CAS before RAS refresh

Classic asynchronous DRAM is refreshed by opening each row in turn. This can be done by supplying a row address and pulsing /RAS low; it is not necessary to perform any /CAS cycles. An external counter is needed to iterate over the row addresses in turn.

For convenience, the counter was quickly incorporated into RAM chips themselves. If the /CAS line is driven low before /RAS (normally an illegal operation), then the DRAM ignores the address inputs and uses an internal counter to select the row to open. This is known as /CAS-before-/RAS (CBR) refresh.

This became the standard form of refresh for asynchronous DRAM, and is the only form generally used with SDRAM.