Fully buffered DIMM system and method with hard-IP memory controller and soft-IP frequency controller

• US 7,490,209 B1
• Filed: 12/14/2005
• Issued: 02/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Altera Corporation (Intel Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Altera Corporation (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Charagulla, Sanjay K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elmore; Reba I
• Application Number:
  US11/300,812
• Time in Patent Office: 1,154 Days
• Field of Search: 711/167, 714/52, 714/758
• US Class Current: 711/167
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/1668 Details of memory controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4031 with arbitration
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A system and method for memory control. The system includes a hard-IP memory controller, a soft-IP frequency conversion system, and an interface system. The soft-IP frequency conversion system is coupled to the hard-IP memory controller, and is capable of being programmed to convert data signals between a first frequency and a second frequency.

Claims

1. A system for memory control, the system comprising:

a hard-IP memory controller;

a soft-IP frequency conversion system coupled to the hard-IP memory controller;

an interface system coupled to at least the soft-IP frequency conversion system;

wherein the interface system includes a physical media attachment electrical interface and a physical coding sub-layer;

wherein the soft-IP frequency conversion system is capable of being programmed to convert data signals between a first frequency and a second frequency;

wherein the hard-IP memory controller includes a first plurality of devices associated with cyclic redundancy check and a second plurality of devices associated with error correction code.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the soft-IP frequency conversion system includes one or more field programmable gate arrays.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are associated with a predetermined ratio.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the soft-IP frequency conversion system is programmed for selecting anyone of a plurality of frequencies as the first frequency.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the soft-IP frequency conversion system includes a first frequency converter and a second frequency converter;

the first frequency converter is capable of being programmed to convert a first data signal from the first frequency to the second frequency;

the second frequency converter is capable of being programmed to convert a second data signal from the second frequency to the first frequency.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the hard-IP memory controller does not include a field programmable gate array.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the hard-IP memory controller is capable of providing instructions to the interface system.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the hard-IP memory controller further comprises at least one data buffer and at least one request buffer.

9. The system of claim 1, and further comprising a configuration system coupled to the hard-IP memory controller.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the configuration system is a soft-IP system.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the configuration system is capable to send instructions to the hard-IP memory controller.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the interface system is a hard-IP system.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the interface system is capable of transmitting first data to a memory buffer and receiving second data from the memory buffer.

14. A system for memory control, the system comprising:

a hard-IP memory controller;

a soft-IP frequency conversion system coupled to the hard-IP memory controller;

an interface system coupled to at least the soft-IP frequency conversion system;

wherein the interface system includes a physical media attachment electrical interface and a physical coding sub-layer;

wherein the hard-IP memory controller is capable of providing first instructions to the interface system, receiving first data from the interface system, and sending second data to the interface system;

wherein the soft-IP frequency conversion system is capable of being programmed to convert data signals between a first frequency and a second frequency, the first frequency being anyone of a plurality of frequencies.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the soft-IP frequency conversion system includes one or more field programmable gate arrays.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are associated with a predetermined ratio.

17. The system of claim 14 wherein:

the soft-IP frequency conversion system includes a first frequency converter and a second frequency converter;

the first frequency converter is capable of being programmed to convert a first data signal from the first frequency to the second frequency;

the second frequency converter is capable of being programmed to convert a second data signal from the second frequency to the first frequency.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein the hard-IP memory controller does not include a field programmable gate array.

19. The system of claim 14 wherein the hard-IP memory controller includes a first plurality of devices associated with cyclic redundancy check and a second plurality of devices associated with error correction code.

20. The system of claim 14 wherein the hard-IP memory controller further comprises at least one data buffer and at least one request buffer.

21. The system of claim 14 wherein the interface system is a hard-IP system.

22. The system of claim 14 wherein the interface system is capable of receiving the first data from a memory buffer and transmitting the second data to the memory buffer.

23. A system for memory control, the system comprising:

a hard-IP memory controller;

a soft-IP frequency conversion system coupled to the hard-IP memory controller;

an interface system coupled to at least the soft-IP frequency conversion system;

wherein the interface system is capable of transmitting first data to a memory buffer and receiving second data from the memory buffer;

wherein the hard-IP memory controller is capable of providing instructions to the interface system, sending the first data to the interface system, and receiving the second data from the interface system;

wherein the soft-IP frequency conversion system is capable of being programmed to convert data signals between a first frequency and a second frequency.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the first frequency is anyone of a plurality of frequencies.

25. The system of claim 23 wherein the data signals are associated with the first data.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein the data signals are associated with the second data.