DRAM chip density continues to climb. But the hunger for more memory seems insatiable,
especially with virtual systems running on multicore processors. One way to get more
memory in a system is to support more memory sockets, though this
requires more motherboard space and more drivers.
Another is to use higher-density chips, yet this
can be more costly.
MetaRAM puts
a DDR3 cont rol ler
between the memory
socket and memor y
chips (see the figure).
This allows a reduction
of memory loads
because the controller
presents one load
while handling multiple
SDRAM chips. It also
permits the creation of
higher-density dualinline
memory modules
(DIMMs) using lowerdensity
memory chips.
And, it’s possible to
build a bigger DIMM,
essentially doubling the
capacity, using existing
memory chips. The
approach is applicable regardless of the memory chip capacity. Using higher-density chips
simply increases the capacity of the resulting DIMM. The controllers support x4 and x8
DIMM interfaces.
MetaRAM • www.metaram.com