ESMT
M12L128168A
Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology Inc. Publication Date: Oct. 2009
Revision: 2.4 11/45
DEVICE OPERATIONS (Continued)
rounding of the result to the next higher integer. The SDRAM
has four internal banks in the same chip and shares part of the
internal circuitry to reduce chip area, therefore it restricts the
activation of four banks simultaneously. Also the noise
generated during sensing of each bank of SDRAM is high
requiring some time for power supplies to recover before
another bank can be sensed reliably. tRRD(min) specifies the
minimum time required between activating different bank. 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). Every SDRAM bank activate
command must satisfy 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) 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 CS
and RAS 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 in 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 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 on 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. The 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
internal writing can be completed yet. The writing can be
complete by issuing a burst read and DQM for blocking data
inputs or burst write in the same or another active bank. The
burst stop command is valid at every burst length. The write
burst can also be terminated by using DQM for blocking data
and precharge 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 mask input and output operations. It
works similar to OE during 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 read cycle and occurs in the
same cycle during write cycle. DQM operation is
synchronous with the clock. 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
required. Please refer to DQM timing diagram also.
PRECHARGE
The precharge is performed on an active bank by
asserting low on clock cycles required between bank
activate and clock cycles required between bank activate
and CS , RAS , WE and A10/AP with valid BA0~BA1
of the bank to be procharged. The precharge command
can be asserted anytime after tRAS(min) is satisfy from the
bank active command in the desired bank. tRP is defined
as 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 precharge with 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 all banks are
in idle state.
AUTO PRECHARGE
The precharge operation can also be performed by using
auto precharge. The SDRAM internally generates the
timing to satisfy tRAS(min) and “tRP” for the programmed
burst length and CAS latency. The auto precharge
command is issued at the same time as burst write by
asserting high on A10/AP, the bank is precharge command
is asserted. Once auto precharge command is given, no
new commands are possible to that particular bank until
the bank achieves idle state.
FOUR BANKS PRECHARGE
Four banks can be precharged at the same time by using
Precharge all command. Asserting low on CS , RAS ,
and WE with high on A10/AP after all banks have
satisfied tRAS(min) requirement, performs precharge on all
banks. At the end of tRP after performing precharge all, all
banks are in idle state.