Semiconductor memory array with serial control/address bus
View Patent ↗A semiconductor memory array for operation in a data storage system with at least one semiconductor memory chip for the storage of user data and one memory controller for control of the at least one semiconductor memory chip includes at least one unidirectional, serial signal line bus for control and address signals connected with the memory controller, directly connecting at least one semiconductor memory chip with the memory controller and serially connecting with each other the semiconductor memory chips among each other by 1-point-to-1-point connections.
1. A memory array for operation in a data storage system, comprising:
a plurality of memory chips for the storage of user data, said plurality of memory chips being subdivided into chip groups, each chip group being associated with one signal lane;
a memory controller for the control of the memory chips; and
at least one unidirectional, serial signal line bus for control signals and address signals connected with the memory controller, each signal line bus for control signals and address signals being associated with a respective signal lane, the bus signal lines corresponding to the respective signal lane directly connecting exactly one memory chip of the respective chip group with the memory controller and, in the case a chip group comprises more than one memory chip, serially connecting the memory chips of the respective chip group with each other by respective 1-point-to-1-point connections.
2. The memory array according to claim 1 , wherein each chip group further comprises:
at least one unidirectional, serial signal line bus for read data with the same signal line direction as the unidirectional signal line bus for control and address signals between the memory chips of the respective chip group, wherein, in the case a chip group comprises more than one memory chip, the unidirectional signal line bus for read data serially connects the memory chips of the respective chip group among each other by respective 1-point-to-1-point connections and directly connects at least one memory chip of the respective chip group with the memory controller.
3. The memory array according to claim 1 , wherein at least one memory chip of each chip group includes a control/address signal re-drive unit for the re-drive of control and address signals.
4. The memory array according to claim 1 , wherein at least one memory chip of each chip group includes a control/address signal evaluation unit for evaluating control and address signals.
5. The memory array according to claim 1 , wherein at least one memory chip of each chip group includes a read signal re-drive unit for the re-drive of read signals.
6. The memory array according to claim 2 , wherein each chip group further comprises:
at least one unidirectional, serial signal line bus for write data, which has the same signal line direction as the unidirectional signal line bus for control and address signals between the memory chips of the respective chip group, with the unidirectional signal line bus for write data directly connecting exactly one memory chip of the respective chip group with the memory controller and, in the case the chip group comprises more than one memory chip, serially connecting the memory chips of the same chip group among each other by respective 1-point-to-1-point connections.
7. The memory array according to claim 6 , wherein at least one memory chip of each chip group includes a read signal re-drive unit for a re-drive of read signals.
8. The memory array according to claim 1 , wherein for each chip group at least one signal wiring run is set up of differential signal line pairs, the at least one signal wiring run being selected from a signal wiring run for control and address signals, a signal wiring run for read data and a signal wiring run for write data.
9. The memory array according to claim 6 , wherein for each chip group at least one signal line bus is combined with a clock signal bus, the at least one signal line bus being selected from the signal line bus for control and address signals, the signal line bus for read data and the signal line bus for write data.
10. The memory array according to claim 6 , wherein for each chip group at least two signal line busses are combined with each other, the at least two signal line busses being selected from the signal line bus for control and address signals, the signal line bus for read data and the signal line bus for write data.
11. The memory array according to claim 1 , wherein each memory chip is a DRAM block.
12. The memory array according to claim 11 , wherein each memory chip has one DDR interface each.
13. The memory array according to claim 1 , wherein the memory array is arranged on a DIMM memory module.
14. The memory array according to claim 13 , wherein the memory module is an x8 based memory module with 4 memories per rank.
15. The memory array according to claim 13 , wherein the memory module is an x8 based memory module with 1 memory per rank.
16. The memory array according to claim 15 , wherein the memory module is an x4 based memory module with 8 memories per rank.
17. A data storage system with a memory array, said memory array comprising:
a plurality of memory chips for the storage of user data, said plurality of memory chips being subdivided into chip groups, each chip group being associated with one signal lane:
a memory controller for the control of the memory chips; and
at least one unidirectional, serial signal line bus for control signals and address signals connected with the memory controller, each signal line bus for control signals and address signals being associated with a respective signal lane, the bus signal lines corresponding to the respective signal lane directly connecting exactly one memory chip of the respective chip group with the memory controller and, in case a chip group comprises more than one memory chip, serially connecting the memory chips of the respective chip group with each other by respective 1-point-to-1-point connections.