The emergence of cloud computing has driven the demand for high-density, low-latency and high-speed memory interfaces. For such applications the use of multiple dual-inline memory modules (DIMMs) with multiple ranks enables time-efficient processing of high-volume data. However, the deterioration of the channel frequency response due to the presence of DIMM connectors and multiple ranks makes it challenging to perform low-power read and write (R/W) operations at high-speed. Recent works have demonstrated the use of near-ground signaling (NGS) for low-power operation and signal-integrity enhancement with the aid of transmit supply regulation [1,2]. In contrast to their differential nature, this paper introduces a single-ended NGS transceiver that achieves 6.4Gb/s R/W operations with the aid of low-power equalization and in-situ reference-voltage calibration over a 3.5″ total FR4 PCB routing with more than 25mm of package traces in a dual-rank DIMM memory interface system.
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