Samsung Starts Producing 8Gb Mobile LPDDR4 DRAM

Electronics giant Samsung is pushing the DRAM envelope once again. The company has just started mass producing the industry’s first processors with 8 gigabit (Gb), low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM (dynamic random-access memory). If you think that’s a mouthful, wait until you hear what it can do.

Samsung is building these next-generation DRAM processors based on its 20-nanometer process technology. As for LPDDR memory, it’s the most widely used “working memory” for mobile devices in the world because it allows for smaller designs that use less power.

“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,” said Joo Sun Choi, executive vice president of Memory Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics. UHD stands for ultra high definition and could set Samsung apart in the competitive mobile device market where large screens and superior clarity are increasingly important.

How Innovative Is It?

The industry is already taking notice of Samsung’s latest innovation. The 4GB LPDDR4 package was chosen as an honoree of the upcoming 2015 CES Innovation Awards in the Embedded Technologies category. Noteworthy is the fact that Samsung is the only company that has won this particular CES award three straight years with its DRAM solutions.

So, then, what can this new breed of mobile processors do? For starters, the updated model that Samsung is mass producing will provide twice the performance and density compared to 4Gb LPDDR3. The last generation was also based on 20nm-class process technology but Samsung found a way to drive more efficiencies. The new 8Gb LPDDR4 chip paves the way for the creation of a 4 GB LPDDR4 package.

An I/O date rate of up to 3,200 megabits per second (Mbps) -- a rate that’s two times faster than a typical DDR3 DRAM used in PCs -- allows the new 8Gb LPDDR4 to support both UHD video recording and playback. Mobile devices equipped with the new DRAM will also be able to offer continual shooting of high-resolution images with over 20 megapixels.

Low Power, Faster Processing

Lower power usage is a key feature of the new technology. The LPDDR4 mobile memory chip’s operating voltage was reduced to 1.1V, making it the lowest power memory solution that works with large-screen smartphones and tablets, and high-performance network systems.

Practically speaking, that means an 8Gb LPDDR4-based 2GB package can save up to 40 percent of power compared to a 4Gb LPDDR3-based 2GB package. That’s thanks to both low operating voltages and faster processing.

With its new DRAM, Samsung adopted a proprietary low-voltage swing-terminated logic (LVSTL) for I/O signaling. The company also drove down the LPDDR4 chip’s power consumption while making possible high-frequency operations at low voltages for the best possible power efficiency.

That leaves just one more question: When will the market begin to see mobile devices with this new tech? Samsung is pushing out the packages this month and will start shipping 4GB LPDDR4 packages in early 2015. That means we could see new devices carrying the technology sometime next fall.