLL

This paper describes the key technologies used in a 256-Mb synchronous DRAM with a clock access time of 1 ns. This DRAM is stable against temperature, voltage, and process variation through the use of a register-controlled digital delay-locked loop (RDLL). The total timing error of the RDLL is about 0.4 ns, sufficient for high frequency operation at 150 to 200 MHz. Unlike most conventional high-density DRAMs, the bit lines are placed above the storage capacitors in this DRAM to relax the design rules of the core area. The noise issues were analyzed and resolved to help implement the technology for mass production of 0.28- to 0.24-μm 200-MHz DRAMs     

A 250-Mb/s/pin, 1-Gb double-data-rate SDRAM with a bidirectionaldelay and an interbank shared redundancy scheme

This paper describes three circuit technologies indispensable for high-bandwidth multibank DRAM's. (1) A clock generator based on a bidirectional delay (BDD) eliminates the output skew. The BDD measures the cycle time as the quantity charged or discharged of an analog quantity, and replicates it in the next cycle. This achieves a 0.18-mm ², two-cycle-lock clock generator operating from 25 to 167 MHz with a 30-ps resolution. (2) A quad-coupled receiver eliminates the internal skew caused by the difference between a rise input and a fall input by 40%. (3) An interbank shared redundancy scheme (ISR) with a variable unit redundancy (VUR) efficiently increases yield in multibank DRAM's. The ISR allows redundancy match circuits to be shared with two or more banks. The VUR allows the number of units replaced to be variable. These circuit technologies achieved a 250-Mb/s/pin, 8-bank, 1-Gb double-data-rate synchronous DRAM     

1.8-V 800-Mb/s/pin DDR2 and 2.5-V 400-Mb/s/pin DDR1 compatibly designed 1Gb SDRAM with dual-clock input-latch scheme and hybrid multi-oxide output buffer

This paper describes three circuit techniques for a DDR1/DDR2-compatible chip architecture designed for both high-speed and high-density DRAMs: 1) a dual-clock input-latch scheme, which reduces the excessive timing margin for random input commands by using a pair of latch circuits controlled by dual-phase one-shot clock signals, achieves a 0.9-ns reduction in cycle time from 3.05 to 2.15 ns; 2) a hybrid multi-oxide output buffer reduces the area penalty of the output buffer caused by compatible chip design from 1.35% to 0.3%; and 3) a quasi-shielded distributed data transfer scheme enables a 2.6-ns reduction in access time to 10.25 ns in both 2-b and 4-b prefetch operations. By using these techniques, we developed a 175.3-mm/sup 2/ 1-Gb SDRAM that operates as an 800-Mb/s/pin DDR2 or 400-Mb/s/pin DDR1.     

A Wide-Range Mixed-Mode DLL for a Combination 512 Mb 2.0 Gb/s/pin GDDR3 and 2.5 Gb/s/pin GDDR4 SDRAM

A mixed-mode delay-locked loop (MDLL) for a 512 Mb graphics SDRAM is presented in this paper. The MDLL extends its lock range into the gigahertz realm by applying clock division and analog phase generation (APG). The divided clock from the MDLL is used for clocking logic and tracking deterministic access latency in the SDRAM. A short discussion of some of the side effects and advantages of using a divided, multi-phase clock for logic operation is presented. A low-power clock distribution network (CDN) based on the presented MDLL is also disclosed. Fabricated in a 1.5 V 95 nm triple-metal CMOS process, the MDLL achieves a measured RMS jitter of 4.6 ps and peak-to-peak jitter of 38 ps at GDDR4 mode with a 1 GHz clock. Power consumption for the entire MDLL-based CDN is 107 mW at 800 MHz and 1.5 V.     

