Memory

• Sequential circuits all depend upon the presence of memory.

– A flip-flop can store one bit of information.
– A register can store a single “word,” typically 32-64 bits.
• Memory allows us to store even larger amounts of data.
– Random Access Memory (RAM - volatile)
• Static RAM (SRAM)
• Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
– Read Only Memory (ROM – nonvolatile)

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 Introduction to RAM

• Random-access memory, or RAM, provides large quantities of temporary

storage in a computer system.
– Memory cells can be accessed to transfer information to or from
any desired location, with the access taking the same time
regardless of the location
• A RAM can store many values.
– An address will specify which memory value we’re interested in.
– Each value can be a multiple-bit word (e.g., 32 bits).
• We’ll refine the memory properties as follows:

A RAM should be able to:

- Store many words, one per address
- Read the word that was saved at a particular address
- Change the word that’s saved at a particular address

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 Picture of memory
Address Data
00000000
00000001
• You can think of computer memory as being one
00000002
big array of data.
.
– The address serves as an array index.
.
– Each address refers to one word of data. .
• You can read or modify the data at any given .
memory address, just like you can read or
.
modify the contents of an array at any given
.
index.
.
.
.
.
FFFFFFFD
FFFFFFFE
FFFFFFFF

Word 3
 Block diagram of RAM

2k x n memory
CS WR Memory operation
k n
ADRS OUT 0 x None
n
DATA 1 0 Read selected word
CS 1 1 Write selected word
WR

• This block diagram introduces the main interface to RAM.

– A Chip Select, CS, enables or disables the RAM.
– ADRS specifies the address or location to read from or write to.
– WR selects between reading from or writing to the memory.
To read from memory, WR should be set to 0.
OUT will be the n-bit value stored at ADRS.
To write to memory, we set WR = 1.
DATA is the n-bit value to save in memory.
• This interface makes it easy to combine RAMs together, as we’ll see.

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 Memory sizes
• We refer to this as a 2k x n memory.
– There are k address lines, which can specify one of 2k addresses.
– Each address contains an n-bit word.

2k x n memory
k n
ADRS OUT
n
DATA
CS
WR

• For example, a 224 x 16 RAM contains 224 = 16M words, each 16 bits long.
– The RAM would need 24 address lines.
– The total storage capacity is 224 x 16 = 228 bits.

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 Size matters!

• Memory sizes are usually specified in numbers of bytes (1 byte= 8 bits).

• The 228-bit memory on the previous page translates into:

228 bits / 8 bits per byte = 225 bytes

• With the abbreviations below, this is equivalent to 32 megabytes.

Prefix Base 2 Base 10

K Kilo 210 = 1,024 103 = 1,000
M Mega 220 = 1,048,576 106 = 1,000,000
G Giga 230 = 1,073,741,824 109 = 1,000,000,000

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 Typical memory sizes
Address Data
• Some typical memory capacities: 00000000
– PCs usually come with 1-3GB RAM. 00000001
– PDAs have 64-256MB of memory. 00000002
.
– Digital cameras and MP3 players can have
32MB or more of storage. .
.
• Many operating systems implement virtual
memory, which makes the memory seem larger .
than it really is. .
– Most systems allow up to 32-bit addresses. .
This works out to 232, or about four billion, .
different possible addresses. .
– With a data size of one byte, the result is .
apparently a 4GB memory! .
– The operating system uses hard disk space FFFFFFFD
as a substitute for “real” memory. FFFFFFFE
FFFFFFFF

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 Reading RAM
• To read from this RAM, the controlling circuit must:
– Enable the chip by ensuring CS = 1.
– Select the read operation, by setting WR = 0.
– Send the desired address to the ADRS input.
– The contents of that address appear on OUT after a little while.
• Notice that the DATA input is unused for read operations.

2k x n memory
k n
ADRS OUT
n
DATA
CS
WR

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 Reading RAM

• 50 MHz CPU – 20 ns clock cycle time

• Memory access time= 65 ns
• Maximum time from the application of the address to the
appearance of the data at the Data Output

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 Writing RAM
• To write to this RAM, you need to:
– Enable the chip by setting CS = 1.
– Select the write operation, by setting WR = 1.
– Send the desired address to the ADRS input.
– Send the word to store to the DATA input.
• The output OUT is not needed for memory write operations.

2k x n memory
k n
ADRS OUT
n
DATA
CS
WR

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 Writing RAM

• 50 MHz CPU – 20 ns clock cycle time

• Write cycle time= 75 ns
• Maximum time from the application of the address to the
completion of all internal memory operations to store a word

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 Static memory

• How can you implement the memory chip?

• There are many different kinds of RAM.
– We’ll start off discussing static memory, which is most commonly
used in caches and video cards.
– Later we mention a little about dynamic memory, which forms the
bulk of a computer’s main memory.
• Static memory is modeled using one latch for each bit of storage.
• Why use latches instead of flip flops?
– A latch can be made with only two NAND or two NOR gates, but a
flip-flop requires at least twice that much hardware.
– In general, smaller is faster, cheaper and requires less power.
– The tradeoff is that getting the timing exactly right is a pain.

