Memory module and method having improved signal routing topology
First Claim
1. A memory module, comprising:
- a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals, the active memory component further having a register for storing address and command signals and outputting the stored address and command signals to the memory devices; and
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree comprising at least one branch, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A registered memory module includes several memory devices coupled to a register through a plurality of transmission lines forming a symmetrical tree topology. The tree includes several branches each of which includes two transmission lines coupled only at its ends to either another transmission line or one of the memory devices. The branches are arranged in several layers of hierarchy, with the transmission lines in branches having the same hierarchy having the same length. Each transmission line preferably has a characteristic impedance that is half the characteristic impedance of any pair of downstream transmission lines to which it is coupled to provide impedance matching. A dedicated transmission line is used to couple an additional memory device, which may or may not be an error checking memory device, to the register.
307 Citations
89 Claims
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1. A memory module, comprising:
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a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals, the active memory component further having a register for storing address and command signals and outputting the stored address and command signals to the memory devices; and
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree comprising at least one branch, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A memory module, comprising:
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a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals, the active memory component further having a register for storing address and command signals and outputting the stored address and command signals to the memory devices; and
a plurality of transmission lines coupling a plurality of the output terminals of the active memory device to respective input terminals of the memory devices, each of the transmission lines being connected at only its ends to either one of the input terminals of one of the memory devices or to an end of another of the transmission lines, the transmission lines being arranged in a plurality of hierarchies with the transmission lines in the same hierarchy having the same length. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A processor-based system, comprising:
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a processor having a processor bus;
a system controller coupled to the processor bus, the system controller having a system memory port and a peripheral device port;
at least one input device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller;
at least one output device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller;
at least one data storage device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller; and
a memory module coupled to the system memory port of the system controller, the memory module comprising;
a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals, the active memory component further having a register for storing address and command signals and outputting the stored address and command signals to the memory devices; and
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree comprising at least one branch, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of coupling signals from an active memory component in a memory module to a plurality of memory devices in the memory module, the method comprising:
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storing a plurality of signals including address and command signals in the active memory component, and outputting the stored plurality of signals; and
coupling the plurality of signals from the active memory component to the memory devices through a plurality of transmission lines in which each transmission line is connected at only its ends to either one of the memory devices or to an end of another of the transmission lines, the transmission lines being arranged in a plurality of hierarchies with the transmission lines in the same hierarchy having the same length. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A memory module, comprising:
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a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals;
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree comprising at least one branch, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end, and each transmission line in each branch having a characteristic impedance that is approximately half the characteristic impedance of any transmission line to which it is coupled downstream of the active memory component. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A memory of module, complaining:
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a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals;
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree comprising at least one branch, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end;
an additional memory device other than the plurality of memory devices; and
a dedicated transmission line coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the additional memory device. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A memory module comprising:
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a plurality of memory devices having 2N number of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals; and
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree having N hierarchies of branches, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46)
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47. A memory module, comprising:
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a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals; and
a plurality of transmission lines coupling a plurality of the output terminals of the active memory devices to respective input terminals of the memory devices, each of the transmission lines being coupled at only its ends to either one of the input terminals of one of the memory devices or to an end of another of the transmission lines, the transmission lines being arranged in a plurality of hierarchies with the transmission lines in the same hierarchy having the same length, each of the transmission lines further having a characteristic impedance that is approximately half the characteristic impedance of any transmission line to which it is coupled downstream of the active memory component. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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48. The memory module devices wherein the plurality of memory devices comprises a plurality of dynamic random access memory devices.
