Method and apparatus of event-driven based refresh for high performance memory controller

摘要

A method and apparatus for refreshing dynamic memory is provided. The apparatus includes an ahead refresh controller having an ahead queue for refreshing dynamic random access memory (DRAM) when the memory request bus is idle. In such a way that no dynamic RAM bandwidth is wasted. The apparatus also comprises a normal refresh controller having a normal queue. Giving the normal refresh request in the normal priority unless the normal queue is full. The present invention allows the refresh cycles to gather on the basis of events to minimize the overheads. In other words, even when the system is running in peak performance, the normal refresh controller can largely compact the refresh cycles by means of the normal queue to decrease occurrence of interruption.