Method of simple chip select for memory subsystems
View Patent ↗Embodiments of the invention may generally provide techniques that allow a single externally supplied chip select signal to be used to independently select a plurality of devices in a multi-chip package (MCP). For some embodiments, higher order address bits are compared to device IDs assigned to each device. An internally generated chip select line is asserted for a device having a match between the address bits and its device ID.
1. A multi-chip package comprising:
at least one chip select pin for receiving a single external chip select signal;
a plurality of stacked memory devices, where each memory device is responsive to an individual internal chip select and is assigned a different multi-bit device identification (ID); and
one or more chip select logic circuits configured to generate the individual internal chip select for each of the plurality of stacked memory devices based on the external chip select signal and whether one or more external bits match the device ID.
2. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of stacked memory devices comprise a dynamic random access memory device.
3. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of stacked memory device comprise a non-volatile memory.
4. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , where the plurality of stacked memory devices comprise a combination of a dynamic random access memory and a non-volatile memory.
5. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , wherein a logic circuit for generating an internal chip select is located on each memory device.
6. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , wherein a logic circuit for generating the internal chip selects is located in the MCP external to the memory devices.
7. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , wherein the device identification register is set at a fixed configuration via wirebonding.
8. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , wherein the device identification register is set during reset using a sense-on-reset.
9. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , further comprising a logic circuit allowing for external programming of the device IDs.
10. The multi-chip package of claim 1 , wherein the memory devices comprise at least one dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device and at least one non-volatile memory device which both share a common interface.
11. A method of selecting stacked devices in a multi-chip package (MCP), comprising:
receiving a single chip select signal from a source external to the MCP;
receiving a plurality of address bits;
in response to receiving the single chin select signal and the plurality of address bits, identifying one of the stacked devices to select based on a match between the address bits and a corresponding device identification (ID) bits assigned to the identified device; and
asserting a chip select to select the identified device.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the identifying and asserting is performed in logic circuits internal to the devices.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the identifying and asserting is performed in a logic circuit within the MCP, but external to the devices.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
assigning the device ID bits to each device.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein assigning the device ID bits to each device comprises latching one or more logic values into a register upon reset.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein assigning the device ID bits to each device further comprises over writing the latched device ID bits with device ID bits received from an external device.
17. A system, comprising:
a controller; and
a multi-chip package having at least one chip select pin for receiving a single external chip select signal from the controller, a plurality of stacked memory devices, where each memory device is responsive to an individual internal chip select and is assigned a different multi-bit device identification (ID), and one or more chip select logic circuits configured to generate, the individual internal chip select for each of the plurality of memory devices based on the external chip select signal and whether one or more external bits match the device ID.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of stacked memory devices comprises at least one volatile memory device and at least one non-volatile memory device.
19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more logic circuits are configured to latch default device IDs into a register upon reset.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the controller is configured to overwrite the default device IDs with new device IDs.