Multi-mode memory device and method having stacked memory dice, a logic die and a command processing circuit and operating in direct and indirect modes

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 10892003
  • Patent Number
    10,892,003
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, August 29, 2018
    6 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, January 12, 2021
    3 years ago
Abstract
Memory device systems, systems and methods are disclosed, such as those involving a plurality of stacked memory device dice and a logic die connected to each other through a plurality of conductors. The logic die serves, for example, as a memory interface device to a memory access device, such as a processor. The logic die can include a command register that allows selective operation in either of two modes. In a direct mode, conventional command signals as well as row and column address signals are applied to the logic die, and the logic die can essentially couple these signals directly to the memory device dice. In an indirect mode, a packet containing a command and a composite address are applied to the logic die, and the logic die can decode the command and composite address to apply conventional command signals as well as row and column address signals to the memory device dice.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate to memory devices, and, more particularly, in one or more embodiments to a memory device that can be operated in either a direct mode, in which conventional memory control signals are coupled to the memory devices, or an indirect mode, in which command packets are coupled to the memory devices.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As memory devices of all types have evolved, continuous strides have been made in improving their performance in a variety of respects. For example, the storage capacity of memory devices has continued to increase at geometric proportions. This increased capacity, coupled with the geometrically higher operating speeds of electronic systems containing memory devices, has made high memory device bandwidth ever more critical. One application in which memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) devices, require a higher bandwidth is their use as system memory in computer systems. As the operating speed of processors has increased, processors are able to read and write data at correspondingly higher speeds. Yet conventional DRAM devices often do not have the bandwidth to read and write data at these higher speeds, thereby slowing the performance of conventional computer systems. This problem is exacerbated by the trend toward multi-core processors and multiple processor computer systems. It is currently estimated that computer systems operating as high-end servers are idle as many as 3 out of every 4 clock cycles because of the limited data bandwidth of system memory devices. In fact, the limited bandwidth of DRAM devices operating as system memory can reduce the performance of computer systems to as low as 10% of the performance of which they would otherwise be capable.


Various attempts have been made to increase the data bandwidth of memory devices. For example, wider internal data buses have been used to transfer data to and from arrays with a higher bandwidth. However, doing so usually requires that write data be serialized and read data deserialized at the memory device interface. Another approach has been to simply scale up the size of memory devices or conversely shrink their feature sizes, but, for a variety of reasons, scaling has been incapable of keeping up with the geometric increase in the demand for higher data bandwidths.


More recently, proposals have also been made to stack several integrated circuit memory devices in the same package, but doing so threatens to create a large number of other problems to be overcome. These problems can be solved to a large extent by connecting the stack of interconnected memory devices to a logic die on which the memory devices are stacked. The logic die can then serve as a high-speed interface to the memory devices. However, taking advantage of the increased capabilities of this arrangement is more easily achieved if memory command and address signals are placed in a packet and coupled to the logic die through a high-speed bus. Yet many computer and other systems are designed to interface with memory devices using conventional memory command signals and conventional row and column address signals. Advanced memory systems formed by stacking memory devices on a logic die would therefore be unusable with such systems. However, memory device manufacturers generally desire to standardize their product offerings to the greatest extent possible to lessen the number of different memory devices that are manufactured, marketed, etc.


Therefore, a need exists for a method and system to allow advanced memory system formed by stacking interconnected memory device dice to be interfaced with systems by either using conventional memory commands and addresses or by using packets containing commands and addresses.





BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS


FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system that includes a dual mode memory system according to an embodiment of the invention.



FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a dual mode memory system according to an embodiment of the invention.



FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of a dual mode memory system according to an embodiment of the invention.



FIG. 4 is a packet diagram showing the format of a downstream packet that can be coupled to the memory system of FIG. 1, 2 or 3 or a memory system according to some other embodiment of the invention for the indirect operating mode.



FIG. 5 is a chart showing how the commands in the first field of the downstream packet of FIG. 4 are modified for the direct operating mode.



FIG. 6 is a chart showing the commands in the downstream packet of FIG. 4 for the indirect operating mode.



FIG. 7 is a packet diagram showing the format of an upstream packet that can be coupled from the memory system of FIG. 1, 2 or 3 or a memory system according to some other embodiment of the invention.



FIG. 8 is a chart showing the commands in the upstream packet of FIG. 7 for the indirect operating mode.





DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A computer system including a high-capacity, high bandwidth memory device 10 according to an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 1 connected to a processor 12 through a relatively narrow high-speed bus 14 that may be divided into downstream lanes and separate upstream lanes (not shown in FIG. 1). The memory device 10 includes 4 DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26, which may be identical to each other, stacked on top of each other. Although the memory device 10 includes 4 DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26, other embodiments of the memory device use a greater or lesser number of DRAM die. The DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 are stacked with (e.g., on top of) a logic die 30, which serves as the interface with the processor 12. The logic die 30 can implement a variety of functions in the memory device 10, such as to limit the number of functions that are be implemented in the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26. For example, the logic die 30 may perform memory management functions, such as power management and refresh of memory cells in the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26. In some embodiments, the logic die 30 may implement test and/or repair capabilities, and it may perform error checking and correcting (“ECC”) functions.


The DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 are connected to each other and to the logic die 30 by a relatively wide bus 34. The bus 34 may be implemented with through silicon vias (“TSVs”), which comprise a large number of conductors extending through the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 at the same locations on the DRAM die and connect to respective conductors formed on the die 20, 22, 24, 26. In one embodiment, each of the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 are divided into 16 autonomous partitions, each of which may contain 2 or 4 independent memory banks. In such case, the partitions of each die 20, 22, 24, 26 that are stacked on top of each other may be independently accessed for read and write operations. Each set of 16 stacked partitions may be referred to as a “vault.” Thus, the memory device 10 may contain 16 vaults.


As shown in FIG. 2, in one embodiment, the bus 34 may be divided into 16 36-bit bi-directional sub-buses 38a-p, with each of the 16 36-bit sub-buses coupled to the 4 partitions in a respective vault. Each of these sub-buses couples 32 bits of a data and 4 ECC bits between the logic die 30 and the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26. However, the number of stacked DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26, the number of partitions in each DRAM die, the number of banks in each partition, and the number of bits in each of the sub-buses 38a-p can vary as desired. The relatively narrow high-speed bus 14 connecting the processor 12 to the logic die may be divided into 4 16-bit downstream lanes 40a-d and 4 separate 16-bit upstream lanes 42a-d. The 4 downstream lanes 40a-d may be connected to a single processor 12 as shown in FIG. 1, which may be a multi-core processor, to multiple processors (not shown), or to some other memory access device like a memory controller. The 4 downstream lanes 40a-d may operate independently of each other so that packets (in the indirect mode) or memory command, address, and data signals (in the direct mode) are coupled through the lanes 40a-d at different times and to the same or different vaults.


As explained in greater detail below, one of the functions performed by the logic die 30 can be to serialize the read data bits coupled from the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 into a serial stream of 16 serial data bits coupled through 16 parallel bits of each upstream lane 42a-d of the bus 14. Similarly, the logic die 30 may perform the functions of deserializing 16 serial data bits coupled through one of the 16-bit downstream lanes 40a-d of the bus 14 to obtain 256 parallel data bits. The logic die 30 then couples these 256 bits through one of the 32-bit sub-buses 38a-p in a serial stream of 8 bits. However, other embodiments may use different numbers of lanes 40, 42 having different widths or different numbers of sub-buses 38a-p having different widths, and they may couple data bits having different structures. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the stacking of multiple DRAM die results in a memory device having a very large capacity. Further, the use of a very wide bus connecting the DRAM die allows data to be coupled to and from the DRAM die with a very high bandwidth.


A logic die 30 according to an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 3 connected to the processor 12 and the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the 4 downstream lanes 40a-d may be connected to a respective link interface 50a-d. Each link interface 50a-d includes a deserializer 54 that converts each serial stream of 16 data bits on each of the 16-bit lanes 40a-d to 256 parallel bits. Insofar as there are 4 link interfaces 50a-d, the link interfaces can together output 1024 output parallel bits.


Each of the link interfaces 50a-d applies its 256 parallel bits to a respective downstream target 60a-d, which decodes the command and address portions of the received packet (in the indirect mode) or the commands and addresses (in the direct mode) and buffers write data in the event a memory request is for a write operation. The downstream targets 60a-d output their respective commands, addresses and possibly write data to a switch 62. The switch 62 contains 16 multiplexers 64 each of which direct the command, addresses and any write data from any of the downstream targets 60a-d to its respective vault of the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26. Thus, each of the downstream targets 60a-d can access any of the 16 vaults in the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26. The multiplexers 64 use the address in the received memory requests to determine if its respective vault is the target of a memory request. Each of the multiplexers 64 apply the memory request to a respective one of 16 vault controllers 70a-p.


Each vault controller 70a-p includes a respective memory controller 80, each of which includes a write buffer 82, a read buffer 84 and a command pipeline 86. The commands and addresses in memory requests received from the switch 62 are loaded into the command pipeline 86, which subsequently outputs the received commands and corresponding addresses. Any write data in the memory requests are stored in the write buffer 82. The read buffer 84 may be used to store read data from the respective vault, as will be explained in greater detail below. The write data from the write buffer 82 are applied to a memory interface 88.


