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ReadOnlyMemory(ROM)Types
TherearefivebasicROMtypes:
1. ROMReadOnlyMemory
2. PROMProgrammableReadOnlyMemory
3. EPROMErasableProgrammableReadOnlyMemory
4. EEPROMElectricallyErasableProgrammableReadOnlyMemory
5. FlashEEPROMmemory

Eachtypehasuniquecharacteristics,butalltypesofROMmemoryhavetwothingsincommon:
Datastoredinthesechipsisnonvolatileitisnotlostwhenpowerisremoved.
Datastoredinthesechipsiseitherunchangeableorrequiresaspecialoperationtochange.

ROM

Adiodenormallyallowscurrenttoflowinonlyonedirectionandhasacertainthreshold,knownasthe
forwardbreakover,thatdetermineshowmuchcurrentisrequiredbeforethediodewillpassiton.In
siliconbaseditemssuchasprocessorsandmemorychips,theforwardbreakovervoltageis
approximately0.6volts.
Bytakingadvantageoftheuniquepropertiesofadiode,aROMchipcansendachargethatisabovethe
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forwardbreakoverdowntheappropriatecolumnwiththeselectedrowgroundedtoconnectataspecific
cell.Ifadiodeispresentatthatcell,thechargewillbeconductedthroughtotheground,and,underthe
binarysystem,thecellwillbereadasbeing"on"(avalueof1).Iifthecell'svalueis0,andthereisno
diodelinkatthatintersectiontoconnectthecolumnandrow.Sothechargeonthecolumndoesnotget
transferredtotherow.
ThewayaROMchipworksnecessitatestheprogrammingofcompletedatawhenthechipiscreated.
YoucannotreprogrammeorrewriteastandardROMchip.Ifitisincorrect,orthedataneedstobe
updated,youhavetothrowitawayandstartover.CreatingtheoriginaltemplateforaROMchipisoften
alaboriousprocess.Oncethetemplateiscompleted,theactualchipscancostaslittleasafewcents
each.Theyuseverylittlepower,areextremelyreliableand,inthecaseofmostsmallelectronicdevices,
containallthenecessaryprogrammingtocontrolthedevice.

PROM
CreatingROMchipstotallyfromscratchistimeconsumingandveryexpensiveinsmallquantities.For
thisreason,developerscreatedatypeofROMknownasprogrammablereadonlymemory(PROM).
BlankPROMchipscanbeboughtinexpensivelyandcodedbytheuserwithaprogrammer.
PROMchipshaveagridofcolumnsandrowsjustasordinaryROMsdo.Thedifferenceisthatevery
intersectionofacolumnandrowinaPROMchiphasafuseconnectingthem.Achargesentthrougha
columnwillpassthroughthefuseinacelltoagroundedrowindicatingavalueof1.Sinceallthecells
haveafuse,theinitial(blank)stateofaPROMchipisall1s.Tochangethevalueofacellto0,youusea
programmertosendaspecificamountofcurrenttothecell.Thehighervoltagebreakstheconnection
betweenthecolumnandrowbyburningoutthefuse.ThisprocessisknownasburningthePROM.

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PROMscanonlybeprogrammedonce.TheyaremorefragilethanROMs.Ajoltofstaticelectricitycan
easilycausefusesinthePROMtoburnout,changingessentialbitsfrom1to0.ButblankPROMsare
inexpensiveandaregoodforprototypingthedataforaROMbeforecommittingtothecostlyROM
fabricationprocess.

