FM25C160C - 16Kb 5V SPI F-RAM
Overview
Serial Peripheral Interface – SPI Bus
The FM25C160C is a serial F-RAM memory. The
memory array is logically organized as 2,048 x 8 and
is accessed using an industry standard Serial
Peripheral Interface or SPI bus. Functional operation
of the F-RAM is similar to serial EEPROMs. The
major difference between the FM25C160C and a
serial EEPROM with the same pin-out relates to its
superior write performance. This makes the
FM25C160C a drop-in replacement for most 16Kb
SPI EEPROMs that support modes 0 & 3.
The FM25C160C employs a Serial Peripheral
Interface (SPI) bus. It is specified to operate at speeds
up to 20 MHz. This high-speed serial bus provides
high performance serial communication to a host
microcontroller. Many common microcontrollers
have hardware SPI ports allowing a direct interface.
It is quite simple to emulate the port using ordinary
port pins for microcontrollers that do not. The
FM25C160C operates in SPI Mode 0 and 3.
The SPI interface uses a total of four pins: clock,
data-in, data-out, and chip select. A typical system
configuration uses one or more FM25C160C devices
with a microcontroller that has a dedicated SPI port,
as Figure 2 illustrates. Note that the clock, data-in,
and data-out pins are common among all devices.
The Chip Select and Hold pins must be driven
separately for each FM25C160C device.
Memory Architecture
When accessing the FM25C160C, the user addresses
2,048 locations each with 8 data bits. These data bits
are shifted serially. The addresses are accessed using
the SPI protocol, which includes a chip select (to
permit multiple devices on the bus), an op-code and a
two-byte address. The upper 5 bits of the address
range are „don‟t care‟ values. The complete address
of 11-bits specifies each byte address uniquely.
For a microcontroller that has no dedicated SPI bus, a
general purpose port may be used. To reduce
hardware resources on the controller, it is possible to
connect the two data pins (SI, SO) together and tie
Most functions of the FM25C160C either are
controlled by the SPI interface or are handled
automatically by on-board circuitry. The access time
for memory operation essentially is zero, beyond the
time needed for the serial protocol. That is, the
memory is read or written at the speed of the SPI bus.
Unlike an EEPROM, it is not necessary to poll the
device for a ready condition since writes occur at bus
speed. That is, by the time a new bus transaction can
be shifted into the part, a write operation will be
complete. This is explained in more detail in the
interface section below.
off (high) the Hold pin. Figure
configuration that uses only three pins.
3 shows a
Protocol Overview
The SPI interface is a synchronous serial interface
using clock and data lines. It is intended to support
multiple devices on the bus. Each device is activated
using a chip select. Once chip select is activated by
the bus master, the FM25C160C will begin
monitoring the clock and data lines. The relationship
between the falling edge of /CS, the clock and data is
dictated by the SPI mode. The device will make a
determination of the SPI mode on the falling edge of
each chip select. While there are four such modes, the
FM25C160C supports modes 0 and 3. Figure 4 shows
the required signal relationships for modes 0 and 3.
For both modes, data is clocked into the FM25C160C
on the rising edge of SCK and data is expected on the
first rising edge after /CS goes active. If the clock
begins from a high state, it will fall prior to beginning
data transfer in order to create the first rising edge.
Users expect several obvious system benefits from
the FM25C160C due to its fast write cycle and high
endurance as compared with EEPROM. However
there are less obvious benefits as well. For example
in a high noise environment, the fast-write operation
is less susceptible to corruption than an EEPROM
since it is completed quickly. By contrast, an
EEPROM requiring milliseconds to write is
vulnerable to noise during much of the cycle.
Note: The FM25C160C contains no power
management circuits other than a simple internal
power-on reset. It is the user’s responsibility to
ensure that VDD is within data sheet tolerances to
prevent incorrect operation. It is recommended
that the part is not powered down with chip
enable active.
The SPI protocol is controlled by op-codes. These
op-codes specify the commands to the part. After /CS
is activated the first byte transferred from the bus
master is the op-code. Following the op-code, any
addresses and data are then transferred. Note that the
WREN and WRDI op-codes are commands with no
subsequent data transfer.
Important: The /CS pin must go inactive after an
operation is complete and before a new op-code
can be issued. There is one valid op-code only per
active chip select.
Rev. 1.1
July 2011
Page 3 of 13
RAMTRON [ RAMTRON INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION ]
