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29,258 technical terms and definitions

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detail mk4096 pinout and packaging

ti tms4030, dram4k 1973

Detail the MK4096 Pinout and Packaging The MK4096 packed power, ground, six multiplexed address pins, data in, data out, chip select, and the RAS and CAS control pins into…

detail mk4096 timing specifications

ras cas multiplexing, dram4k 1973

Detail MK4096 Timing Specifications Because row and column addresses now arrived sequentially rather than simultaneously, the MK4096's datasheet specified exact timing windows…

introduce ti tms4030 as the competing part

dram pin count, dram4k 1973

Introduce the TI TMS4030 as the Competing Part Texas Instruments answered the same 4K-density opportunity with the TMS4030, a competing design that targeted the same generation…

compare tms4030 design choices to mk4096

dram cost per bit, dram4k 1973

Compare TMS4030 Design Choices to the MK4096 The TMS4030 reached 4K density using TI's own cell and sense-amplifier design choices, which differed from Mostek's in process detail…

map the mostek vs ti competitive landscape

4k dram, dram4k 1973

Map the Mostek-versus-TI Competitive Landscape With the MK4096 and the TMS4030 both on the market, the 4K DRAM generation became a direct commercial contest between Mostek…

analyze yield economics at 4k density

mostek mk4096, dram4k 1973

Analyze Yield Economics at 4K Density Quadrupling the number of memory cells on a comparable die made the 4K generation more sensitive to any single defect, since a flaw in one…

quantify cost per bit gains over 1k

ti tms4030, dram4k 1973

Quantify Cost-per-Bit Gains Over the 1K Generation The entire commercial case for the 4K generation rested on cost per bit, the metric system buyers actually compared across…

establish multiplexing as the industry standard

ras cas multiplexing, dram4k 1973

Establish Multiplexed Addressing as the Industry Standard Once both Mostek and Texas Instruments had proven that multiplexed RAS/CAS addressing solved the pin-count problem at 4K…

explain second sourcing and pinout compatibility

dram pin count, dram4k 1973

Explain Second-Sourcing and Pinout Compatibility System buyers in the mid-1970s wanted at least two independent suppliers for any memory part they designed into a product, so that…

document the mk4096 datasheet as the reference

dram cost per bit, dram4k 1973

Document the MK4096 Datasheet as the Reference Standard Once the MK4096's pinout, timing, and multiplexed-addressing convention were established in the market, its published…

carry lessons forward to 16k and beyond

4k dram, dram4k 1973

Carry Lessons Forward to 16K and Beyond The engineering lesson of the 4K generation, that address-pin count had to be managed with multiplexing rather than simply adding more…

close naming the 64k generation as the next leap

mostek mk4096, dram4k 1973

Close by Naming the 64K Generation as the Next Leap The 4K generation, anchored by Mostek's MK4096 and contested commercially by Texas Instruments' TMS4030, closed the gap between…

64k dram 1979 address pin count outgrows the package

dram address multiplexing row column shared pins, log2 n address pins versus package cost pin count, ras cas row address strobe column address strobe sequencing

Why Doubling the Array Four Times Over Threatens to Double the Pins the Package Can't Spare 1. State the Pin-Count Arithmetic a Growing Array Forces Every series this project has…

dram 64k 1979 ras cas timing sequencing requirement

row address strobe column address strobe active low latch, t_rcd ras to cas delay sense amplifier settling time, ras cas timing cost traded against pin count savings

Tell the Chip Which Half of the Address It Is Looking At 1. Add the Signal the Multiplexing Scheme Was Missing Step 1 showed that the same 8 pins can carry a row address and then…

dram 64k 1979 full row activation refresh coupling

ras activates entire row simultaneously access transistors, row wide refresh side effect single cell access, ras only cycle deliberate row refresh tool mechanism

One Strobe Touches Every Cell in a Row, Whether You Asked It To or Not 1. Follow RAS Past Addressing Into What It Actually Does to the Array Step 2 treated overline(RAS) as…

dram 64k 1979 count refresh cycles array geometry

row column split r times c determines refresh count, wide rows fewer refresh cycles more sense amp load, refresh overhead t_rc tradeoff row count sense amplifier power

Choose the Array's Shape, and the Refresh Count Falls Out of That Choice 1. Turn Step 3's Row-Wide Refresh Into a Concrete Cycle Count Step 3 established that one…

dram 64k 1979 on chip refresh counter automation

automated row stepping host triggers refresh generically, refresh overhead fraction r times t_rc over t_ret, responsibility moves to chip where retention physics lives

Let the Chip Remember Which Row Comes Next, So the System Does Not Have To 1. State What Manual Row-Stepping Would Demand of the Host System Step 4 established that a complete…

dram 64k 1979 classify what later dram inherits

multiplexed addressing architecture outlives specific numbers, pin count constraint propagated never resolved away, first dram series about periphery not cell interior

Classify and Close: What Every Later DRAM Keeps, and What Was Only 64K's Own Arithmetic 1. Separate the Enduring Mechanism From This Generation's Particular Numbers Every step…

64k-dram-1979 step 7 name the manufacturers racing the 64k generation

name the manufacturers actually racing this generation, name the manufacturers racing the 64k generation

Name the Manufacturers Actually Racing This Generation Steps 1 through 6 built the 64K generation's addressing-and-refresh architecture from first principles without naming…

64k-dram-1979 step 8 adopt page mode access reusing the activated row

adopt page mode reuse what row activation already left, adopt page mode access reusing the activated

Adopt Page Mode: Reuse What Row Activation Already Left Standing Step 3 established that one row activation disturbs an entire row's worth of cells as a side effect of addressing…