According to an embodiment of the invention, the commands and addresses from the command pipeline 86 are applied to a memory interface 88 through a command processing circuit, such as a command register 90. The command register 90 can be a free running interface register. In the direct mode, the commands and addresses from the command pipeline are applied to the memory interface 88. These commands and addressed may be applied to the memory interface 88 as they are received by the memory device 10. In the indirect mode, the command register 90 creates the commands and addresses and sends it to the memory interface 88. The command register 90 includes a sequencer (not shown) that transmits the commands and addresses to the memory interface in the proper order and at the proper times.


The memory interface 88 couples the received command and address signals from the command register 90 to the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 through a command/address bus 92. The memory interface 88 also couples 32-bits of write data from the write buffer 82. In some embodiments, the memory interface 88 may include an ECC system (not shown), which uses ECC techniques to check and correct the data read from the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26. In such case, in addition to coupling write data to the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26, the memory interface 88 couples 4 bits of FCC from the ECC system to the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 through a 36-bit data bus 94.


Although write data are loaded into the write buffer 82 as 256 parallel bits, they are output from the buffer 82 in two sets, each set being 128 parallel bits. These 128 bits may then be further serialized by the ECC system (not shown) to 4 sets of 32-bit data, which are coupled through the data bus 94. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, write data are coupled to the write buffer 82 in synchronism with a 500 MHz clock so the data are stored in the write buffer at 16 gigabytes (“GB”) per second. The write data are coupled from the write buffer 82 to the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 using a 2 GHz clock so the data are output from the write buffer 82 at 8 GB/s. Therefore, as long as more than half of the memory requests are not write operations to the same vault, the write buffers 82 will be able to couple the write data to the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 at least as fast as the data are coupled to the write buffer 82.


In the event a memory request is for a read operation, the command and address for the request are coupled to the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 in the same manner as a write request, as explained above. In response to a read request, 32 bits of read data and 4 ECC bits are output from the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26 through the 36-bit data bus 94. The ECC bits are passed to the ECC system (not shown), which uses the ECC bits to check and correct the read data before passing the read data on to the read buffer 84. The ECC system also deserializes the 32 bits of read data into two sets of 128-bit read data. However, in some embodiments, the memory system does not include the ECC system.


After 2 sets of 128-bit read data have been stored in the read buffer 84, the read buffer transmits 256 bits to the switch 62. The switch includes 4 output multiplexers 104 coupled to respective upstream masters 110a-d. Each multiplexer 104 can couple 256 bits of parallel data from any one of the vault controllers 70a-p to its respective upstream master 110a-d. The upstream masters 110a-d format the 256 bits of read data into packet data (in the indirect mode) and couple the packet to respective upstream link interfaces 114a-d. In the direct mode, the read data are simply coupled to respective upstream link interfaces 114a-d. Each of the link interfaces 114a-d include a respective serializer 120 that converts the incoming 256 bits to a serial stream of 16 bits on each bit of a respective one of the 16-bit upstream links 42a-d.


The format of a downstream packet 150 that can be coupled to the memory system of FIG. 1, 2 or 3 or a memory system according to some other embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 4. The downstream packet 150 may be, as explained above, 32 bits wide, and it contains a first field 152. In the indirect operating mode, the first field 152 includes a 4-bit command 156 (“Cmd 3:0”), and 28 bits of an upper address 158 (“UAddress”). The nature of the command 156 and upper address 158 will be described in connection with FIG. 6.


As shown in FIG. 5, in the direct mode, the first field 152 of the downstream packet 150 may be modified to allow a memory access device to directly access the DRAM die 20, 22, 24, 26. The first bit of the first field 152 may be a row address strobe (“RAS”) signal 160, the second bit may be a column address strobe (“CAS”) signal 162 and the third bit may be a write enable (“WE”) signal 164. The first field 152 also includes a 4-bit column address 166 and a 14-bit row address 168. Finally, the first field 152 includes a four bit vault address 170. The vault address 170 specifies which of the 16 vaults are being accessed.


Returning to FIG. 4, the downstream packet 150 also contains a second field 180, which may be used in the indirect operating mode. The second field 180 contains a first group of 8 bits 182 that include 3-bit command extension (“Cmd Ext”) and 5 bits of a lower address (“LAddress”). As subsequently explained, the Cmd Ext bits 182 are used to further define commands designated by the four command bits 156. The next eight bits 184 of the second field 180 are reserved. The next eight bits 186 include 2 reserved bits (“RSV”) and 6 header error checking and correcting bits (“HCRC”), which allow errors in the first field 152 to be detected and possibly corrected. A final eight bits 188 of the second field 180 are tag bits (“Tag”) which uniquely identifies each memory request. As explained in greater detail below, these Tag bits 188 are included in upstream packets containing read data so that the memory request to which the read data corresponds can be identified, for example. Also, including these Tag bits 188 in an upstream packet for a write allows the writing of data to be acknowledged in an upstream packet, as will be subsequently explained.


