HBM2E: The E Stands for Evolutionary


Samsung introduced the first memory products in March that conform to JEDEC’s HBM2E specification, but so far nothing has come to market—a reflection of just how difficult it is to manufacture this memory in volume. Samsung’s new HBM2E (sold under the Flashbolt brand name, versus the older Aquabolt and Flarebolt brands), offers 33% better performance over HBM2 thanks to doubling the de... » read more

Do Superconducting Processors Really Need Cryogenic Memories? The Case For Cold DRAM


Cryogenic, superconducting digital processors offer the promise of greatly reduced operating power for server-class computing systems. This is due to the exceptionally low energy per operation of Single Flux Quantum circuits built from Josephson junction devices operating at the temperature of 4 Kelvin. Unfortunately, no suitable same-temperature memory technology yet exists to complement thes... » read more

AI Inference Memory System Tradeoffs


When companies describe their AI inference chip they typically give TOPS but don’t talk about their memory system, which is equally important. What is TOPS? It means Trillions or Tera Operations per Second. It is primarily a measure of the maximum achievable throughput but not a measure of actual throughput. Most operations are MACs (multiply/accumulates), so TOPS = (number of MAC units) x... » read more

Cloudy Outlook Seen For IC Biz


After a slowdown in the first half of 2019, chipmakers and equipment vendors face a cloudy outlook for the second half of this year, with a possible recovery in 2020. Generally, the semiconductor industry began to see a slowdown starting in mid- to late-2018, which extended into the first half of 2019. During the first half of this year, memory and non-memory vendors were negatively impacted... » read more

Memory IP: From Cobblestone To Cornerstone


Embedded, on-chip SRAM has been a fundamental building block for custom and standard chips for quite a while. When all this began, there were typically small SRAM blocks of on-chip memory supplemented by off-chip DRAM devices. Those off-chip devices became more sophisticated, with higher performance interfaces (e.g., GDDR6) or new form factors (e.g., HBM2 3D memory stacks). The on-chip memory p... » read more

Using Memory Differently To Boost Speed


Boosting memory performance to handle a rising flood of data is driving chipmakers to explore new memory types and different ways of using existing memory, but it also is creating some complex new challenges. For most of the semiconductor design industry, memory has been a non-issue for the past couple of decades. The main concerns were price and size, but memory makers have been more than a... » read more

In Memory And Near-Memory Compute


Steven Woo, Rambus fellow and distinguished inventor, talks about the amount of power required to store data and to move it out of memory to where processing is done. This can include changes to memory, but it also can include rethinking compute architectures from the ground up to achieve up to 1 million times better performance in highly specialized systems. Related Find more memor... » read more

China’s Latest Goal—More DRAMs


China is once again making a concerted effort to get its domestic DRAM industry off the ground. Past efforts have fallen short or failed. This time around, it’s unclear if China will succeed, but the industry should pay close attention here. So why would China want to play a bigger role in the tough and competitive DRAM business? For one thing, the U.S. and China are in the midst of a t... » read more

Process Control For Next-Generation Memories


The Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are driving the need for higher speeds and more power-efficient computing. The industry is responding by bringing new memory technologies to the marketplace. Three new types of memory in particular—MRAM (magnetic random access memory), PCRAM (phase change RAM) and ReRAM (resistive RAM)—are emerging as leading candidat... » read more

Memory In Microcontrollers


Gideon Intrater, CTO of Adesto, talks about how to use microcontrollers for applications where more memory is required, such as automotive, communication, and AI at the edge. Options include moving MCUs toward a more aggressive process node, adding external non-volatile memory, and execute-in-place types of architectures. » read more

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