64k-dram-1979 step 10 ship a dedicated dram controller chip

ship a separate product the dedicated dram controller chip, ship a dedicated dram controller chip

Ship a Separate Product: the Dedicated DRAM Controller Chip Step 5 automated refresh scheduling on the memory chip itself; a real, commercially distinct alternative existed…

64k-dram-1979 step 15 hold timing margin under higher clock rates

hold timing margin as clock rates climbed across this, hold timing margin under higher clock rates

Hold Timing Margin as Clock Rates Climbed Across This Generation Step 9 derived the specific RAS/CAS timing margins this architecture requires; as successive parts within this…

64k-dram-1979 step 17 confront commoditization in the dram chip wars

confront commoditization the real economics behind the dram chip, confront commoditization in the dram chip wars

Confront Commoditization: the Real Economics Behind the DRAM Chip Wars Step 7 named the manufacturers racing this generation; what that race actually did to pricing and margins…

dram scaling 1974 planar capacitor area collapses under scaling

1t1c dram cell trench stacked capacitor transition, dram capacitor area shrinks faster than signal charge requirement, dram scaling 1974 geometry limit leaves the plane for the third dimension

Why a Shrinking Cell Forces the Capacitor Off the Plane: Planar Charge Storage Collapses Under Scaling 1. State the Constraint the 1968 Cell Never Had to Face The 1T1C cell fixes…

dram scaling 1974 choose between etching down trench building up stacked

trench versus stacked capacitor dram 3d cell geometry, dram scaling substrate trench punchthrough vs stacked topography, 1t1c capacitor area perimeter height product third dimension

Step 2 — Choose Between Etching Down (Trench) and Building Up (Stacked): Two Geometries for the Third Dimension 1. The Fundamental Fork: Substrate Etching vs. Over-Gate…

dram scaling 1974 build the trench etch depth area budget

deep reactive ion etch trench capacitor aspect ratio limits, dram trench sidewall capacitance scales with etch depth, aspect ratio dependent etching arde and void free fill dram

Step 3 — Build the Trench: Etch Depth as the New Area Budget 1. Sidewall Area Replaces Planar Pitch By cutting a high-aspect-ratio vertical cavity into the silicon substrate…

dram scaling 1974 build stacked capacitor above transistor

stacked capacitor crown cylinder hsg poly storage node dram, stacked dram alpha soft error immunity dielectric isolated, stacked capacitor topography step height depth of focus

Step 4 — Build the Stacked Capacitor: Rising Above the Transistor 1. Climbing Vertically into the Free Space Above the Gate Rather than excavating deep into the fragile silicon…

dram scaling 1974 compare two geometries same electrical terms

trench versus stacked quantitative aspect ratio comparison dram, why dram industry forked trench versus stacked capacitor camps, dram storage capacitance 35 femtofarad area budget comparison

Step 5 — Compare the Two Geometries on the Same Electrical Terms: Why the Industry Forked 1. Equalizing the Electrical Baseline: The 35 fF Target When trench and stacked…

dram scaling 1974 isolate trench capacitor from substrate

trench dram buried plate oxide collar parasitic punchthrough, vertical parasitic mosfet suppression buried strap dram, trench to trench bulk punchthrough depletion merge isolation

Step 6 — Isolate the Trench Capacitor From the Substrate: Buried Plates and Oxide Collars 1. The Parasitic Perils of a Shared Silicon Bulk Because the trench capacitor is carved…

dram scaling 1974 fill trench without leaving a void

trench dram keyhole void pinch off knudsen diffusion limit, conformal lpcvd dielectric and polysilicon trench fill dram, step coverage aspect ratio dependent deposition dram yield

Step 7 — Fill the Trench Without Leaving a Void: Conformal Deposition and the Pinch-Off Limit 1. Knudsen Diffusion and the Threat of Premature Pinch-Off Once a high-aspect-ratio…

dram scaling 1974 planarize stacked capacitor cmp

chemical mechanical polishing preston equation dram global planarity, stacked dram array periphery step height depth of focus loss, bpsg reflow vs oxide cmp planarization stacked capacitor dram

Step 8 — Planarize the Stacked Capacitor for the Layers Above It: Chemical Mechanical Polishing and Global Planarity 1. The Topographic Cliff Between Memory Array and Peripheral…

dram scaling 1974 measure payoff capacitance process complexity

trench vs stacked cost accounting femtofarad per mask dram, dram process steps mask count cmp vs deep rie capital cost, storage capacitance yield figure of merit fab economics dram

Step 9 — Measure the Payoff: Capacitance Recovered Per Unit of Process Complexity 1. The Cost-Accounting of 3D Charge Storage Escaping the planar scaling crisis required adding…

dram scaling 1974 retrospective leaving plane only way forward

dennard scaling breakdown 3d capacitor evolution dram, trench vs stacked legacy 3d semiconductor architecture dram, when planar physics failed 3d dimension solved moore law

Step 10 — The 1974 Retrospective: When Leaving the Plane Became the Only Way Forward 1. The Immutable Circuit Law and the Collapse of Two Dimensions Robert Dennard’s 1968 1T1C…

dram-scaling-1974 step 11 name the generation this fork actually served

name the generation this fork actually served 64k through, name the generation this fork actually served

Name the Generation This Fork Actually Served: 64K Through 1M DRAM The trench-versus-stacked fork this series built in the abstract across Steps 2 through 8 was not a theoretical…

dram-scaling-1974 step 15 adopt high k dielectrics beyond geometry alone

adopt a second lever beyond geometry high permittivity dielectrics, adopt high k dielectrics beyond geometry alone

Adopt a Second Lever Beyond Geometry: High-Permittivity Dielectrics Everything this series built through Step 10 recovered capacitance by changing a capacitor's shape — depth…