The downstream packet 150 also contains a third field 190, which includes a mask bit 192 that specifies whether a write will be masked, and 31 bits of write data 196. Following the third field 190 are one or more fields of write data 200. A final field contains a set of error checking bits 210, which may be cyclic redundancy check (“CRC”) bits, ECC bits or some other type of error checking bits. The error checking bits 210 correspond to the write data to allow the memory system to determine if there were any errors in the transmission of the write data. In the case where the error checking bits are ECC bits and the number of errors is not too great, the bits 210 may allow errors in the write data to be corrected.


Potential commands corresponding to the 4 command bits 156 in the first field 152 are shown in FIG. 6 for the indirect mode. For the direct mode, the memory commands are formed by combinations of the WE, CAD and RAS signals shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 6, Cmd “0000” is for a no operation (“NOP”) command, which does not cause the memory system 10 to perform any memory access. The command “0001” is decoded as a read command, with the number of bytes in the read being designated by the command extension bits 182. The command “0100” is decoded as a write command, with the number of bytes being written again by the command extension bits 182. Finally, the command “0101” is decoded as a masked write command, with the number of bytes also being written by the command extension bits 182. The remaining commands in the Cmd bits 156 are reserved for implementing additional functions.


With further reference to FIG. 6, the 28-bit upper address 158 and the 5-bit lower address in the bit group 182 specify the location in the memory system that is the subject of the memory request. The logic die 30 uses these address bits to route a memory request to the corresponding vault and the corresponding row and column address in that vault. As mentioned above, the command extension “Cmd Ext” in the group 182 specifies the number of bytes that are read or written for a read and write or a masked write. If the command 156 in the first field 152 was for a read, the command extensions “011” through “111” designate a read request of 8 through 128 bytes. The remaining command extensions are used for implementing additional functions. If the command 156 in the first field 152 was for a write, the command extensions “011” through “11” similarly designate a write request of 8 through 128 bytes. Finally, if the command 156 in the first field 152 was for a masked write, the command extensions “011” through “111” designate a masked write request of 8 through 128 bytes. The remaining command extensions are used for implementing additional functions.


As also shown in FIG. 6, the 6 error checking bits “HCRC” in the group 186 detects whether the data in the first field 152 contains an error. The final 8-bit tag 188 uniquely identifies each memory request, as previously explained.


The format of an upstream packet 250 is shown in FIG. 7. A first field 260 of the upstream packet 250 includes a 4-bit command (“Cmd0”) 262, and 2 error checking bits 264. Next are 2 reserved bits 266 followed by the 8-bit tag 268 (“Tag0”), which, as previously explained, corresponds to the tag in the downstream packet 150 to which the read data is responsive. The first field 260 also contains a second set of the above-described bits, namely a 4-bit command (“Cmd1”) 272, and 2 error checking bits 274. These error checking bits 274, along with the 2 error checking bits 264, allow detection and possibly correction of errors in the 32 bits of the first field 260. The first field 260 also contains 2 reserved bits 276, and an 8-bit tag 278 (“Tag1”). The upstream packet 250 normally does not include read data for two memory requests. However, the ability to include a second tag 278 and command 272, etc. in the first field 260 allows a write request to be acknowledged in the same upstream packet 250 as an upstream packet containing read data and an associated tag. Following the first field 260 are one or more 32-bit fields 280 of read data and a 32-bit field 290 of error checking bits. These error checking bits allow a memory controller or other memory access device receiving the read data to check for and possibly correct any transmission errors in the read data.


The commands corresponding to the Cmd bits 262, 272 in the upstream packet 250 are shown in FIG. 8. The 4-bit command “Cmd0” 262 corresponds to a read if the upstream packet 250 is to contain read data. Again, the command “0000” is for a no operation “NOP” command. The next command “0001” is a naked command (“NAK”) that acknowledges a read memory request but indicates that the data could not be read because of an error. The command “0100” acknowledges a prior write request, and the command “0101” is a naked command that acknowledges a prior write request but indicates that the write data was in error. The commands “1011” through “1111” indicates the upstream packet 250 contains read data of 8, 16, 32, 64 or 128 bytes, respectively. The remaining commands of “Cmd0” are reserved for implementing other features.


