Refresh method, refresh address generator, volatile memory device including the same
First Claim
1. A refresh method for a volatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a respective address, the refresh method comprising:
- refreshing memory cells of a first set of rows of the array at a first refresh rate having a first refresh period, the first refresh rate being a lower rate having a longer refresh period than a second refresh rate having a second refresh period, wherein each memory cell in the first set of rows of the array has a retention time longer than the first refresh period; and
refreshing memory cells of a second set of rows of the array at a third refresh rate having a third refresh period, the third refresh rate being a higher rate having a shorter refresh period than the second refresh rate having the second refresh period, wherein at least one memory cell of each row of the second set of rows has a retention time longer than the third refresh period and shorter than the first refresh period wherein the first refresh period is two times the length of the second refresh period,wherein the second refresh period corresponds to a refresh period defined in a standard for the volatile memory device.
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Abstract
A refresh method for a volatile memory device includes refreshing memory cells of a first set of rows of an array at a first refresh rate having a first refresh period, the first refresh rate being a lower rate having a longer refresh period than a second refresh rate having a second refresh period, wherein each memory cell in the first set of rows of the array has a retention time longer than the first refresh period; and refreshing memory cells of a second set of rows of the array at a third refresh rate having a third refresh period, the third refresh rate being a higher rate having a shorter refresh period than the second refresh rate having the second refresh period, wherein at least one memory cell of each row of the second set of rows has a retention time longer than the third refresh period and shorter than the first refresh period. The second refresh period corresponds to a refresh period defined in a standard for the volatile memory device.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A refresh method for a volatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a respective address, the refresh method comprising:
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refreshing memory cells of a first set of rows of the array at a first refresh rate having a first refresh period, the first refresh rate being a lower rate having a longer refresh period than a second refresh rate having a second refresh period, wherein each memory cell in the first set of rows of the array has a retention time longer than the first refresh period; and refreshing memory cells of a second set of rows of the array at a third refresh rate having a third refresh period, the third refresh rate being a higher rate having a shorter refresh period than the second refresh rate having the second refresh period, wherein at least one memory cell of each row of the second set of rows has a retention time longer than the third refresh period and shorter than the first refresh period wherein the first refresh period is two times the length of the second refresh period, wherein the second refresh period corresponds to a refresh period defined in a standard for the volatile memory device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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4. The method of 3, wherein the counter-based refresh includes generating a refresh address at each increase of a counter value.
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10. A refresh method for a volatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a respective address, the refresh method comprising:
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refreshing memory cells of a first set of rows of the array at a first refresh rate having a first refresh period, based on a counter-based refresh, wherein the memory cells of the first set of rows have a retention time longer than the first refresh period; and refreshing memory cells of a second set of rows of the array at a second refresh rate having a second refresh period, based on a table-based refresh, the second refresh rate being a higher rate having a shorter refresh period than the first refresh period, wherein at least one memory cell of each row of the second set of rows has a retention time longer than the second refresh period and shorter than the first refresh period, wherein the counter-based refresh includes generating a first refresh address at each increase of a counter value. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A refresh method for a volatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a respective address, the refresh method comprising:
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refreshing memory cells of a first set of rows of the array at a first refresh rate having a first refresh period, based on a counter-based refresh, wherein the memory cells of the first set of rows have a retention time longer than the first refresh period; and refreshing memory cells of a second set of rows of the array at a second refresh rate having a second refresh period, based on a table-based refresh, the second refresh rate being a higher rate having a shorter refresh period than the first refresh period, wherein at least one memory cell of each row of the second set of rows has a retention time longer than the second refresh period and shorter than the first refresh period, wherein refreshing the memory cells of the first set of rows of the memory array is interleaved with refreshing the memory cells of the second set of rows of the memory array.
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15. A method of performing a refresh operation in a memory device including a memory array having rows and columns, comprising:
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performing a first refresh sub-operation by cycling through all of the rows of the memory array consecutively at equally spaced first time intervals based on a counter, such that each row of the first refresh sub-operation is refreshed subsequent to an adjacent previously refreshed row of the first refresh sub-operation after an occurrence of the first time interval, wherein the time between two refreshes of the same row in the first refresh sub-operation is referred to as a refresh cycle; and performing a second refresh sub-operation within the refresh cycle on a plurality of first rows of the memory array based on information stored in a table, and not performing the second refresh sub-operation within the refresh cycle on a plurality of second rows of the memory array, wherein the plurality of first rows each include at least one cell that has a first retention time, and wherein the plurality of second rows include a plurality of cells that have retention times longer than the first retention time. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification