A43L2616
(September, 2004, Version 3.1) 12 AMIC Technology, Corp.
Device Operations (continued)
Bank Activate
The bank activate command is used to select a random
row in an idle bank. By asserting low on RAS and
CS with desired row and bank addresses, a row access is
initiated. The read or write operation can occur after a time
delay of tRCD(min) from the time of bank activation.
tRCD(min) is an internal timing parameter of SDRAM,
therefore it is dependent on operating clock f requency. The
minimum number of clock cycles required between bank
activate and read or write command should be calculated
by dividing tRCD(min) with cycle time of the clock and then
rounding off the result to the next higher integer. The
SDRAM has two internal banks on the same chip and
shares part of the internal circuitry to reduce chip area,
therefore it restricts the activation of both banks
immediately. Also the noise generated during sensing of
each bank of SDRAM is high requiring some time for
power supplies recover before the other bank can be
sensed reliably. tRRD(min) specifies the minimum time
required between activating different banks. The number of
clock cycles required between different bank activation
must be calculated similar to tRCD specification. The
minimum time required for the bank to be active to initiate
sensing and restoring the complete row of dynamic cells is
determined by tRAS(min) specification before a precharge
command to that active bank can be asserted. The
maximum time any bank can be in the active state is
determined by tRAS(max). The number of cycles for both
tRAS(min) and tRAS(max) can be calculated similar to tRCD
specification.
Burst Read
The burst read command is used to access burst of data
on consecutive clock cycles from an active row in an active
bank. The burst read command is issued by asserting low
on C
and CAS with WE being high on the positive
edge of the clock. The bank must be active for at least
tRCD(min) before the burst read command is issued. The
first output appears CAS latency number of clock cycles
after the issue of burst read command. The burst length,
burst sequence and latency from the burst read command
is determined by the mode register which is already
programmed. The burst read can be initiated on any
column address of the active row. The address wraps
around if the initial address does not start from a boundary
such that number of outputs from each I/O are equal to the
burst length programmed in the mode register. The output
goes into high-impedance at the end of the burst, unless a
new burst read was initiated to keep the data output
gapless. The burst read can be terminated by issuing
another burst read or burst write in the same bank or the
other active bank or a precharge command to the same
bank. The burst stop command is valid at every page burst
length.
Burst Write
The burst write command is similar to burst read
command, and is used to write data into the SDRAM
consecutive clock cycles in adjacent addresses depending
on burst length and burst sequence. By asserting low on
CS ,CAS and WE with valid column address, a write
burst is initiated. T he data inputs are provided for the initial
address in the same clock cycle as the burst write
command. The input buffer is deselected at the end of the
burst length, even though the int ernal writing may not have
been completed yet. The writing can not complete to burst
length. The burst write can be terminated by issuing a burst
read and DQM for blocking data inputs or burst write in the
same or the other active bank. T he burst stop command is
valid only at full page burst length where the writing
continues at the end of burst and the burst is wrap around.
The write burst can also be terminated by using DQM for
blocking data and precharging the bank “tRDL” after the last
data input to be written into the active row. See DQM
OPERATION also.
DQM Operation
The DQM is used to mask input and output operation. It
works similar to OE during read operation and inhibits
writing during write operation. The read latency is two
cycles from DQM and zero cycle for write, which means
DQM masking occurs two cycles later in the read cycle and
occurs in the same cycle during write cycle. DQM
operation is synchronous with the clock, therefore the
masking occurs for a complete cycle. The DQM signal is
important during burst interrupts of write with read or
precharge in the SDRAM. Due to asynchronous nature of
the internal write, the DQM operation is critical to avoid
unwanted or incomplete writes when the complete burst
write is not required.
Precharge
The precharge operation is perf ormed on an active bank by
asserting low on CS ,RAS ,WE and A10/AP with valid
BA of the bank to be precharged. The precharge command
can be asserted anytime after tRAS(min) is satisfied from
the bank activate command in the desired bank. “tRP” is
defined as the minimum time required to precharge a bank.
The minimum number of clock cycles required to complete
row precharge is calculated by dividing “tRP” with clock
cycle time and rounding up to the next higher integer. Care
should be taken to make sure that burst write is completed
or DQM is used to inhibit writing before precharge
command is asserted. The maximum time any bank can be
active is specified by tRAS(max). Therefore, each bank has
to be precharged within tRAS(max) from the bank activate
command. At the end of precharge, the bank enters the
idle state and is ready to be activated again.
Entry to Power Down, Auto refresh, Self refresh and Mode
register Set etc, is possible only when both banks are in
idle state.