A 1.6-Gb/s/pin double data rate SDRAM with wave-pipelined CAS latency control

An 8 M /spl times/ 32 GDDR (graphic DDR) SDRAM operating up to 800-MHz clock (CLK) frequency is described. The GDDR SDRAM demands an effective control of CAS latency due to the large and wide number of CAS latencies at the CLK frequency. A wave-pipelined CAS latency control circuit is proposed to provide stable operation for the large and wide number of CAS latencies. The increase of CAS latency also causes a degradation of data bus efficiency at high-speed operation due to the large gap between input data (DINs) and output data (DOUTs) at the operation of write followed by read. A gapless write to read scheme improves the data bus efficiency by separating write data-path from read data-path for different banks accesses. Partial array activation commands can reduce the peak current, preventing the reduction of the data retention time of DRAM cells at high-speed operation. The GDDR SDRAM operates successfully at the CLK frequency of 800 MHz at 2.1 V and 700 MHz at 1.8 V, respectively. The power consumption is measured to be /spl sim/2 W at 1.9 V.     

A 500-Mb/s quadruple data rate SDRAM interface using a skewcancellation technique

A quadruple data rate (QDR) synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) interface processing data at 500 Mb/s/pin with a 125-MHz external clock signal is presented. Since the QDR interface has a narrower data timing window, a precise skew control on data signals is required. A salient skew cancellation technique with a shared skew estimator is proposed. The skew cancellation circuit not only reduces the data signal skews on a printed circuit board down to 250 ps, but also aligns the data signals with an external clock signal. The entire interface, fabricated in a 0.35-μm CMOS technology, includes a high-speed data pattern generator and consumes 570 mW of power at 3.0-V supply. The active die area of the chip with the on-chip data pattern generator is 2.4 mm²     

A 900-Mb/s CMOS data recovery DLL using half-frequency clock

A data recovery delay-locked loop (DILL) for nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) data transmission is described. A reference clock is delayed for triggering a latch that samples the incoming NRZ data stream. The data rate can be twice the reference clock frequency. The circuit has a proportional nondead-zone sampling phase detector that also serves the role of charge pump. A self-correcting function reduces the problem of the finite phase capture range associated with conventional DLLs. The prototype circuit is fabricated in 2.5-V 0.25-μm CMOS and occupies an area of only 270 × 50 μm². It is demonstrated that at 900-Mb/s NRZ data, jitter is reduced from 118.2- to 31.3-ps rms jitter for a power consumption of only 3 mW     

A 1-Gb/s bidirectional I/O buffer using the current-mode scheme

A current-mode bidirectional I/O buffer was designed, and the maximum effective bandwidth of 1.0 Gb/s per wire was obtained from measurements. To enhance the operating speed, the voltage swing on the transmission line was reduced to 0.5 V and the internal nodes of the buffer were designed to be low impedance nodes using the current-mode scheme. An automatic impedance-matching scheme was used to generate bias voltages, which adjust output resistance of the buffer to be equal to the characteristic impedance of the transmission line in spite of process variations. The chip was fabricated by using a 0.8-μm CMOS technology. The chip size was 500×330 μm², and the power consumption was 50 mW at a supply voltage of 3 V     

A 10-Gb/s laser/modulator driver IC with a dual-mode activelymatched output buffer

A laser/modulator driver IC for 10-Gb/s-SONET OC-192-fiber optic transmitters is described. Depending on the user application, the IC is capable of driving more than 100 mA of current into a laser diode or over 50 mA into an electro-absorption or Mach-Zehnder modulator. Rise and fall times below 20 pS are achieved. The driver employs a novel dual-mode actively matched output buffer that provides a dc-coupled back termination of either 25 or 50 Ω. Compared to an output buffer with a resistive termination, this buffer dissipates only half as much power. In addition, the buffer has the the ability to reject external bias and will therefore not load bias sources used to set laser threshold currents and modulator offset voltages. The low power consumption makes the IC most suitable for co-packaging with uncooled lasers and electro-absorption modulators. The driver is fabricated in a 0.25-μm gate length production GaAs PHEMT process with substrate thru vias, thin-film resistors, and MIM capacitors     

