10.3 A 7.5mW 7.5Gb/s Mixed NRZ/Multi-Tone Serial Data Transceiver for Multi-Drop Memory Interfaces in 40nm CMOS

Advancements in CMOS technology have enabled exponential growth of computational power. However, data processing efficiency also relies on sufficient data communication bandwidth between different units of a computing system. Memory systems typically apply dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) because of their high capacity and low cost. However, the multi-drop bus (MDB) interface between these units and the controller is challenging for bandwidth and power reasons. Multi-tone signaling has promising characteristics for this type of interface. To keep up with the ever growing demand for higher bandwidth in multi-drop buses, we develop a 7.5Gb/s (3.75Gb/s/pin) NRZ/multi-tone (NRZ/MT) transceiver with a total link power efficiency of 1mW/Gb/s.