So-called one-transistor SRAM technology will be used by Nintendo in its Dolphin game console, due to debut in fall 2000.

EE Times reports that Nintendo has licensed the 1T-SRAM technology from MoSys for use by ArtX in a graphics processor being developed for the Dolphin. NEC Corp. will fabricate the chip using a 0.18-micron embedded-DRAM process. It has not yet been revealed how much embedded memory ArtX will put on its Nintendo graphics processor, but MoSys claims that up to 128 Mbits of 1T-SRAM can be embedded in logic devices.

Some graphics-chip developers are eyeing embedded DRAM to improve bandwidth between the processing pipeline and memory, but Mark Jones, MoSys vice president and general manager of intellectual property, said they are stuck with DRAM’s relatively slow random-access times. The embedding of large SRAM blocks into a graphics processor should improve performance, resulting in more detailed graphics moving at higher frame rates.

The MoSys memory cell has the same fundamental structure as a DRAM. It requires refresh and makes use of the same basic single-transistor-plus-capacitor structure as a DRAM cell. But "to the users it looks like SRAM," Jones said. "What MoSys has done is create an SRAM-compatible cell block. Users don't see the refresh, and we can achieve SRAM access speed. What’s more, you can build the 1T-SRAM in a standard CMOS process, which you can't do with DRAM."