Re: Help with simplified SDRAM access

From: Marlboro (ccon67_at_netscape.net)
Date: 10/27/04 

Date: 27 Oct 2004 07:53:46 -0700

yotango@yahoo.com (yo) wrote in message news:<2319ddc6.0410261211.9cb5f5a@posting.google.com>...
> Hi,
>
> I'm building a very low cost PC Oscilloscope. I have lots of spare
> PC-100 SDRAM chips and would like to use them instead of buying FIFO.
> I cannot use the computers memory via PCI because the PCI card cannot
> guarantee memory access all the time. Therefore I would like to use
> SDRAM in my circuit board.
>

Ok, you build your own board and adding the SDRAMS on it?

> I understand it's complex to use SDRAMS. I have an idea that could
> simplify the job. Instead of having my circuit do all the
> initializations, etc. to the SDRAM, why not do it through software on
> the PC? Is this a good idea? I have no idea since I am not familiar
> with SDRAM. The software could have access to the pins of the SDRAM.

Yes, CPU/microcontroller can do that via a glue logic, which people
call SDRAM controller, and that is the way it's suppose to be.

>
> Does anyone have any suggestions, web sites, information? I have no
> idea what signals I would need to send to the SDRAM. Also, once the
> SDRAM is setup / initialized, how can my circuit save & read data to
> and from the SDRAM?
>
> Many thanks!

Do google for 'sdram controller', or go to sdram manf. and download a
data*** and digest it, good luck