Virage offers multiport memory for SoC designs

Virage offers multiport memory for SoC designs
By Mike Clendenin, EE Times
April 29, 2002 (2:11 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20020429S0045

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Memory designer Virage Logic Corp. intends to market a configurable SRAM-based multiport memory that can perform three read and write operations simultaneously, increasing data throughput in today's embedded systems and meeting the expected demands of parallel or pipelined processors in future system-on-chip designs.

The SRAM-based Custom-Touch Area, Speed and Power embedded memory is an extension of Virage's earlier single- and dual-port parts, but has been recast as a shared memory system for high-speed, multiprocessor SoCs. Hoping to set it apart from competing solutions, Virage said the design will save customers silicon area over standard parts, trim design time and improve flexibility over custom-built parts. The company said it will eventually offer reliable yield data as the part moves into volume production at foundries, starting with a 0.13-micron generic logic process at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

The multiported register file enables simultaneous writes to a maximum of three different addresses while data is being read from three other locations. The total number of read ports tops out at four. During the SoC design cycle, engineers may reconfigure the ports to fine-tune the optimal data throughput, Virage said.

The maximum implementation is 72 kbits for one instance. For an 8-kbit instance, the area and speed savings of the multiported approach versus multiple single-port register files plus logic can be up to 65 percent, the company said. The design also includes an option for double-data-rate signaling. Pricing starts at $36,000 for one configuration.