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54. A memory module, comprising:
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a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals;
a plurality of transmission lines coupling a plurality of the output terminals of the active memory device to respective input terminals of the memory devices, each of the transmission lines being connected at only its ends to either one of the input terminals of one of the memory devices or to an end of another of the transmission lines, the transmission lines being arranged in a plurality of hierarchies with the transmission lines in the same hierarchy having the same length;
an additional memory device other than the plurality of memory devices; and
a dedicated transmission line coupling each of the several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the additional memory device. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A memory module, comprising:
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a plurality of memory devices having 2N number of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals; and
a plurality of transmission lines coupling a plurality of the output terminals of the active memory device to respective input terminals of the memory devices, each of the transmission lines being connected at only its ends to either one of the input terminals of one of the memory devices or to an end of another of the transmission lines, the transmission lines being arranged in N hierarchies of levels with the transmission lines in the same hierarchy having the same length. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62)
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63. A processor-based system, comprising:
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a processor having a processor bus;
a system controller coupled to the processor bus, the system controller having a system memory port and a peripheral device port;
at least one input device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller;
at least one output device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller;
at least one data storage device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller; and
a memory module coupled to the system memory port of the system controller, the memory module comprising;
a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals; and
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree comprising at least one branch, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end, and each transmission line in each branch having a characteristic impedance that is approximately half the characteristic impedance of any transmission line to which it is coupled downstream of the active memory component. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A processor-based system, comprising:
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a processor having a processor bus;
a system controller coupled to the processor bus, the system controller having a system memory port and a peripheral device port;
at least one input device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller;
at least one output device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller;
at least one data storage device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller; and
a memory module coupled to the system memory port of the system controller, the memory module comprising;
a plurality of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals;
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree comprising at least one branch, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end;
an additional memory device other than the plurality of memory devices; and
a dedicated transmission line coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the additional memory device. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A processor-based system, comprising:
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a processor having a processor bus;
a system controller coupled to the processor bus, the system controller having a system memory port and a peripheral device port;
at least one input device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller;
at least one output device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller;
at least one data storage device coupled to the peripheral device port of the system controller; and
a memory module coupled to the system memory port of the system controller, the memory module comprising;
a plurality of memory devices having 2N number of memory devices;
an active memory component having a plurality of input terminals and a plurality of output terminals; and
a symmetrical tree coupling each of several of the output terminals of the active memory component to respective input terminals of the memory devices, the symmetrical tree having N hierarchies of branches, each branch including a pair of transmission lines coupled to each other at one end and to either a transmission line of another branch or one of the memory devices at another end. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78)
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79. A method of coupling signals from an active memory component in a memory module to a plurality of memory devices in the memory module, the method comprising:
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coupling a plurality of the signals from the active memory component to the memory devices through a plurality of transmission lines in which each transmission line is connected at only its end to either one of the memory devices or to an end of another of the transmission lines, the transmission lines being arranged in a plurality of hierarchies with the transmission lines in the same hierarchy having the same lenght; and
coupling each of the plurality of signals from upstream transmission lines to downstream transmission lines in which a characteristics impedance of each downstream transmission line is twice the characteristic impedance of the upstream tranmission line to which is coupled. - View Dependent Claims (80, 81, 82, 83)
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84. A method of coupling signals from an active memory component in a memory module to a plurality of memory devices in the memory module, the method comprising:
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coupling a plurality of the signals from the active memory component to the memory devices through a plurality of transmission lines in which each transmission line is connected at only its ends to either one of the memory devices or to an end of another of the transmission lines, the transmission lines being arranged in a plurality of hierarchies with the transmission lines in the same hierarchy having the same length; and
coupling signals from the active memory component to an additional memory device mounted on the memory module substrate other than the plurality of memory devices, the plurality of the signals from the active memory component to the additional memory device being coupled through a dedicated transmission line that is not directly connected to any of the plurality of memory devices. - View Dependent Claims (85, 86, 87)
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88. A method of coupling signals from an active memory component in a memory module to a plurality of memory devices in the memory module, the method comprising:
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coupling 2N of the memory devices to the active memory component; and
coupling the plurality of the signals from the active memory component to the 2N of the memory devices through a plurality of transmission lines in which each transmission line is connected at only its ends to either one of the memory devices or to an end of another of the transmission lines, the transmission lines being arranged in N levels of hierarchy with the transmission lines in the same hierarchy having the same length. - View Dependent Claims (89)
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Specification