The commands corresponding to the Cmd1 bits 272 are also shown in FIG. 8. The command “0000” is again for a no operation “NOP” command, and the command “0001” is again a naked command (“NAK”) that acknowledges a read memory request but indicates that the data could not be read because of an error. The command “0100” acknowledges a prior write request, and the command “0101” is a naked command that acknowledges a prior write request but indicates that the write data was in error. The remaining commands of “Cmd1” are reserved for implementing other features.


From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, although the embodiments of the invention are explained in the context of stacked DRAM die, it will be understood that the stacked die may be other types of memory device dice, such as flash memory device dice. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims
  • 1. An apparatus comprising: a plurality of stacked memory device dice; anda logic die coupled to the plurality of stacked memory device dice,the logic die including a command processing circuit configured to interpret, in a first mode, a position of bits in a received packet as a row address strobe signal and a column address strobe signal, respectively, and, interpret, in a second mode, the position of bits in the received packet as at least a portion of a command code,the logic die further configured to transmit a command to the plurality of memory device dice based on the interpreted position of bits.
  • 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of memory device dice are operable in the first mode to provide data directly to upstream link interfaces included in the logic die, and wherein the plurality of memory device dice are operable in the second mode to provide data formatted by respective upstream masters included in the logic die to the upstream link interfaces.
  • 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first mode is a direct mode and the second mode is an indirect mode, wherein the plurality of memory device dice are operable in the direct mode to provide read data directly to upstream link interfaces included in the logic die, andwherein the plurality of memory device dice are operable in the indirect mode to provide read data formatted by respective upstream masters included in the logic die to the upstream link interfaces.
  • 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the command processing circuit is configured to interpret, in the first mode, the position of bits in the received packet as the row address strobe signal, the column address strobe signal, and a write enable signal, respectively.
  • 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first mode is a direct mode, and wherein the command processing circuit configured to interpret, in the direct mode, the position of bits in the received packet as the row address strobe signal, the column address strobe signal, and a write enable signal, respectively.
  • 6. A method comprising: receiving, by a command processing circuit of a memory device, a packet including a memory command used to write data to or read data from a plurality of stacked memory device dice;generating and transmitting, to the plurality of stacked memory device dice, a first command based on the received memory command including first and second bits interpreted at a location in the received packet as a row address strobe signal and a column address strobe signal, respectively, responsive to the memory device operable in a first mode; andgenerating and transmitting, to the plurality of stacked memory device dice, a second command based on the received memory command including first and second bits interpreted at the location in the received packet as at least a portion of a command code, responsive to the memory device operable in a second mode.
  • 7. The method of claim 6, transmitting, by the plurality of stacked memory device dice in the first mode, read data directly to upstream link interfaces of the memory device coupled to the command processing circuit.
  • 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: transmitting, by the plurality of stacked memory device dice in the second mode, read data formatted by upstream masters of the memory device to respective upstream link interfaces of the memory device coupled to the upstream masters.
  • 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the first mode is a direct mode and the second mode is an indirect mode.
  • 10. The method of claim 6, wherein a logic die of the memory device including the command processing circuit is operable in the first mode to transmit read data to a memory access device in the same format that the logic die receives the read data from memory device dice, and is operable in the second mode to format the read data received from the memory device dice coupled to the command processing circuit into another packet and to transmit the another packet to the memory access device.
  • 11. A memory device system, comprising: a plurality of stacked memory device dice;a logic die coupled to the memory device dice; anda command processing circuit coupled to the logic die and the memory device dice,the command processing circuit operable in a first operating mode to apply commands received in a packet by the memory device dice, the memory device dice operable in the first operating mode to provide data directly to upstream link interfaces included in the logic die,the command processing circuit operable in a second operating mode to generate commands having a format that is different from corresponding commands received in the packet and to couple the generated commands to the memory device dice, the memory device dice operable in the second operating mode to provide read data formatted via respective upstream masters included in the logic die to the upstream link interfaces.
  • 12. The memory device system of claim 11, wherein in the first operating mode commands received in the packet by the memory device dice include a position of bits interpreted as a row address strobe signal and a column address strobe signal.
  • 13. The memory device system of claim 11, wherein in the second operating mode commands received in the packet by the memory device dice include a position of bits interpreted as at least a portion of a command code.
  • 14. The memory device system of claim 11, wherein in the first operating mode commands received in the packet by the memory device dice include a position of bits interpreted as a row address strobe signal and a column address strobe signal, and wherein in the second operating mode commands received in the packet to the memory device dice include the position of bits interpreted as at least a portion of a command code.
  • 15. The memory device system of claim 11, wherein the first mode is a direct mode, and wherein the command processing circuit configured to interpret, in the direct mode, a position of bits in the received packet as a row address strobe signal, a column address strobe signal, and a write enable signal, respectively.
  • 16. A method comprising: receiving a packet at a logic die of a memory device;transmitting, from a command processing circuit of the logic die and to a plurality of memory device dice of the memory device operable in a first operating mode, commands received in the packet, the plurality of memory device dice operable in the first operating mode to provide data directly to upstream link interfaces; andtransmitting, from a command processing circuit of the logic die and to the plurality of memory device dice of the memory device operable in a second operating mode, generated commands having a format that is different from corresponding commands received in the packet, the plurality of memory device dice operable in the second operating mode to provide data formatted by respective upstream masters to the upstream link interfaces.
  • 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first operating mode is a direct operating mode and the second operating mode is an indirect operating mode.
  • 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: interpreting, by the command processing circuit in the direct operating mode, a position of bits in the packet as a row address strobe signal and a column address strobe signal; andinterpreting, by the command processing circuit in the indirect operating mode, the position of bits in the packet as at least a portion of a command code.
  • 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising: receiving, at the logic die of the memory device, one or more packets including the received packet, andproviding, by the command processing circuit in the first operating mode, data corresponding to the one or more packets to the plurality of memory dice based on a preset order.
  • 20. The method of claim 19, wherein, in the second operating mode, the preset order is different from an order of the one or more packets received at the command processing circuit.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/597,033, filed May 16, 2017, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,109,343 on Oct. 23, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/619,682, filed Sep. 14, 2012, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,659,630 on May 23, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/166,871, filed Jul. 2, 2008, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,289,760 on Oct. 16, 2012. The aforementioned applications and patents are incorporated by reference herein, in their entirety, and for all purposes.

