Patent ID: 7395176

Claim:
A method of controlling a refresh cycle of a memory disposed on a system-on-a-chip comprising a memory controller, the method comprising: generating a temperature measure command; measuring an operating temperature of the memory in response to the temperature measure command; receiving the measured temperature measured in response to the temperature measure command; setting a reference temperature by a user based on a maximum operating temperature of the memory; storing the reference temperature in the memory controller; detecting a temperature difference between the measured temperature and the reference temperature; increasing the refresh cycle if the measured temperature is below the reference temperature and decreasing the refresh cycle if the measured temperature is above the reference temperature; applying a refresh command to the memory in response to a refresh cycle, wherein after the refresh command is applied to the memory: generating a new temperature measure command and measuring the operating temperature of the memory; receiving a new measured temperature measured in response to the new temperature measure command; detecting a temperature difference between the new reference temperature and the new measured temperature; repeating the step of changing the refresh cycle; and repeating the step of applying a refresh command to the memory.