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Dynamic RAM

Dynamic RAM (DRAM) consists of transistors and capacitors, requiring constant refreshing to maintain data, while Static RAM (SRAM) uses flip-flops and does not need refreshing, making it faster but more expensive. DRAM is commonly used in main memory due to its lower cost and higher capacity, whereas SRAM is preferred for processor memory caches where speed is critical. Additionally, Read-Only Memory (ROM) is a non-volatile memory that cannot be altered, serving as permanent storage.

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Dynamic RAM

Dynamic RAM (DRAM) consists of transistors and capacitors, requiring constant refreshing to maintain data, while Static RAM (SRAM) uses flip-flops and does not need refreshing, making it faster but more expensive. DRAM is commonly used in main memory due to its lower cost and higher capacity, whereas SRAM is preferred for processor memory caches where speed is critical. Additionally, Read-Only Memory (ROM) is a non-volatile memory that cannot be altered, serving as permanent storage.

Uploaded by

madarauchiha198753
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

Each DRAM chip consists of a number of transistors and capacitors. Each of

these parts is tiny since a single RAM chip will contain millions of capacitors

and transistors.

» Capacitors hold the bits of information (0 or 1).

» Transistors act like switches; they allow the chip control circuitry to read the

capacitor or change the capacitor’s value.

This type of RAM needs to be constantly refreshed (that is, the capacitor

needs to be re-charged every 15 microseconds otherwise it would lose its

value). If it is not refreshed, the capacitor’s charge will leak away very quickly,

leaving every capacitor with the value 0.

DRAMs have a number of advantages over SRAMs. They:

» are much less expensive to manufacture than SRAMs

» consume less power than SRAMs

» have a higher memory capacity than SRAMs.

Static RAM (SRAM)

A major difference between SRAM and DRAM is that SRAM does not need to be

constantly refreshed.

It makes use of flip flops (see Chapter 15) which hold each bit of memory.

SRAM is much faster than DRAM when it comes to data access (typically, access

time for SRAM is 25 nanoseconds and for DRAM is 60 nanoseconds).

DRAM is the most common type of RAM used in computers, but where absolute

speed is essential, for example in the processor’s memory cache, SRAM is the

preferred technology. Memory cache is a high speed portion of the memory.

It is effective because most programs access the same data or instructions


many times. By keeping as much of this information as possible in SRAM, the

computer avoids having to access the slower DRAM.

Table 3.1 summarises the differences between DRAM and SRAM.

DRAM SRAM

n consists of a number of transistors and

capacitors

n needs to be constantly refreshed

n less expensive to manufacture than SRAM

n has a higher memory capacity than SRAM

n main memory is constructed from DRAM

n consumes more power than SRAM under

reasonable levels of access, as it needs

to be constantly refreshed

n uses flip-flops to hold each bit of

memory

n does not need to be constantly

refreshed

n has a faster data access time than DRAM

n processor memory cache makes use

of SRAM

n if accessed at a high frequency, power

usage can exceed that of DRAM

▲ Table 3.1 Differences between DRAM and SRAM

Another form of primary memory is the read-only memory (ROM). This is similar

to RAM in that it shares the same random access properties, but it cannot
be written to or changed. As the name suggests, ROM is a read-only memory

device.

ROMs are

» non-volatile (the contents are not lost after powering off the computer)

» permanent memory devices (the contents cannot be changed)

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