US6185644B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Memory system including a plurality of memory devices and a transceiver device
Assignee: Rambus Inc
•
Filing: 2000-01-19
•
Granted: 2001-02-06
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Expires: 2020-01-19
Abstract
Abstract A memory system having a master device and a plurality of memory subsystems, including first and second memory subsystems coupled to a first bus. Each memory subsystem includes a plurality of memory devices. The master device transmits a request for a read operation onto the first bus to access data from at least one memory device included in at least one memory subsystem. The first and second memory subsystems each include a transceiver device, a bus, and first and second memory devices. Each transceiver device connects to the first bus. The bus of each memory subsystem connects to each respective transceiver device, wherein each transceiver device is coupled between the first bus and each respective memory subsystem bus. The first and second memory devices in each memory subsystem are coupled respective transceiver devices via respective buses.
Inventors
- 👤 Michael Farmwald
- 👤 Mark Horowitz
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 22:54
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11C; G11C7/00; G11C7/10; G11C7/1051; G11C7/1066; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/006; G06F12/00; G06F12/02; G06F12/0215; G06F12/06; G06F12/0646; G06F12/0653; G06F12/0661; G06F12/0684; G06F13/00; G06F13/14; G06F13/16; G06F13/1605; G06F13/161; G06F13/1668; G06F13/1678; G06F13/1689; G06F13/1694; G06F13/36; G06F13/368; G06F13/376; G06F13/38; G06F13/42; G06F13/4204; G06F13/4234; G06F13/4239; G11C11/00; G11C11/21; G11C11/34; G11C11/40; G11C11/401; G11C11/4063; G11C11/407; G11C11/4076; G11C11/409; G11C11/4096; G11C29/00; G11C29/70; G11C29/88; G11C5/00; G11C5/02; G11C5/04; G11C5/06; G11C5/063; G11C5/066; G11C7/1006; G11C7/1012; G11C7/1015; G11C7/1045; G11C7/1057; G11C7/1069; G11C7/1072; G11C7/1078; G11C7/1084; G11C7/22; G11C7/222; G11C7/225; G11C8/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/08; G06F11/10; G06F11/1008; G06F11/1048; G11C2207/00; G11C2207/10; G11C2207/105; G11C2207/108; Y; Y02; Y02D; Y02D10/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
A memory system having a master device and a plurality of memory subsystems coupled to a first bus, each memory subsystem having a plurality of memory devices, wherein the master device transmits a request for a read operation onto the first bus to access data from at least one memory device included in at least one memory subsystem, the memory system comprising: a first memory subsystem including: a transceiver device connected to the first bus; a subsystem bus connected to the transceiver device, wherein the transceiver device is coupled between the first bus and the subsystem bus; a plurality of termination elements connected to the subsystem bus; and a first and second memory device coupled to the first transceiver device via the subsystem bus.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
124 words
A memory system having a master device and a plurality of memory subsystems coupled to a first bus, each memory subsystem having a plurality of memory devices, wherein the master device transmits a request for a read operation onto the first bus to access data from at least one memory device included in at least one memory subsystem, the memory system comprising: a first memory subsystem including: a transceiver device connected to the first bus; a subsystem bus connected to the transceiver device, wherein the transceiver device is coupled between the first bus and the subsystem bus; a plurality of termination elements connected to the subsystem bus; and a first and second memory device coupled to the first transceiver device via the subsystem bus.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
The memory system of claim 1 further including a first and second circuit board, wherein the first memory subsystem is disposed on the first circuit board.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
The memory system of claim 1 wherein the subsystem bus of the first memory subsystem further includes a first clock line, and the first and second memory devices each include clock receiver circuitry coupled to the first clock line to receive a first external clock signal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
52 words
The memory system of claim 3 wherein the first and second memory devices each further include a plurality of output drivers connected to the subsystem bus, wherein the plurality of output drivers of one of the first and second memory devices outputs data synchronously with respect to the first external clock signal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
89 words
The memory system of claim 3 wherein the subsystem bus includes a second clock line and the first clock receiver circuitry further receives a second external clock signal from the second clock line, and wherein the first and second memory devices each further include an output driver connected to the subsystem bus, wherein the output driver of one of the first and second memory devices outputs first data synchronously with respect to the first external clock signal and second data synchronously with respect to the second external clock signal.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
The memory system of claim 5 , wherein the first and second memory devices each further include delay lock loop circuitry coupled to the clock receiver circuitry and the output driver.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
65 words
The memory system of claim 3 wherein the first and second memory devices each further include: a plurality of output drivers connected to the subsystem bus, wherein the plurality of output drivers of the first and second memory devices output data synchronously with respect to the first external clock signal; and delay lock loop circuitry coupled to the clock receiver circuitry and the output drivers.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
116 words
A memory system having a controller device coupled to a first bus, and a plurality of synchronous memory devices, the memory system comprising: a transceiver device connected to the first bus; a second bus connected to the first transceiver device, the second bus including a first clock line, and wherein the transceiver device is coupled between the second bus and the first bus; a first memory device having clock receiver circuitry and at least one memory section, wherein the clock receiver circuitry is connected to the first clock line; and a second memory device having clock receiver circuitry and at least one memory section, wherein the clock receiver circuitry is connected to the first clock line.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