US Referenced Citations (187)
Number Name Date Kind
3755689 Elmer et al. Aug 1973 A
5179303 Searles et al. Jan 1993 A
5263032 Porter et al. Nov 1993 A
5726596 Perez Mar 1998 A
5748914 Barth et al. May 1998 A
5774475 Qureshi Jun 1998 A
5960008 Osawa et al. Sep 1999 A
5982684 Schwartzlow et al. Nov 1999 A
6052329 Nishino et al. Apr 2000 A
6078536 Moon et al. Jun 2000 A
6122688 Barth et al. Sep 2000 A
6177807 Bertin et al. Jan 2001 B1
6181616 Byrd Jan 2001 B1
6247138 Tamura et al. Jun 2001 B1
6285211 Sample Sep 2001 B1
6329859 Wu Dec 2001 B1
6363017 Polney Mar 2002 B2
6369627 Tomita Apr 2002 B1
6380783 Chao et al. Apr 2002 B1
6401213 Jeddeloh Jun 2002 B1
6418068 Raynham Jul 2002 B1
6519194 Tsujino et al. Feb 2003 B2
6570425 Yamaguchi May 2003 B2
6574626 Regelman et al. Jun 2003 B1
6650157 Amick et al. Nov 2003 B2
6658523 Janzen et al. Dec 2003 B2
6727831 Iwata Apr 2004 B2
6795369 Choi et al. Sep 2004 B2
6839260 Ishii Jan 2005 B2
6882304 Winter et al. Apr 2005 B2
6889334 Magro et al. May 2005 B1
6907555 Nomura et al. Jun 2005 B1
7058865 Mori et al. Jun 2006 B2
7107424 Avakian et al. Sep 2006 B1
7135905 Teo et al. Nov 2006 B2
7149134 Streif et al. Dec 2006 B2
7168005 Adams et al. Jan 2007 B2
7171596 Boehler Jan 2007 B2
7184916 Resnick et al. Feb 2007 B2
7197101 Glenn et al. Mar 2007 B2
7203259 Glenn et al. Apr 2007 B2
7205811 Freyman et al. Apr 2007 B2
7243469 Miller et al. Jul 2007 B2
7269094 Lin et al. Sep 2007 B2
7323917 Cho et al. Jan 2008 B2
7389375 Gower et al. Jun 2008 B2
7423469 Pickering et al. Sep 2008 B2
7464241 Pete Dec 2008 B2
7466179 Huang et al. Dec 2008 B2
7489743 Koh et al. Feb 2009 B2
7567476 Ishikawa Jul 2009 B2
7697369 Koshizuka Apr 2010 B2
7710144 Dreps et al. May 2010 B2
7764564 Saito et al. Jul 2010 B2
7772907 Kim et al. Aug 2010 B2
7853836 Takada Dec 2010 B2
7855931 LaBerge et al. Dec 2010 B2
7978721 Jeddeloh et al. Jul 2011 B2
7979757 Jeddeloh Jul 2011 B2
8010866 LaBerge Aug 2011 B2
8127204 Hargan Feb 2012 B2
8134876 Choi et al. Mar 2012 B2
8248138 Liu Aug 2012 B2
8289760 Jeddeloh Oct 2012 B2
8315347 Canagasaby et al. Nov 2012 B2
8356138 Kulkami et al. Jan 2013 B1
8400808 King Mar 2013 B2
8533416 LaBerge et al. Sep 2013 B2
8570881 Talbot et al. Oct 2013 B2
8793460 LaBerge et al. Jul 2014 B2
8806131 Jeddeloh et al. Aug 2014 B2
9146811 LaBerge et al. Sep 2015 B2
9171597 Eckel Oct 2015 B2
9275698 Laberge et al. Mar 2016 B2
9411538 LaBerge et al. Aug 2016 B2
9437263 Eckel Sep 2016 B2
9524254 Jeddeloh et al. Dec 2016 B2
9602080 King et al. Mar 2017 B2
9659630 Jeddeloh May 2017 B2
9899994 King Feb 2018 B2
10109343 Jeddeloh Oct 2018 B2
20010033030 Leedy Oct 2001 A1
20020004893 Chang Jan 2002 A1
20020054516 Taruishi et al. May 2002 A1
20020097613 Raynham Jul 2002 A1
20020125933 Tamura et al. Sep 2002 A1
