Ram Guide

Page Mode Access

By implementing special access modes, designers were able to eliminate some of the internal operations for certain types of access. The first significant implementation was called Page Mode access.

Using this method, the RAS\ signal is held active so that an entire 'page' of data is held on the sense amps. New column addresses can then be repeatedly clocked in only by cycling CAS\. This provides much faster random access reads, since the row address setup and hold times are eliminated.

While some applications benefit greatly from this type of access, there are others that do not benefit at all. The original Page Mode was improved upon and replaced very quickly so you will likely never see any memory of this type. Even if you do, it wouldn't be worth even getting it for free, considering the advantages of later access modes.