What is this SCEI patent?

[Gubbi]

But then you're alternating signal and ground lines, - and you might aswell use real diffential signalling and get the noise margin boost..

At contemporary DDR RAM speeds you'll effectively need 2 pins/bit line whether you're doing single ended or differential signalling.

Cheers
Gubbi

 

[MfA]

You dont need a pin on the IC to ground the trace.

 

[Gubbi]

But you need a whole bunch of ground pins to ensure that ground on the IC doesn't float.

Cheers
Gubbi