HOME       UP       PREV       NEXT (DRAM & Controller (3).)  

DRAM & Controller (2).

DRAM controller is typically coupled with a cache or at least a write buffer.

DRAM: high latency and write back overhead dictate preference for large burst operations.

It is best if clients make available several operations for processing at once: up to number of banks.

It is best if clients can tolerate responses out of order (hence use bus/NoC structure that supports this).

Controller must

Controller might contain a tiny CPU to interrogate serial device data.

DRAM refresh overhead has minimal impact on bus throughput.


20: (C) 2008-11, DJ Greaves, University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory.