Dynamic refresh rate control
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsLiang Deng, Norman J. Rohrer, Yizhang Yang, Arpit Mittal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In an embodiment, a memory controller in an integrated circuit may generate refreshes for one or more DRAMs coupled to the integrated circuit according to a refresh rate. The integrated circuit may include one or more temperature sensors. A rate of change of the temperature may be determined from the temperature sensors. If the rate is greater than a threshold, the memory controller may generate refreshes according to a refresh rate specified by the DRAMs. If the rate is less than the threshold, the memory controller may generate refreshes at a reduced refresh rate.
Claims20
An integrated circuit, comprising:
- a plurality of temperature sensors;
- and
- a memory controller configured to:
- determine, for at least one dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a refresh rate based on a temperature change rate determined from the plurality of temperature sensors, wherein the temperature change rate is based on a plurality of consecutive temperatures sensed by a given temperature sensor of the plurality of temperature sensors;
- and
- refresh the DRAM at the determined refresh rate.
A method, comprising:
- determining a temperature change rate from a plurality of temperature sensors in an integrated circuit, wherein the temperature change rate is based on a plurality of consecutive temperatures sensed by a given temperature sensor of the plurality of temperature sensors;
- based on the determined temperature change rate, determining, by a memory controller of the integrated circuit, a refresh rate at which the memory controller refreshes at least one dynamic random access memory (DRAM);
- and
- refreshing, by the memory controller, the DRAM at the determined refresh rate.
A system, comprising:
- a plurality of temperature sensors;
- and
- a memory controller included in an integrated circuit and configured to:
- determine a refresh rate based on a temperature change rate determined using consecutive temperatures sensed by one or more of the plurality of temperature sensors;
- and
- refresh at least one dynamic random access memory (DRAM) at the determined refresh rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.