Enabling High-Performance LPDDRx-Compatible MRAM

DRAM consumes a significant amount of energy in mobile computing devices today. Emerging non-volatile memory such as magnetoresistive memory (MRAM) offers a DRAM alternative and can potentially lead to a more energy-efficient memory system. The MRAM technology is already mature, but considering the memory industry is highly standardized, we are still unable to see any MRAM used in mainstream products. To tackle this problem, we design an LPDDRx-compatible MRAM interface by considering both MRAM pros and cons. Our design solves the pin compatibility and the performance issues caused by MRAM small page size, and it optimizes the interface protocol by leveraging the MRAM unique feature of non-destructive reads. Combining our techniques, we boost the MRAM performance by 14% and provide a DRAM-swappable MRAM solution with 20% less energy.