A 700-Mb/s/pin CMOS signaling interface using current integratingreceivers

A high speed CMOS signaling interface for application in multiprocessor interconnection networks has been developed. The interface utilizes I-V push-pull drivers, a delay line phase-locked loop (PLL), and sampling of the data on both edges of the clock. In order to increase the noise immunity of the reception, a current-integrating input pin sampler is used to receive the incoming data. Chips fabricated in a 0.8 μm CMOS technology achieve transfer rates of 740 Mb/s/pin operating from a 3.3 V supply with a bit error rate of less than 10^-14     

A 1.8-V 700-mb/s/pin 512-mb DDR-II SDRAM with on-die termination and off-chip driver calibration

A 512-Mb DDR-II SDRAM has achieved 700-Mb/s/pin operation at 1.8-V supply voltage with 0.12-/spl mu/m DRAM process. The low supply voltage presents challenges in high data rate and signal integrity. Circuit techniques such as hierarchical I/O lines, local sense amplifier, and fully shielded data lines without area penalty have provided improved data access time and, thus, high data rate can be achieved. Off-chip driver with calibrated strength and on-die termination are utilized to give sufficient signal integrity for over 533-Mb/s/pin operation.     

A dual-mode NAND flash memory: 1-Gb multilevel and high-performance512-Mb single-level modes

A 116.7-mm² NAND flash memory having two modes, 1-Gb multilevel program cell (MLC) and high-performance 512-Mb single-level program cell (SLC) modes, is fabricated with a 0.15-μm CMOS technology. Utilizing simultaneous operation of four independent banks, the device achieves 1.6 and 6.9 MB/s program throughputs for MLC and SLC modes, respectively. The two-step bitline setup scheme suppresses the peak current below 60 mA. The wordline ramping technique avoids program disturbance. The SLC mode uses the 0.5-V incremental step pulse and self-boosting program inhibit scheme to achieve high program performance, and the MLC mode uses 0.15-V incremental step pulse and local self-boosting program inhibit scheme to tightly control the cell threshold voltage V_th distributions. With the small wordline and bitline pitches of 0.3-μm and 0.36-μm, respectively, the cell V_th shift due to the floating gate coupling is about 0.2 V. The read margins between adjacent two program states are optimized resulting in the nonuniform cell V_th distribution for MLC mode     

A 960-Mb/s/pin interface for skew-tolerant bus using low jitter PLL

This paper describes an I/O scheme for use in a high-speed bus which eliminates setup and hold time requirements between clock and data by using an oversampling method. The I/O circuit uses a low jitter phase-locked loop (PLL) which suppresses the effect of supply noise. Measured results show peak-to-peak jitter of 150 ps and r.m.s. jitter of 15.7 ps on the clock line. Two experimental chips with 4-pin interface have been fabricated with a 0.6 μm CMOS technology, which exhibits the bandwidth of 960 Mb/s per pin     

A Compact 1.1-Gb/s Encoder and a Memory-Based 600-Mb/s Decoder for LDPC Convolutional Codes

We present a rate-1/2 (128,3,6) LDPC convolutional code encoder and decoder that we implemented in a 90-nm CMOS process. The 1.1-Gb/s encoder is a compact, low-power implementation that includes one-hot encoding for phase generation and built-in termination. The decoder design uses a memory-based interface with a minimum number of memory banks to deliver an information throughput of 1 b per clock cycle. The decoder shares one controller among a pipeline of decoder processors. The decoder dissipates 0.61 nJ of energy per decoded information bit at an SNR of 2 dB and a decoded throughput of 600 Mb/s. On-chip test circuitry permits accurate power measurements to be made at selectable SNR settings.      

