Patent · US Expired

Method and system for minimizing power demands on portable computers and the like by refreshing selected dram cells

US5148546A · kind A · utility

93Cited by
6References
11Claims
0Family size

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 19, 1992
Grant dateSep 15, 1992
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 19, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C2211/4067
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method for minimizing power consumption in personal computers and for controlling the power requirements of a random access memory based upon the actual RAM requirements of given software application. Using this method and system, a predetermined number of rows of RAM storage capacity may be refreshed at any given time and at a controlled refresh frequency after a central processing unit has read a given software program to determine its data storage requirements. A novel RAM control system is connected between the output of the central processing unit and one or more inputs to the RAM storage stage and is operative in a novel manner to generate RAM row refresh signals to only a selected number of rows of memory cells within the random access memory stage.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.