New ARM memory interface solution delivers 90 percent utilization efficiency

ARM today announced the release of their fourth generation memory interface solution, comprising the Dynamic Memory Controller (DMC-400) and an ARM Artisan® DDR PHY hard macro, targeting high performance, low latency SoC applications. ARM’s memory interface solution is specifically designed to augment the performance of ARM® Cortex™-A series processors, including the Cortex-A9 and Cortex-A15 MPCore™ processors, enabling the development of high-bandwidth, high-efficiency multicore systems. The controller and the PHY (40nm) have already been licensed by a number of major customers including LG Electronics.

The ARM CoreLink™ DMC-400 implements advanced memory scheduling to deliver an industry-leading memory utilization efficiency in excess of 90 percent across multiple memory channels, interfacing through a DFI 2.1 compliant PHY to DDR2, DDR3 or LPDDR2 DRAM products. The CoreLink DMC-400 is the first memory controller designed to integrate with the AMBA® 4 ACE™ or AMBA3 AXI3™ interfaces, sharing a system-wide QoS that guarantees bandwidth and latency contracts from processor though to external memory.

The Artisan PHY hard macro is a high-speed physical interface covering a broad range of DDR (double-data rate) applications ranging from high-speed mission critical to low-power memory sub-systems. This robust silicon-proven (40nm) solution has been optimized for high data bandwidth, lowest power and enhanced signal integrity features to enable support for a wide range of applications from high-end graphics, high-speed communications to low-power handheld. Incorporating a multi row pad architecture for the smallest footprint, the PHY supports flip chip and wirebond package options at 40nm.

Working with its Partners and as an active member of the JEDEC committee, ARM has ensured that its DMC microarchitecture is also fully scalable to future memory standards such as LPDDR3, Wide-IO, and DDR4.