Samsung unveils industry's first 8Gb LPDDR4 mobile DRAM
The firm is ushering in the next-generation of ultra-fast mobile memory to meet growing market demand
Samsung Electronics has developed what it says is the industry's first eight gigabit (Gb), low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4), mobile DRAM.
"This next-generation LPDDR4 DRAM will contribute significantly to faster growth of the global mobile DRAM market, which will soon comprise the largest share of the entire DRAM market," says Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics.
"We will continue introducing the most advanced mobile DRAM one step ahead of the rest of the industry so that global OEMs can launch innovative mobile devices with exceptional user convenience in the timeliest manner," adds Jun.
Samsung claims its new high-speed 8Gb LPDDR4 mobile DRAM will provide the highest level of density, performance and energy efficiency for mobile memory applications, enabling end users to have faster, more responsive applications, more advanced features, and higher resolution displays while maximising battery life.
The 8Gb LPDDR4 is fabricated on 20-nm class process technology, and offers 1 gigabyte (GB) on a single die, which is the largest density available for DRAM components today. With four of the 8Gb chips, a single 4GB LPDDR4 package can provide the highest level of performance available today.
What's more, Samsung's new 8Gb LPDDR4 uses a Low Voltage Swing Terminated Logic (LVSTL) I/O interface, which was originally proposed by Samsung to JEDEC and has become a standard specification for LPDDR4 DRAM.
Based on this new interface, the LPDDR4 chip will enable a data transfer rate per pin of 3,200 megabits per second (Mbps), which is twice that of the 20nm-class LPDDR3 DRAM now in mass production. Overall, the new LPDDR4 interface will provide 50 percent higher performance than the fastest LPDDR3 or DDR3 memory. Also, it consumes approximately 40 percent less energy at 1.1 volts.
With the new chip, Samsung will focus on the premium mobile market including large screen UHD smartphones, tablets and ultra-slim notebooks that offer four times the resolution of full-HD imaging, and also on high-performance network systems.
Samsung started offering thin and small 3GB LPDDR3 (6Gb) package solutions in November and will provide its new 8Gb LPDDR4 DRAM in 2014. The 8Gb mobile DRAM chip will rapidly expand the market for high-density DRAM in next-generation mobile devices.
