OPTIMIZATION CIRCUITRY AND CONTROL FOR A SYNCHRONOUS MEMORY DEVICE WITH PROGRAMMABLE LATENCY PERIOD

摘要

A method and apparatus for optimizing the speed path of a memory access operation in a synchronous depending upon the present latency period for the synchronous DRAM. The improved memory device compensates the time between row address latching and column address latching tRCD by delaying the presentment of the column address to compensate tRCD from the time available for column address latching to valid data-out (tAA) when tRCD is the critical parameter. Optimization circuitry reduces the amount of time available for tAA and "shifts" it to the more critical parameter tRCD, enabling the optimization or reduction of the time allocated for tRCD by compensating tRCD with the extra time available for tAA. Thus, the memory access optimization circuitry enables an optmization or reduction in the total memory access time by compensating the optimized tRCD with the extra time available for tAA.