20020130687 Duesman Sep 2002 A1
20020133666 Janzen et al. Sep 2002 A1
20020138688 Hsu et al. Sep 2002 A1
20030041299 Kanazawa et al. Feb 2003 A1
20030132790 Amick et al. Jul 2003 A1
20040073767 Johnson et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040098545 Pline et al. May 2004 A1
20040160833 Suzuki Aug 2004 A1
20040168101 Kubo Aug 2004 A1
20040199840 Takeoka et al. Oct 2004 A1
20040206982 Lee et al. Oct 2004 A1
20040225856 Braun et al. Nov 2004 A1
20040237023 Takahashi et al. Nov 2004 A1
20040246026 Wang et al. Dec 2004 A1
20040252689 Park Dec 2004 A1
20050005230 Koga et al. Jan 2005 A1
20050071707 Hampel Mar 2005 A1
20050091471 Conner et al. Apr 2005 A1
20050144546 Igeta et al. Jun 2005 A1
20050157560 Hosono et al. Jul 2005 A1
20050174877 Cho et al. Aug 2005 A1
20050278490 Murayama Dec 2005 A1
20050289435 Mulla et al. Dec 2005 A1
20060028864 Rinerson et al. Feb 2006 A1
20060036827 Dell et al. Feb 2006 A1
20060041799 Sato Feb 2006 A1
20060056247 Satoh Mar 2006 A1
20060059406 Micheloni et al. Mar 2006 A1
20060123320 Vogt Jun 2006 A1
20060126369 Raghuram Jun 2006 A1
20060168101 Mikhailov et al. Jul 2006 A1
20060223012 Sekiguchi et al. Oct 2006 A1
20060233012 Sekiguchi et al. Oct 2006 A1
20060245291 Sakaitani Nov 2006 A1
20060253723 Wu et al. Nov 2006 A1
20060262587 Matsui et al. Nov 2006 A1
20060273455 Williams et al. Dec 2006 A1
20060282578 Lee Dec 2006 A1
20070058410 Rajan Mar 2007 A1
20070070669 Tsern Mar 2007 A1
20070074093 Lasser Mar 2007 A1
20070096875 Waterhouse et al. May 2007 A1
20070136645 Hsueh et al. Jun 2007 A1
20070153951 Lim et al. Jul 2007 A1
20070182471 Kim Aug 2007 A1
20070210841 Kim Sep 2007 A1
20070271424 Lee et al. Nov 2007 A1
20070288707 Tremaine Dec 2007 A1
20080080261 Shaeffer et al. Apr 2008 A1
20080147897 Talbot Jun 2008 A1
20080150088 Reed et al. Jun 2008 A1
20080201548 Przybylski et al. Aug 2008 A1
20080250292 Djordjevic Oct 2008 A1
20080270842 Ho et al. Oct 2008 A1
20090006775 Bartley et al. Jan 2009 A1
20090016130 Menke et al. Jan 2009 A1
20090021992 Oh Jan 2009 A1
20090091968 Dietrich et al. Apr 2009 A1
20090196093 Happ Aug 2009 A1
20090244997 Searles et al. Oct 2009 A1
20090251189 Hsieh Oct 2009 A1
20090296867 Do et al. Dec 2009 A1
20090300314 Laberge et al. Dec 2009 A1
20090300444 Jeddeloh Dec 2009 A1
20100005217 Jeddeloh Jan 2010 A1
20100005376 Laberge et al. Jan 2010 A1
20100014364 Laberge et al. Jan 2010 A1
20100031129 Hargan Feb 2010 A1
20100042889 Hargan Feb 2010 A1
20100070696 Blankenship Mar 2010 A1
20100079180 Kim et al. Apr 2010 A1
20100091537 Best et al. Apr 2010 A1
20100110748 Best May 2010 A1
20100156488 Kim et al. Jun 2010 A1
20100176893 Nose Jul 2010 A1
20100271092 Zerbe et al. Oct 2010 A1
20100308880 Nose et al. Dec 2010 A1
