An experimental study of data retention behavior in modern DRAM devices

TLDR

DRAM stores data as charge on capacitors that leaks over time, causing loss, and while periodic refresh prevents this, it consumes energy and degrades performance, a problem that will worsen with higher densities. The study seeks to prevent data loss by ensuring periodic refresh of DRAM cells.

Abstract

DRAM cells store data in the form of charge on a capacitor. This charge leaks off over time, eventually causing data to be lost. To prevent this data loss from occurring, DRAM cells must be periodically refreshed. Unfortunately, DRAM refresh operations waste energy and also degrade system performance by interfering with memory requests. These problems are expected to worsen as DRAM density increases.