One-Shot Refresh: A Low-Power Low-Congestion Approach for Dynamic Memories

Abstract

This brief presents the concept of one-shot refresh (OSR) for dynamic memories. The uniqueness of OSR that differs from the conventional row-by-row refresh operations, is that OSR is able to refresh all rows in the entire array by just one single refresh without the need to read out the stored data in each row. By doing so, significant energy savings could be achieved, and the time window accessible for regular read and write operations is widened with less disruption by the refresh traffic. We show that a few devices could be used to update existing designs to gain the OSR capability. These devices all exhibit hysteretic I-V characteristics and support the OSR data-independent refresh without the need to read out data first. The enabler is the proposed circuit technique for refresh and standby. As a proof of concept, we showcase an OSR-enabled embedded dynamic random-access memory (eDRAM) using the nano-electromechanical (NEM) relay, a type of CMOS-compatible device. Comparative evaluations show the merits of OSR more thoroughly.