Samsung today announced it has expanded its DDR5 DRAM memory portfolio with what the company said is the first 512GB DDR5 module based on High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) process technology, designed to support next-gen computing systems, supercomputers and large-scale data centers
“Delivering more than twice the performance of DDR4 at up to 7,200 megabits per second (Mbps), the new DDR5 will be capable of orchestrating the most extreme compute-hungry, high-bandwidth workloads in supercomputing, AI, HPC, data analytics and machine learning,” the company said in its announcement.
Samsung’s DDR5 will utilize advanced HKMG technology traditionally used in logic semiconductors. With continued scaling down of DRAM structures, the insulation layer has thinned, leading to a higher leakage current. By replacing the insulator with HKMG material, Samsung’s DDR5 will be able to reduce the leakage and improve performance, according to Samsung. This new memory will also use approximately 13 percent less power, making it suitable for energy-conscious datacenters.
The HKMG process was adopted in Samsung’s GDDR6 memory in 2018 for the first time in the industry, according to the company. “By expanding its use in DDR5, Samsung is further solidifying its leadership in next-generation DRAM technology,” Samsung said in its announcement.
Leveraging through-silicon via (TSV) technology, Samsung’s DDR5 stacks eight layers of 16Gb DRAM chips to offer the largest capacity of 512GB. TSV was first utilized in DRAM in 2015 when Samsung introduced server modules with capacities up to 256GB.
Samsung is currently sampling different variations of its DDR5 memory product family to customers for verification and, ultimately, certification with their leading-edge products to accelerate AI/ML, exascale computing, analytics, networking, and other data-intensive workloads.
“Samsung is the only semiconductor company with logic and memory capabilities and the expertise to incorporate HKMG cutting-edge logic technology into memory product development,” said Young-Soo Sohn, Samsung VP/DRAM Memory Planning/Enabling Group. “By bringing this type of process innovation to DRAM manufacturing, we are able to offer our customers high-performance, yet energy-efficient memory solutions to power the computers needed for medical research, financial markets, autonomous driving, smart cities and beyond.”
source: Samsung
