Hardware and Layout Design Considerations for DDR3 SDRAM Memory Interfaces,
Rev. 1
8
Freescale Semiconductor
VTT Voltage Rail
4
V
TT
Voltage Rail
For a given topology, the worst case V
TT
current should be derived. Assuming the use of a typical R
T
parallel termination resistor and the worst case parameters given in
Table
2
, sink and source currents can
be calculated.
The driver sources (V
TT
plane would sink) the following based on this termination scheme:
(V
DD_max
–
V
TT_min
)/(R
T
+ R
DRVR
)
=
(1.575
–
0.702 V)
/
(47
+
20)
=
13 mA
The driver sinks (V
TT
plane would source) the following based on this termination scheme:
(V
TT_max
–
V
OL
/ (R
T
+ R
S
+ R
DRVR
)
=
(0.798
–
0 V)
/
(47
+
20)
=
12 mA
A bus with balanced number of high and low signals places no real demand on the V
TT
supply. However,
a bus with all DDR address/command/control signals low (~ 28 signals) causes a transient current demand
of approximately 350 mA on the V
TT
rail. The V
TT
regulator must provide a relatively tight voltage
regulation of the rail per the JEDEC specification. Besides a tight tolerance, the regulator must also allow
V
TT
along with V
REF
(if driven from a common IC), to track variations in V
DDQ
over voltage, temperature,
and noise margins.
5
Layout Guidelines for the Signal Groups
To help ensure the DDR interface is properly optimized, Freescale recommends the following sequence
for routing the DDR memory channel:
1.
Route data
2.
Route address/command/control
3.
Route clocks
The data group is listed before the command, address, and control group because it operates at twice the
clock speed, and its signal integrity is of higher concern. In addition, the data group constitutes the largest
portion of the memory bus and comprises most of the trace matching requirements (those of the data
lanes). The address/command, control, and data groups all have a relationship to the routed clock.
Therefore, the effective clock lengths used in the system must satisfy multiple relationships. The designer
should perform simulation and construct system timing budgets to ensure that these relationships are
properly satisfied.
Table
2. Worst Case Parameters for V
TT
Current Calculation
Parameter
Values
Comment
V
DDQ
(max)
1.575 V
From JEDEC spec
V
TT(max)
0.798 V
From JEDEC spec
V
TT(min)
0.702 V
From JEDEC spec
R
DRVR
20
Ω
Nominally, full strength is ~ 20
Ω
s
R
T
47
Ω
Can vary. T
ypically 25–47
Ω
s.
V
OL
0 V
Assumes driver reaches 0
V in the low state.
Hardware and Layout Design Considerations for DDR3 SDRAM Memory Interfaces,
Rev. 1
Freescale Semiconductor
9
Layout Guidelines for the Signal Groups
5.1
Data—MDQ[0:63], MDQS[0:8], MDM[0:8], MECC[0:7]
The data signals of the DDR interface are source-synchronous signals by which memory and the controller
capture the data using the data strobe rather than the clock itself. When transferring data, both edges of the
strobe are used to achieve the 2x data rate.
An associated data strobe (DQS and DQS) and data mask (DM) comprise each data byte lane. This 11-bit
signal lane relationship is crucial for routing, and
Table
3
depicts this relationship. When length matching,
the critical item is the variance of the signal lengths within a given byte lane to its strobe. Length matching
across all bytes lanes is also important and must meet the t
DQSS
parameter as specified by JEDEC. This is
also commonly referred to as the write data delay window. Typically, this timing is considerably more
relaxed than the timing of the individual byte lanes themselves.
NOTE
When routing, each row (that is, the 11-bit signal group) must be treated as
a trace-matched group.
5.2
Layout Recommendations
Freescale strongly recommends routing each data lane adjacent to a solid ground reference for the entire
route to provide the lowest inductance for the return currents, thereby providing the optimal signal
integrity of the data interface. This concern is especially critical in designs that target the top-end interface
speed, because the data switches at 2x the applied clock. When the byte lanes are routed, signals within a
byte lane should be routed on the same critical layer as they traverse the PCB motherboard to the
memories. This consideration helps minimize the number of vias per trace and provides uniform signal
characteristics for each signal within the data group.
To facilitate ease of break-out from the controller perspective, and to keep the signals within the byte group
together, the board designer should alternate the byte lanes on different critical layers (see
Figure
1
and
Figure
2
).
Table
3. Byte Lane to Data Strobe and Data Mask Mapping
Data
Data Strobe
Data Mask
Lane Number
MDQ[0:7]
MDQS0, MDQS0
MDM0
Lane 0
MDQ[8:15]
MDQS1, MDQS1
MDM1
Lane 1
MDQ[16:23]
MDQS2, MDQS2
MDM2
Lane 2
MDQ[24:31]
MDQS3, MDQS3
MDM3
Lane 3
MDQ[32:39]
MDQS4, MDQS4
MDM4
Lane 4
MDQ[40:47]
MDQS5, MDQS5
MDM5
Lane 5
MDQ[48:55]
MDQS6, MDQS6
MDM6
Lane 6
MDQ[56:63]
MDQS7, MDQS7
MDM7
Lane 7
MECC[0:7]
MDQS8, MDQS8
MDM8
Lane 8
Hardware and Layout Design Considerations for DDR3 SDRAM Memory Interfaces,
Rev. 1
10
Freescale Semiconductor
Layout Guidelines for the Signal Groups
Figure
1. Alternating Data Byte Lanes on Different Critical Layers
—
Part 1
Data Lane 7
Data Lane 5
Data Lane 3
Data Lane 1