A 1.2-V 1.5-Gb/s 72-Mb DDR3 SRAM

A 1.2-V 72-Mb double data rate 3 (DDR3) SRAM achieves a data rate of 1.5 Gb/s using dynamic self-resetting circuits. Single-ended main data lines halve the data line precharging power dissipation and the number of data lines. Clocks phase shifted by 0/spl deg/, 90/spl deg/, and 270/spl deg/ are generated through the proposed clock adjustment circuits. The latter circuits make input data sampled with an optimized setup/hold window. On-chip input termination with a linearity error of /spl plusmn/4.1% is developed to improve signal integrity at higher data rates. A 1.2-V 1.5-Gb/s 72-Mb DDR3 SRAM is fabricated in a 0.10-/spl mu/m CMOS process with five metals. The cell size and the chip size are 0.845 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ and 151.1 mm/sup 2/, respectively.     

An 8.1-ns Column-Access 1.6-Gb/s/pin DDR3 SDRAM With an 8:4 Multiplexed Data-Transfer Scheme

Three circuit techniques for an 8.1-ns column-access 1.6-Gb/s/pin 512-Mb DDR3 SDRAM using 90-nm dual-gate CMOS technology were developed. First, an 8:4 multiplexed data-transfer scheme, which operates in a quasi-4-bit prefetch mode, achieves a 3.17-ns reduction in column-access time, i.e., from 11.3 to 8.13 ns. Second, a dual-clock latency counter reduces standby power by 22% and cycle time from 1.7 to 1.2 ns. Third, a multiple-ODT-merged output buffer enables selection of five effective-resistance values Rtt (20, 30, 40, 60, and 120 Omega) without increasing I/O capacitance. Based on these techniques, 1.6-Gb/s/pin operation with a 1.36-V power supply and a column latency of 7 was accomplished     

A 140-Mb/s to 1.82-Gb/s Continuous-Rate Embedded Clock Receiver for Flat-Panel Displays

A wide-range fast-locking embedded clock receiver, which can provide a continuous data rate of 140 Mb/s to 1.82 Gb/s in a 0.25-mum CMOS process, is presented. A fast lock time of 7.5 mus and a small root-mean-square jitter of 15 ps are achieved by using the proposed frequency-band selection and frequency acquisition schemes, as well as a simple linear-phase detector. The implemented embedded clock receiver occupies 2.00 mm² and consumes currents of 44 and 137 mA at 140 Mb/s and 1.82 Gb/s, respectively, including input/output currents.     

A 2.5-V, 333-Mb/s/pin, 1-Gbit, double-data-rate synchronous DRAM

A double data rate (DDR) at 333 Mb/s/pin is achieved for a 2.5-V, 1-Gb synchronous DRAM in a 0.14-μm CMOS process. The large density of integration and severe device fluctuation present challenges in dealing with the on-chip skews, packaging, and processing technology. Circuit techniques and schemes of outer DQ and inner control (ODIC) chip with a non-ODIC package, cycle-time-adaptive wave pipelining, and variable-stage analog delay-locked loop with the three-input phase detector can provide precise skew controls and increased tolerance to processing variations. DDR as a viable high-speed and low-voltage DRAM I/O interface is demonstrated     

A 4-Gb/s/pin low-power memory I/O interface using 4-level simultaneous bi-directional signaling

This paper presents a simultaneous bi-directional (SBD) 4-level I/O interface for high-speed DRAMs. The data rate of 4 Gb/s/pin was demonstrated using a 500-MHz clock generator and a full CMOS rail-to-rail power swing. The power consumed by the I/O circuit was measured to be 28 mW/pin, when connected to a 10-pF load, at a 1.8-V supply voltage. The transmitter uses a 4-level push-pull linear output driver and a 4-level automatic impedance controller, achieving the reduction of driver currents and the voltage margin as large as 200 mV. The receiver employs a hierarchical sampling scheme, wherein a differential amplifier selects three out of six reference voltage levels. This scheme ensures minimized sampling power and a wide common-mode sampling range. The 6-level reference voltage for sampling is generated by the combination of the transmitter replica. The proposed I/O interface circuits are fabricated using a 0.10-/spl mu/m, 2-metal layers DRAM process, and the active area is 330 /spl times/ 66 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. It exhibits 200 mV /spl times/ 690 ps eye windows on the given channel with a 1.8-V supply voltage.