Refresh management for memory
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsKevin M. Brandl, Kedarnath Balakrishnan, Jing Wang, Guanhao Shen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A memory controller interfaces with a random access memory over a memory channel. A refresh control circuit monitors an activate counter which counts a rolling number of activate commands sent over the memory channel to a memory region of the memory. In response to the activate counter being above an intermediate management threshold value, the refresh control circuit only issue a refresh management (RFM) command if there is no REF command currently held at the refresh command circuit for the memory region.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a memory controller, comprising:
- an arbiter for selecting memory commands for transmission over a memory channel;
- and
- a refresh control circuit coupled to the arbiter and operable to:
- monitor an activate counter which counts a number of activate commands sent over the memory channel to a memory region;
- and
- in response to a value of the activate counter being above an intermediate management threshold value and at or below a maximum management threshold value, issue a refresh management (RFM) command if there is no refresh (REF) command currently held at the refresh control circuit for the memory region.
A method, comprising:
- selecting respective memory access commands including memory reads and memory writes and transmitting them to a memory channel coupled to at least one random access memory;
- counting, at an activate counter, a number of activate commands sent over the memory channel to a memory region of the random access memory;
- and
- in response to a value of the activate counter being above a management threshold value and at or below a maximum management threshold value, issuing a refresh management (RFM) command if there is no refresh (REF) command currently held at a refresh control circuit for the memory region.
A data processing system, comprising:
- a data processor;
- a data fabric coupled to the data processor, and
- a memory controller coupled to the data fabric for fulfilling memory requests from the data processor, the memory controller comprising:
- an arbiter for selecting memory commands for transmission over a memory channel;
- and
- a refresh control circuit coupled to the arbiter and operable to:
- monitor an activate counter which counts a number of activate commands sent over the memory channel to a memory region;
- and
- in response to a value of the activate counter being above an intermediate management threshold value and at or below a maximum management threshold value, issue a refresh management (RFM) command if there is no refresh (REF) command currently held at the refresh control circuit for the memory region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.