Described apparatuses and methods enable a receiver of requests, such as a memory device, to control the arrival of future requests using a credit-based communication protocol. A transmitter of requests can be authorized to transmit a request across an interconnect responsive to possession of a credit. If the transmitter exhausts its credits, the transmitter waits until a credit is returned before transmitting another request. The receiver can manage credit returns based on how many responses are present in a response queue. The receiver can change a rate at which the credit returns are transmitted by changing a size of an interval of responses that are being transmitted, with one credit being returned per interval. This can slow the rate of credit returns while the response queue is relatively more filled. The rate adjustment can decrease latency by reducing an amount of requests or responses that are pooling in backend components.

Described apparatuses and methods enable a receiver of requests, such as a memory device, to modulate the arrival of future requests using a credit-based communication protocol. A transmitter of requests can be authorized to transmit a request responsive to possession of a credit corresponding to the communication request. In these situations, if the transmitter has exhausted a supply of credits, the transmitter waits until a credit is returned before transmitting another request. The receiver of the requests can manage credit returns based on whether a request queue has space to receive another request. Further, the receiver can delay a credit return based on how many requests are pending at the receiver, even if space is available in the request queue. This delay can prevent an oversupply of requests from developing downstream of the request queue. Latency, for instance, can be improved by managing the presence of requests that are downstream.

Described apparatuses and methods relate to a memory-flow control register for a memory system that may support a nondeterministic protocol. To help manage the flow of memory requests in a system, a memory device can include logic, such as a hardware register, that can store values indicative of a total number of memory requests that are serviceable by the memory device at a time. The logic can be configured by device manufacturers during assembly. The manufacturers can determine the limits or capabilities of the system, based on the components and structures, and publish the capabilities, including QoS, based on the limits. When the memory device is connected to a host, the host can read the values and limit the number of memory requests sent to the device based on the values. Accordingly, the memory-flow control register can improve latency and bandwidth in accessing a memory device over an interconnect.

A memory expansion device includes an expansion control circuit configured to receive a near data processing (NDP) request and a remote memory device configured to store data corresponding to the NDP request according to control by the expansion control circuit. In response to the NDP request, the expansion control circuit performs a request processing operation to perform a read or a write operation on the remote memory device and performs a computation operation using the data corresponding to the NDP request.

A method for performing access management of a memory device with aid of a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) connection and associated apparatus are provided. The method may include: utilizing a UART of a memory controller within the memory device to receive a set of intermediate commands corresponding to a set of operating commands through the UART connection between the memory device and a host device, wherein before sending the set of intermediate commands to the controller through the UART connection, the host device converts the set of operating commands into the set of intermediate commands; converting the set of intermediate commands into the set of operating commands according to a command mapping table; and accessing a non-volatile (NV) memory within the memory device with the set of operating commands for the host device, and sending a response to the host device through the UART connection.

A memory controller may include: a request checker identifying memory devices corresponding to requests received from a host among the plurality of memory devices and generating device information on the identified memory devices to perform operations corresponding to the requests; a dummy manager outputting a request for controlling a dummy pulse to be applied to channels of selected memory devices according to the device information among the plurality of channels; and a dummy pulse generator sequentially applying the dummy pulse to the channels coupled to the selected memory devices, based on the request for controlling the dummy pulse. A memory controller may include an idle time monitor outputting an idle time interval of the memory device and a clock signal generator generating a clock signal based on the idle time interval and outputting the clock signal to the memory device through the channel to perform a current operation.

A memory controller may include: a request checker identifying memory devices corresponding to requests received from a host among the plurality of memory devices and generating device information on the identified memory devices to perform operations corresponding to the requests; a dummy manager outputting a request for controlling a dummy pulse to be applied to channels of selected memory devices according to the device information among the plurality of channels; and a dummy pulse generator sequentially applying the dummy pulse to the channels coupled to the selected memory devices, based on the request for controlling the dummy pulse. A memory controller may include an idle time monitor outputting an idle time interval of the memory device and a clock signal generator generating a clock signal based on the idle time interval and outputting the clock signal to the memory device through the channel to perform a current operation.

An operating method of an electronic device which includes a processor and a memory, the method including: accessing, using the processor, the memory without control of an external host device in a first bias mode;, sending, from the processor, information of the memory to the external host device when the first bias mode ends; and accessing, using the processor, the memory under control of the external host device in a second bias mode.

A memory controller capable of sequentially increasing or decreasing a total current consumed by a plurality of memory devices, controls a plurality of memory devices coupled through a plurality of channels. The memory controller includes a request checker for identifying memory devices corresponding to requests received from a host among the plurality of memory devices, and generating the identified device information on memory devices to perform operations corresponding to the requests; a dummy manager for outputting a request for controlling a dummy pulse to be applied to channels of selected memory devices according to the device information among the plurality of channels; and a dummy pulse generator for sequentially applying the dummy pulse to the channels coupled to the selected memory devices, based on the request for controlling the dummy pulse.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer-readable media, are described for an integrated circuit that accelerates machine-learning computations. The circuit includes processor cores that each include: multiple channel controllers; an interface controller for coupling each channel controller to any memory channel of a system memory; and a fetch unit in each channel controller. Each fetch is configured to: receive channel data that encodes addressing information; obtain, based on the addressing information, data from any memory channel of the system memory using the interface controller; and write the obtained data to a vector memory of the processor core via the corresponding channel controller that includes the respective fetch unit.