Low power and low EM emission DRAM memory interface for HD video recording in mobile devices

Next generation processor and DRAM memory for mobile phones are expected to provide the higher bandwidth (BW) necessary for full high definition (HD) video recording. The power consumed by current mobile phones and a camcorder was measured during video capture and extrapolated to estimate the power requirements of 1920×1080p recording at 60 and 120 fps. CMOS process and voltage scaling was then applied to the data. The results show that scaling alone is insufficient to lower the power consumption to within the heat dissipation limit of typical mobile phones. A new, low power DRAM interface is presented to enable handheld devices to record full 3D HD video without overheating the device. This paper also summarizes the impact of the new memory architecture on clock distribution and jitter and the EM emission from the interface. The lack of significant near or far field emission implies that the interface will not disrupt other circuits in the same mobile device when delivering the data rate needed by HD video recording.