HBM Issues In AI Systems


All systems face limitations, and as one limitation is removed, another is revealed that had remained hidden. It is highly likely that this game of Whac-A-Mole will play out in AI systems that employ high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Most systems are limited by memory bandwidth. Compute systems in general have maintained an increase in memory interface performance that barely matches the gains in... » read more

Enterprise-Class DRAM Reliability


Brett Murdock, product manager for memory interfaces at Synopsys, examines demand for DDR5 and DDR4 in both on-premise and cloud implementations, what features are available for which versions, how they affect performance and power, how ECC is implemented, and how the data moves throughout these systems. » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Flex Logix uncorked a new EFLX 1K eFPGA core optimized for the needs of customers on TSMC 40nm Ultra Low Power (ULP) and 40nm Low Power (LP) process technologies. It targets customers focused on low cost and power management. Using a cut-down version and the same software of the EFLX 4K, the EFLX 1K Logic core has 368 inputs and 368 outputs with 900 LUT4 equivalent logic capacity. The EFLX 1K D... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Inphi Corporation and Synopsys finalized the acquisition of eSilicon. Synopsys acquired certain IP assets from eSilicon, including TCAMs and multi-port memory compilers, as well as its Interface IP portfolio with High-Bandwidth Interface (HBI) IP and a team of R&D engineers; it did not disclose terms of the deal. Inphi Corporation bought the rest of the company for approximately $216 millio... » read more

Pushing Memory Harder


In an optimized system, no component is waiting for another component while there is useful work to be done. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the processor/memory interface. Put simply, memory cannot keep up. Accessing memory is slow, and it can consume a significant fraction of the power budget. And the general consensus is this problem is not going away anytime soon, despite effort... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


M&A ANSYS will acquire Livermore Software Technology Corp. (LSTC), a provider of explicit dynamics and other advanced finite element analysis technology. Based in Livermore, CA, LSTC was founded in 1987 to commercialize the DYNA3D technology developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. DYNA3D became the company's premier product LS-DYNA, a general purpose nonlinear finite eleme... » read more

The Next New Memories


Several next-generation memory types are ramping up after years of R&D, but there are still more new memories in the research pipeline. Today, several next-generation memories, such as MRAM, phase-change memory (PCM) and ReRAM, are shipping to one degree or another. Some of the next new memories are extensions of these technologies. Others are based on entirely new technologies or involve ar... » read more

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

DRAM Tradeoffs: Speed Vs. Energy


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to talk about new DRAM options and considerations with Frank Ferro, senior director of product management at Rambus; Marc Greenberg, group director for product marketing at Cadence; Graham Allan, senior product marketing manager for DDR PHYs at Synopsys; and Tien Shiah, senior manager for memory marketing at Samsung Electronics. What follows are excerpts of th... » read more

Waiting For Chiplet Interfaces


There aren't many success stories related to chiplets today for a very simple reason—there are few standard interfaces defined for how to connect them. In fact, the only way to use them is to control both sides of the interface with a proprietary interface and protocol. The one exception is the definition of HBM2, which enables large quantities of third-party DRAM to be connected to a logi... » read more

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