Raj Mahajan, Principal Architect, MemCore, Inc.

The emerging DDR3 memory standard will extend the performance range of DDR memories considerably while maintaining some amount of backward compatibility with the existing DDR2 memory standard. It is important to understand the similarities and differences between the DDR3 standard and the existing DDR2 standard in order to get the maximum benefit from the new standard while reusing as much as possible from any previous DDR2 memory interface design. This paper will provide the reader with a detailed understanding of the key design considerations when migrating to a DDR3 system interface from a DDR2 interface.