Samsung Produces 8 Gigabit LPDDR4 Mobile DRAM

LPDDR memories are the most widely used “working memory” for mobile devices across the globe and Samsung Electronics announced this week they have started mass producing the industry’s first 8 gigabit (Gb), low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM that is based upon the company’s leading-edge 20-nanometer (nm) process technology.

Joo Sun Choi, Executive Vice President of Memory Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics said, “By initiating production of 20nm 8Gb LPDDR4, which is even faster than the DRAM for PCs and servers and consumes much less energy, we are contributing to the timely launch of UHD, large-screen flagship mobile devices…As this major advancement in mobile memory demonstrates, we will continue to closely collaborate with global mobile device manufacturers to optimize DRAM solutions, making them suitable for next-generation mobile OS environments.”

The new 20nm 8Gb LPDDR4 will give twice the performance and density when compared to common 4Gb LPDDR3 which is based on 20nm-class process technology. The new 8Gb LPDDR4 chip however,  allows a 4 gigabyte (GB) LPDDR4 package to be created.

The new 8Gb LPDDR4 can support UHD video recording and playback and continuous shooting of high-resolution images with over 20 megapixels. This is due to the I/O data rate of up to 3,200 megabits per second (Mbps). In fact, it is 2x faster than a typical DDR3 DRAM  that is commonly used in a ‘standard’ PC. The operating voltage was also reduced to 1.1V from that of LPDDR3 memory chips. This makes the new Samsung chip the lowest power memory solution that is available for tablet computers and large-screen smartphones.

Samsung are fantastic innovators of chip technology and their 4GB LPDDR4 package was honoured in the 2015 CES Innovation Awards in the Embedded Technologies category. This award crowned Samsung as the only company to have won CES Innovation Awards for three consecutive years with its mobile DRAM solutions.

[Image via global.samsungtomorrow]

SOURCE: http://phys.org/news/2014-12-samsung-mass-production-industry-gigabit.html