Memory Circuits

Memory circuits function by storing the voltage present on an input signal whenever they are triggered by a control signal. They retain that stored voltage until the next assertion of the control (or trigger) signal. Between assertions of the control signal, the input signal is ignored and the output is driven to the most recently stored voltage. A memory circuit stores the input signal level at each assertion of the control input, the output will change immediately after the control signal is asserted (if the input value is opposite to what is stored), or it will remain constant. “Memory” occurs between control signal assertions, because the output remains constant at the last stored value, regardless of input signal changes.

Two major families of memory circuits are in use today: dynamic memory and static memory. Dynamic memory cells use a minute capacitor to store a signal voltage, and they are used in the smallest and cheapest memory circuits. Since capacitor voltage decays over time, dynamic memory cells must be periodically refreshed or they will lose their stored value. Although this refresh requirement adds significant overhead, dynamic memory cells are very small, so they have become the most widely used of all memory circuits. Most static memory circuits store a logic values using two back-to-back inverters. Static memory devices do not need to be refreshed, and they can operate much faster than dynamic circuits. But since they require far greater chip area than dynamic memory cells, they are used only where they are most needed in high speed memories for example, or when only small amounts of memory are required. Dynamic memory circuits for computer systems have become very specialized, and they will be covered in a later lab. In this section, we will focus on memory circuits that are used to store information about the operating state of a digital system.

Many electronic devices contain digital systems that use memory circuits to define their operating state. In fact, any electronic device that can create or respond to a sequence of events must contain memory. Examples of such devices include watches and timers, appliance controllers, gaming devices, and computing devices. If a digital system contains N memory devices, and each memory device stores a '1' or a '0', then the system's operating state can be defined by an N-bit binary number. Further, a digital system with N memory devices must be in one of 2N states, where each state is uniquely identified by a binary number created from the collective contents of all memory devices in the system.

At any point in time, the binary number stored in its internal memory devices defines the current state of a digital system. Inputs that arrive at the digital system may cause the contents of one or more memory devices to change state (from a '1' to a '0' or vice-versa), thereby causing the digital system to change states. Thus, a digital system state change, or state transition, occurs whenever the binary number stored in internal memory changes. It is through directed state-to-state transitions that digital systems can create or respond to sequences of events. The next lab will present digital systems that can store and change states according to some algorithm; this lab will examine the circuits that can be used to form memory.

In digital engineering, we are concerned with two-state or bistable memory circuits. Bistable circuits have two stable operating states: the state where the output is a logic '1' (or Vdd), and the state where the output is a '0' (or GND). When a bistable memory circuit is in one of the two stable states, some amount of energy is required to force it out of that state and into the other stable state. During the transition between states, the output signal must move through a region where it is astable. Memory circuits are designed so that they cannot stay in the astable state indefinitely; once they enter the astable state, they immediately attempt to regain one of the two stable states.

Figure 1 above provides an adequate analogy. Here, the ball represents the value stored in memory, and the “hill” represents the astable region that must be crossed before the memory circuit can transition to storing the opposite value. Note that a third potential stable state exists in this analogy—with just the right amount of energy, it would be possible to balance the ball directly on top of the hill. Likewise, memory circuits also have a third potential stable state, somewhere between the two stable states. When memory circuits transition between their two stable states, it is important to ensure that enough energy is imparted to the circuit to ensure that the astable region is crossed.

Both the '0' and '1' states in a bistable circuit are easily maintained once they are attained. A control signal that causes the circuit to change states must deliver some minimal amount of energy to move the circuit through the astable state. If the input that causes transition from one stable state to the next delivers more than the minimum required energy, then the transition happens very quickly. If the control signal delivers less than the minimum required energy, then the circuit returns to its original stable state. But if the input delivers just the wrong amount of energy—enough to start the transition but not quite enough to force it quickly through the astable region—then the circuit can get temporarily “stuck” in the astable region. Memory circuits are designed to minimize this possibility, and to decrease the amount of time that a circuit is likely to remain in the astable state if it happens to gets there (in the analogy, imagine a very pointed summit in the astable region, with very steep slopes). If a memory device were to get stuck in an astable state for too long, its output could oscillate, or stay midway between '0' and '1', thereby causing the digital system to experience unintended and often unpredictable behavior. A memory device that gets stuck in the astable region is said to be metastable, and all memory devices suffer from the possibility of entering a metastable state (more will be said about metastability later).

A static memory circuit requires feedback, and any circuit with feedback has memory (to date, we have dealt only with feed-forward, combinational circuits without memory). Any logic circuit can have feedback if an output signal is simply “fed back” and connected to an input. Most feedback circuits will not exhibit useful behavior—they will either be monostable (i.e., stuck in an output '1' or '0' state), or they will oscillate interminably. Some feedback circuits will be bistable and controllable, and these circuits are candidates for simple memory circuits. Simple feedback circuits are shown in Fig. 2 below, and they are labeled as controllable/not controllable and bistable/not bistable.

• Any electronic device that can create or respond to a sequence of events must contain memory.
• A digital system state change or state transition occurs whenever the binary number stored in internal memory changes. It is through directed state-to- state transitions that digital systems can create or respond to sequences of events.
• Bistable circuits have two stable operating states: the state where the output is a logic '1' (or Vdd), and the state where the output is a '0' (or GND). When a bistable memory circuit is in one of the two stable states, some amount of energy is required to force it out of that state and into the other stable state.
• During the transition between states, the output signal must move through a region where it is astable. Memory circuits are designed so that they cannot stay in the astable state indefinitely—once they enter the astable state, they immediately attempt to regain one of the two stable states.
• Any logic circuit can have feedback if an output signal is simply “fed back” and connected to an input.