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 Starting with latches
• To start, we can use one latch to store each bit. A one-bit RAM cell is
shown here.

• Since this is just a one-bit memory, an ADRS input is not needed.

• Writing to the RAM cell:
– When CS = 1 and WR = 1, the latch control input will be 1.
– The DATA input is thus saved in the D latch.
• Reading from the RAM cell and maintaining the current contents:
– When CS = 0 or when WR = 0, the latch control input is also 0, so
the latch just maintains its present state.
– The current latch content will appear on OUT when CS= 1.

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 My first RAM
• We can use these cells
to make a 4 x 1 RAM.
• Since there are four
words, ADRS is two bits.
• Each word is only one
bit, so DATA and OUT
are one bit each.
• Word selection is done
with a decoder attached
to the CS inputs of the
RAM cells. Only one cell
can be read or written
at a time.
• Notice that the outputs
are connected together
with a single line!

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 Connecting outputs together

• In normal practice, it’s bad to connect outputs together. If the outputs

have different values, then a conflict arises.

• The standard way to “combine” outputs is to use OR gates or muxes.

• This can get expensive, with many wires and gates with large fan-ins.

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 Those funny triangles
• The triangle represents a three-state buffer.
• Unlike regular logic gates, the output can be one of three different
possibilities, as shown in the table.

EN IN OUT
0 x Disconnected
1 0 0
1 1 1

• “Disconnected” means no output appears at all, in which case it’s safe to

connect OUT to another output signal.
• The disconnected value is also sometimes called high impedance or Hi-Z.

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 Connecting three-state buffers together
• You can connect several three-state
buffer outputs together if you can
guarantee that only one of them is
enabled at any time.
• The easiest way to do this is to use a
decoder!
• If the decoder is disabled, then all the
three-state buffers will appear to be
disconnected, and OUT will also appear
disconnected.
• If the decoder is enabled, then exactly
one of its outputs will be true, so only
one of the tri-state buffers will be
connected and produce an output.
• The net result is we can save some wire
and gate costs. We also get a little more
flexibility in putting circuits together.

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 Bigger and better
• Here is the 4 x 1 RAM
once again.
• How can we make a
“wider” memory with
more bits per word, like
maybe a 4 x 4 RAM?
• Duplicate the stuff in
the blue box!

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 A 4 x 4 RAM
• DATA and OUT are now each four bits long, so you can read and write
four-bit words.

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RAM Cell with SR Latch

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 RAM Bit Slice Model
• RAM bit slice contains all of the circuitry associated with a single bit
position of a set of RAM words

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16-Word by 1-bit RAM Chip

22
16x1 RAM Using a 4x4 RAM Cell Array

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8x2 RAM Using a 4x4 RAM Cell Array

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 Bigger RAMs from smaller RAMs

• We can use small RAMs as building blocks for making larger memories,
by following the same principles as in the previous examples.
• As an example, suppose we have some 64K x 8 RAMs to start with:
– 64K = 26 x 210 = 216, so there are 16 address lines.
– There are 8 data lines.

16
8 8

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 Making a larger memory

• We can put four 64K x 8 chips

8

together to make a 256K x 8

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memory.
• For 256K words, we need 18
address lines.
– The two most significant
address lines go to the
decoder, which selects one of
the four 64K x 8 RAM chips.
– The other 16 address lines are
shared by the 64K x 8 chips.
• The 64K x 8 chips also share WR
and DATA inputs.
• This assumes the 64K x 8 chips
have three-state outputs. 8

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 Analyzing the 256K x 8 RAM

• There are 256K words of memory, 8

spread out among the four smaller
64K x 8 RAM chips. 16

• When the two most significant

bits of the address are 00, the
bottom RAM chip is selected. It
holds data for the first 64K
addresses.
• The next chip up is enabled when
the address starts with 01. It
holds data for the second 64K
addresses.
• The third chip up holds data for
the next 64K addresses.
• The final chip contains the data of
the final 64K addresses. 8

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 Address ranges

16 11 1111 1111 1111 1111 (0x3ffff)

to
11 0000 0000 0000 0000 (0x30000)

10 1111 1111 1111 1111 (0x2ffff)

to
10 0000 0000 0000 0000 (0x20000)

01 1111 1111 1111 1111 (0x1ffff)

to
01 0000 0000 0000 0000 (0x10000)

00 1111 1111 1111 1111 (0x0ffff)

to
8 00 0000 0000 0000 0000 (0x00000)

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 Making a wider memory
• You can also combine smaller chips to make wider memories, with the
same number of addresses but more bits per word.
• Here is a 64K x 16 RAM, created from two 64K x 8 chips.
– The left chip contains the most significant 8 bits of the data.
– The right chip contains the lower 8 bits of the data.

8 8

16

8 8

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 Summary

• A RAM looks like a bunch of registers connected together, allowing

users to select a particular address to read or write.
• Much of the hardware in memory chips supports this selection process:
– Chip select inputs
– Decoders
– Tri-state buffers
• By providing a general interface, it’s easy to connect RAMs together to
make “longer” and “wider” memories.
• Next, we’ll look at some other types of memories

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