It's either patented or a secret, it can't be both. Patents must by definition be public.
...and hardware manufacturers make money selling hardware, so why keep the details of how to use it secret? In the days of SDRAM and DDR(1) a lot of companies, including Intel, were far more open about documentation than today.
I've analysed the init code from BIOSes and it is indeed not that complicated.
Depending on the code and vendor it is either patented or a trade secret. Most of the time the code is protected because it is required by the patent law. Remember that a lot of chip companies you know from today, started their life as memory companies.
There are also a lot of businesses that act as patent trolls , e.g. RAMBUS and stifle memory innovation by suing everyone left and right and enforcing their patents. Part of licensing agreement is to keep stuff secret and proprietary. Otherwise if you give something of value away for free, you can’t make money off of it anymore , can you?
...and hardware manufacturers make money selling hardware, so why keep the details of how to use it secret? In the days of SDRAM and DDR(1) a lot of companies, including Intel, were far more open about documentation than today.
I've analysed the init code from BIOSes and it is indeed not that complicated.