Exar Releases New DDR 3 SDRAM Memory Bus Termination Regulator

Exar Corp. unveiled a SDRAM memory bus termination regulator supporting the latest DDR 3 SDRAM standard (SSTL-15).

According to the company, the XRP2997 provides a simple and economical solution for implementing an active bus termination in all equipment and applications using the latest DDR3 SDRAM memories such as set top boxes, video and graphic cards and mother boards. Usage of such active termination on increasingly faster double data rate memory data busses prevents data reflection and ultimately read/write data corruption. The XRP2997 is also equally capable of supporting the former DDR1 and DDR2 SDRAM memory types.

"DDR3 memories are now the standard for equipment requiring fast access to memory banks," said Eric Pittana, Director of Marketing, Power Product Line. "The XRP2997 is a simple and low cost solution that prevents the data access corruption typically caused by longer lengths of memory interconnects and the multiple stubs that are required for supporting these memory devices."

With a capability of sourcing and sinking up to 2A, and 2.4A peak, the XRP2997 bus termination regulator generates a tightly regulated low noise 0.75V±20mV VTT voltage as required by the DDR3 SDRAM (SSTL-15) standard. It converts input voltages as low as 1.1V while the output voltage is adjustable through an external resistor divider or by forcing the VREF pin voltage. Only requiring an output capacitance of 22µF to operate, power-up sequencing is achieved via an enable function and a soft start feature. Built-in source/sink over-current, over-temperature and under-voltage lockout protections insure safe operation under abnormal operating conditions. The XRP2997 is pin and function compatible to Exar’s DDR2 SP2996B device and provides an upgrade to support DDR3 memories.

The XRP2997 is available now in volume quantities and offered in a RoHS compliant, "green" halogen free exposed pad 8-pin SOIC package. Pricing starts at $0.34 for 1K units.