A 12-MHz Data Cycle 4-Mb DRAM with Pipeline Operation

A 12-MHz data-cycle 4-Mb DRAM with pipeline operation has been designed and fabricated using 0.8-μm twin-tub CMOS technology. The pipeline DRAM outputs data corresponding to addresses that were accepted in the previous [formula omitted] cycle. The latter half of the previous read operation and the first half of the next read operation take place simultaneously, so the [formula omitted] cycle time is reduced. This pipeline DRAM technology needs no additional chip area and no process modification. A 95-ns [formula omitted] cycle time was obtained under worst conditions while this value is 125 ns for conventional DRAM's.