Memory architectures technology for multimedia systems

In the era of multimedia, highly integrated semiconductor memory systems will play a crucial role in facilitating information flow, storage, and transmission. A variety of multimedia applications require advanced storage methods that enable storage of a huge quantity of data, a high processing throughput rate, and operability with long-lasting battery power. In order to meet these strict requirements for multimedia applications, three major trends in memory technologies have emerged. First, increasingly higher density memories are required. This is an essential issue for semiconductor memory technology. With higher density memory, advanced multimedia application can be created. Second, development of low-power design-oriented memory is very beneficial. Since low-power consumption is a fundamental demand for a variety of portable equipment such as notebook pes, wireless communication equipment expands the flexibility of multimedia systems. Third, high data throughput is an indispensable performance item for multimedia applications that need to deal with motion picture data. For the purpose of satisfying the demand by advanced high-speed clocked CPU which can handle motion picture data, memory technologies have to develop high throughput data memory chips that outperform conventional memory. Because of the close relationship between memory technologies and multimedia system applications, system design engineers should understand what memory technologies are. It is also important for memory engineers to understand how memory is used in multimedia applications. For that purpose, this chapter describes recent developments and trends in memory technology as well as key concepts of memory technology for multimedia applications.