EPROM
WorkingwithROMsandPROMscanbeawastefulbusiness.Eventhoughtheyareinexpensiveperchip,
thecostcanaddupovertime.Erasableprogrammablereadonlymemory(EPROM)addressesthisissue.
EPROMchipscanberewrittenmanytimes.ErasinganEPROMrequiresaspecialtoolthatemitsa
certainfrequencyofultraviolet(UV)light.EPROMsareconfiguredusinganEPROMprogrammerthat
providesvoltageatspecifiedlevelsdependingonthetypeofEPROMused.
TheEPROMhasagridofcolumnsandrowsandthecellateachintersectionhastwotransistors.The
twotransistorsareseparatedfromeachotherbyathinoxidelayer.Oneofthetransistorsisknownasthe
floatinggateandtheotherasthecontrolgate.Thefloatinggate'sonlylinktotherow(wordline)is
throughthecontrolgate.Aslongasthislinkisinplace,thecellhasavalueof1.Tochangethevalueto
0requiresaprocesscalledFowlerNordheimtunneling.
Tunnelingisusedtoaltertheplacementofelectronsinthefloatinggate.Tunnelingcreatesanavalanche
dischargeofelectrons,whichhaveenoughenergytopassthroughtheinsulatingoxidelayerand
accumulateonthegateelectrode.Whenthehighvoltageisremoved,theelectronsaretrappedonthe
electrode.Becauseofthehighinsulationvalueofthesiliconoxidesurroundingthegate,thestored
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chargecannotreadilyleakawayandthedatacanberetainedfordecades.Anelectricalcharge,usually10
to13volts,isappliedtothefloatinggate.Thechargecomesfromthecolumn(bitline),entersthefloating
gateanddrainstoaground.

Thischargecausesthefloatinggatetransistortoactlikeanelectrongun.Theexcitedelectronsare
pushedthroughandtrappedontheothersideofthethinoxidelayer,givingitanegativecharge.These
negativelychargedelectronsactasabarrierbetweenthecontrolgateandthefloatinggate.Adevice
calledacellsensormonitorsthelevelofthechargepassingthroughthefloatinggate.Iftheflowthrough
thegateisgreaterthan50percentofthecharge,ithasavalueof1.Whenthechargepassingthrough
dropsbelowthe50percentthreshold,thevaluechangesto0.AblankEPROMhasallofthegatesfully
open,givingeachcellavalueof1.
TorewriteanEPROM,youmusteraseitfirst.Toeraseit,youmustsupplyalevelofenergystrong
enoughtobreakthroughthenegativeelectronsblockingthefloatinggate.InastandardEPROM,thisis
bestaccomplishedwithUVlightatawavelengthof253.7nanometers(2537angstroms).Becausethis
particularfrequencywillnotpenetratemostplasticsorglasses,eachEPROMchiphasaquartzwindow
ontopofit.TheEPROMmustbeveryclosetotheeraser'slightsource,withinaninchortwo,towork
properly.
AnEPROMeraserisnotselective,itwillerasetheentireEPROM.TheEPROMmustberemovedfrom
thedeviceitisinandplacedundertheUVlightoftheEPROMeraserforseveralminutes.AnEPROM
thatisleftundertoolongcanbecomeovererased.Insuchacase,theEPROM'sfloatinggatesare
chargedtothepointthattheyareunabletoholdtheelectronsatall.

EEPROMsandFlashMemory
ThoughEPROMsareabigstepupfromPROMsintermsofreusability,theystillrequirededicated
equipmentandalaborintensiveprocesstoremoveandreinstallthemeachtimeachangeisnecessary.
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Also,changescannotbemadeincrementallytoanEPROMthewholechipmustbeerased.Electrically
erasableprogrammablereadonlymemory(EEPROM)chipsremovethebiggestdrawbacksofEPROMs.
InEEPROMs:
1. Thechipdoesnothavetoremovedtoberewritten.
2. Theentirechipdoesnothavetobecompletelyerasedtochangeaspecificportionofit.
3. Changingthecontentsdoesnotrequireadditionaldedicatedequipment.
InsteadofusingUVlight,youcanreturntheelectronsinthecellsofanEEPROMtonormalwiththe
localizedapplicationofanelectricfieldtoeachcell.ThiserasesthetargetedcellsoftheEEPROM,
whichcanthenberewritten.EEPROMsarechanged1byteatatime,whichmakesthemversatilebut
slow.Infact,EEPROMchipsaretooslowtouseinmanyproductsthatmakequickchangestothedata
storedonthechip.
ManufacturersrespondedtothislimitationwithFlashmemory,atypeofEEPROMthatusesincircuit
wiringtoerasebyapplyinganelectricalfieldtotheentirechiportopredeterminedsectionsofthechip
calledblocks.Thiserasesthetargetedareaofthechip,whichcanthenberewritten.Flashmemoryworks
muchfasterthantraditionalEEPROMsbecauseinsteadoferasingonebyteatatime,iterasesablockor
theentirechip,andthenrewritesit.TheelectronsinthecellsofaFlashmemorychipcanbereturnedto
normal("1")bytheapplicationofanelectricfield,ahighervoltagecharge.

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