Memory Design:
System - on Chip
INTRODUCTION
Memory design is the key to system design.
The memory system is often the most costly (in terms of area
or number of die) part of the system and it largely determines
the performance.
Memory design involves a number of considerations.
The primary consideration is the application requirements: the
operating system, the size, and the variability of the
application processes.
This largely determines the size of memory and how the
memory will be addressed: real or virtual.
We start by looking at issues in SOC external and internal
memories
Figure 4.1 An outline for memory
design.
The SOC memory model.
OVERVIEW SOC External Memory
What Is SoC External Memory?
in SoC systems refers to memory devices located outside the
silicon die of the SoC. These are connected via memory
interfaces (e.g., DDR, LPDDR, SPI, etc.) and provide additional
storage or data access capabilities beyond what the internal
memory can handle.
OVERVIEW SOC External Memory
Type Description Use Case
High-speed dynamic RAM (e.g., Application processors,
DDR SDRAM
DDR3, DDR4) multimedia
Low-power DDR for mobile
LPDDR Smartphones, tablets
devices
Embedded multimedia card
eMMC Mid-range embedded systems
(flash storage)
Bootloader, OS storage,
NAND Flash Non-volatile storage
firmware
Faster reads than NAND, used Firmware storage, embedded
NOR Flash
for boot code code
Often used for cache, also
SRAM Very fast access needs
externally in some cases
Low-cost systems,
SPI Flash Serial interface flash
microcontrollers
OVERVIEW SOC External Memory
In the context of SoC (System on Chip) architecture, Flash memory plays a crucial
role for non-volatile storage — meaning it retains data even when power is off. Flash
memory can be either embedded (on-chip) or external, depending on the SoC design
and use case.
Type Characteristics Typical Use in SoC
Fast read, random access,
NOR Flash Firmware storage, boot ROM
code execution (XIP)
Higher density, slower OS, file system, bulk data
NAND Flash
random access storage
Flash integrated into the Secure boot, microcontroller
eFlash (embedded Flash)
SoC chip code
Serial interface, compact, Cost-effective external
SPI Flash
low pin count storage
SOC Internal Memory
The most important and obvious factor in memory system design is
the placement of the main memory: on - die (the same die as the
processor) or off - die (on its own die or on a module with multiple
dice).
The design of the memory system is limited by two basic parameters
that determine memory systems performance
The fi rst is the access time. This is the time for a processor request to
be transmitted to the memory system, access a datum, and return it
back to the processor.
Access time is largely a function of the physical parameters of the
memory system — the physical distance between the processor and
the memory system, or the bus delay, the chip delay, and so on. The
second parameter is memory bandwidth , the ability of the memory to
respond to requests per unit time. Bandwidth is primarily determined
by the way the physical memory system is organized — the number
SOC Internal Memory
Type Description Typical Use
Static RAM – fast, low-
CPU cache (L1, L2), tightly-
SRAM latency, expensive, low
coupled memory
density
Read-Only Memory – non-
ROM Bootloader, firmware
volatile
Embedded flash –
eFlash Code storage in MCUs
rewriteable, non-volatile
Tightly Coupled Memory – Real-time tasks, safety-
TCM
fast, deterministic access critical code
Small, fast RAM for DSPs, image processing
Scratchpad RAM
temporary data cores
The Size of Memory