116 words
A memory system having a controller device coupled to a first bus, and a plurality of synchronous memory devices, the memory system comprising: a transceiver device connected to the first bus; a second bus connected to the first transceiver device, the second bus including a first clock line, and wherein the transceiver device is coupled between the second bus and the first bus; a first memory device having clock receiver circuitry and at least one memory section, wherein the clock receiver circuitry is connected to the first clock line; and a second memory device having clock receiver circuitry and at least one memory section, wherein the clock receiver circuitry is connected to the first clock line.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
The memory system of claim 8 , wherein the first and second memory devices both further include output driver circuitry to output data synchronously with respect to a first clock signal.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
79 words
The memory system of claim 9 , wherein the second bus includes a second clock line wherein both the clock receiver circuitry of the first memory device and the clock receiver of the second memory device are each connected to the second clock line to receive a second external clock signal, and wherein the output driver circuitry outputs first data synchronously with respect to the first clock signal and second data synchronously with respect to the second clock signal.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
32 words
The memory system of claim 10 , wherein the first and second memory device each further include delay lock loop circuitry coupled between the clock receiver circuitry and the output driver circuitry.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
56 words
The memory system of claim 8 , wherein the clock receiver circuitry of the first and second memory devices receives a first clock signal from the first clock line, and wherein the first and second memory device each output data onto the second bus after a number of clock cycles of the first clock signal transpires.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
44 words
The memory system of claim 8 wherein the first and second memory devices each further include a register to store a value representative of a number of clock cycles of the first clock signal to transpire before data is output during a read operation.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
41 words
The memory system of claim 8 further including a first circuit board and a second circuit board, wherein the controller device is disposed on the first circuit board, and the plurality of memory devices are disposed on the second circuit board.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
129 words
A memory module having a plurality of synchronous memory devices, each memory device having an array of memory cells, the memory module comprising: a bus having a plurality of signal lines, including a first clock line; a transceiver device coupled to the bus; a first synchronous memory device including: clock receiver circuitry, coupled to the first clock line, to receive a first clock signal; output driver circuitry coupled to the bus, to output data onto the bus synchronously with respect to the first clock signal; and a second synchronous memory device including: clock receiver circuitry, coupled to the first clock line, to receive a first clock signal; and output driver circuitry coupled to the bus, to output data onto the bus synchronously with respect to the first clock signal.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
129 words
A memory module having a plurality of synchronous memory devices, each memory device having an array of memory cells, the memory module comprising: a bus having a plurality of signal lines, including a first clock line; a transceiver device coupled to the bus; a first synchronous memory device including: clock receiver circuitry, coupled to the first clock line, to receive a first clock signal; output driver circuitry coupled to the bus, to output data onto the bus synchronously with respect to the first clock signal; and a second synchronous memory device including: clock receiver circuitry, coupled to the first clock line, to receive a first clock signal; and output driver circuitry coupled to the bus, to output data onto the bus synchronously with respect to the first clock signal.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
41 words
The memory module of claim 15 wherein the first and second memory devices each further include a register to store a value representative of a number of clock cycles of the first clock signal to transpire before the data is output.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
64 words
The memory module of claim 15 wherein the bus further includes a second clock line, and wherein the clock receiver circuitry of the first and second memory device receives a second clock signal from the second clock line, wherein first data is output synchronously with respect to the first clock signal and second data is output synchronously with respect to the second clock signal.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
31 words
The memory module of claim 17 wherein the first and second memory devices each further include delay lock loop circuitry coupled to the clock receiver circuitry and the output driver circuitry.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
The memory module of claim 17 further including a clock generator coupled to the first and second clock line, the clock generator generating the first and second clock signals.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
25 words
The memory module of claim 15 further including a clock generator coupled to the first clock line, the clock generator generating the first clock signal.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
32 words
The memory module of claim 15 further including a plurality of termination elements coupled to the bus, wherein each termination element terminates a respective signal line of the plurality of signal lines.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
32 words
The memory module of claim 15 wherein the clock receiver circuitry of the first and second memory devices include an amplifier to receive small voltage swing signals from the first clock line.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-02-06 | 2004-08-07 | 2005-02-06 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-02-06 | 2008-08-07 | 2009-02-06 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-02-06 | 2012-08-07 | 2013-02-06 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |