FM25640 - Automotive Temp.
Overview
The FM25640 is a serial FRAM memory. The
memory array is logically organized as 8,192 x 8 and
is accessed using an industry standard Serial
Peripheral Interface or SPI bus. Functional operation
of the FRAM is similar to serial EEPROMs. The
major difference between the FM25640 and a serial
EEPROM with the same pinout relates to its superior
write performance.
Serial Peripheral Interface – SPI Bus
The FM25640 employs a Serial Peripheral Interface
(SPI) bus. It is specified to operate at speeds up to 4
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
FM25640 operates in SPI Mode 0 and 3.
The SPI interface uses a total of four pins: clock,
data-in, data-out, and chip select. It is possible to
connect the two data lines together. Figure 2
illustrates a typical system configuration using the
FM25640 with a microcontroller that offers an SPI
port. Figure 3 shows a similar configuration for a
microcontroller that has no hardware support for the
SPI bus.
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 FM25640 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
FM25640 supports modes 0 and 3. Figure 4 shows
the required signal relationships for modes 0 and 3.
In both cases, data is clocked into the FM25640 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.
The FM25640 is controlled by SPI op-codes. These
op-codes specify the commands to the part. After /CS
is asserted, the first byte transferred from the bus
master is the op-code. Following the op-code,
addresses and data are then transferred. Note that the
WREN and WRDI op-codes are commands with no
subsequent data transfer.
Important: The /CS 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.
Memory Architecture
When accessing the FM25640, the user addresses
8,192 locations of 8 data bits each. These data bits
are shifted in and out 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 3 bits of
the address range are ignored by the device. The
complete address of 13-bits specifies each byte
address uniquely.
Most functions of the FM25640 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.
Users expect several obvious system benefits from
the FM25640 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 that the FM25640 contains no power
management circuits other than a simple internal
power-on reset. It is the user’s responsibility to
ensure that V
DD
is within datasheet tolerances to
prevent incorrect operation. It is recommended
that the part is not powered down with chip
enable active.
Rev. 3.0
July 2007
3 of 13
RAMTRON [ RAMTRON INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION ]