20110075497 Laberge Mar 2011 A1
20110148486 Mosalikanti et al. Jun 2011 A1
20110271158 Jeddeloh Nov 2011 A1
20110296227 LaBerge et al. Dec 2011 A1
20120144276 Hargan Jun 2012 A1
20120155142 King Jun 2012 A1
20130208549 King Aug 2013 A1
20130318298 LaBerge et al. Nov 2013 A1
20130346722 LaBerge et al. Dec 2013 A1
20140050034 Lee Feb 2014 A1
20140053040 Hargan Feb 2014 A1
20140258666 LaBerge Sep 2014 A1
20140298119 LaBerge et al. Oct 2014 A1
20140337570 LaBerge et al. Nov 2014 A1
20150028928 King Jan 2015 A1
20150063043 Eckel Mar 2015 A1
20150364172 Shim et al. Dec 2015 A1
20160027486 Eckel Jan 2016 A1
20160079971 Singh et al. Mar 2016 A1
20160133336 Lim May 2016 A1
20160182063 Seo et al. Jun 2016 A1
20160211011 Qian Jul 2016 A1
20170163251 King Jun 2017 A1
20170249984 Jeddeloh Aug 2017 A1
Foreign Referenced Citations (27)
Number Date Country
101036131 Sep 2007 CN
05-265872 Oct 1993 JP
0774620 Mar 1995 JP
11-102599 Apr 1999 JP
11-513830 Nov 1999 JP
2003-303139 Oct 2003 JP
2004-327474 Nov 2004 JP
2005-4947 Jan 2005 JP
2007-507794 Mar 2007 JP
2007-140948 Jun 2007 JP
2007-226876 Sep 2007 JP
2007-328636 Dec 2007 JP
2008-112503 May 2008 JP
2008-140220 Jun 2008 JP
2010-514080 Apr 2010 JP
9714289 Apr 1997 WO
2005033958 Apr 2005 WO
2007028109 Mar 2007 WO
2007038225 Apr 2007 WO
2007095080 Aug 2007 WO
2008054696 May 2008 WO
2008076790 Jun 2008 WO
2009148863 Dec 2009 WO
2010002561 Jan 2010 WO
2010011503 Jan 2010 WO
2012060097 May 2012 WO
2012082338 Jun 2012 WO
Non-Patent Literature Citations (12)
Entry
Notice of Preliminary Rejection dated Mar. 21, 2013 for KR Appln No. 10-2011-7002671.
Office action recieved for Chinese application No. 200980125792.2 dated Nov. 2, 2012.
Received Office Action dated Nov. 6, 2012 for JP Application No. 2011-516419.
Related U.S. Appl. No. 12/970,086, filed Dec. 16, 2010, entitled Phase Interpolators and Push-Pull Buffers.
2nd Office Action for CN Application 200980125792.2 dated Aug. 29, 2013.
Decision of Rejection for Appl No. 2011-516419 dated Jul. 16, 2013, Jul. 16, 2013.
Extended Search Report for Appl No. 13157772.8 dated Jun. 28, 2013.
International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Feb. 18, 2010 for PCT/US2009/046898.
Notice of Preliminary Rejection for KR Appl# 1020117002671, dated Sep. 24, 2012.
Preliminary Rejection for KR Appl No. 10-2011-7002671 dated Nov. 28, 2013.
TW 1st Office Action for Appl No. 096120886 dated Apr. 24, 2013.
Extended European Search Report dated Aug. 29, 2011 for European Application No. 09774012.0.
Related Publications (1)
Number Date Country
20180374530 A1 Dec 2018 US
Continuations (3)
Number Date Country
Parent 15597033 May 2017 US
Child 16116751 US
Parent 13619682 Sep 2012 US
Child 15597033 US
Parent 12166871 Jul 2008 US
Child 13619682 US