A Differentiating Receiver With a Transition-Detecting DFE for Dual-Rank Mobile Memory Interface

The signal integrity of dual-rank LPDDR5 interface is challenged by reflections from the stub of the inactive rank within the redistribution layer (RDL). These reflections arrive at the active rank within the unit-interval of the data-rate and distort not only the post-cursor but also the pre-cursor of the signal that the decision feedback equalizer (DFE) cannot remove. We introduce a differentiating receiver that restores data through edge information to eliminate the reflective distortions, including the pre-cursor, and a transition-detecting DFE to address remaining inter-symbol interference. A prototype receiver, fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS process, eliminates pre-cursor distortion with a reflection flight time of 50 ps and 70 ps, at 8 Gb/s and 6.4 Gb/s, resulting in a wide horizontal margin at a bit-error-rate of 10−12. The energy efficiency is 0.80 pJ/bit at 8 Gb/s.