Confront the 1k Density Wall

# Confront the 1K DRAM Density Wall

The 1968 Dennard one-transistor, one-capacitor cell solved the structural problem of dense dynamic memory, and the parts that followed it through the early 1970s shipped at roughly 1,024 bits per chip.

By the early 1970s, systems designers wanted more memory per board, fewer chips per system, and a lower cost per bit than 1K parts could deliver at their fabrication-era yields.

A denser follow-on generation was not optional. It was the only way to keep dynamic memory ahead of magnetic core and ahead of the static alternatives on cost per bit.

1K TO 4K: WHY DENSITY HAD TO JUMPSystem pressureboards wanted fewer chips, more bits per chipCost curvecost per bit only falls with higher density per partTargetroughly 4x the bits of the 1K generation, same package class

Diagram above: 1k to 4k: why density had to jump.

WHAT 1K DRAM LEFT UNSOLVEDPin budgeteach added address bit had cost a new physical pinPackage limitsstandard packages could not keep absorbing new pinsNext stepa denser part needed a different addressing scheme, not just a bigger array

Diagram above: what 1k dram left unsolved.

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