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Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has developed a new type of random access memory chip using an innovation known as high k metal gate technology that can provide more than twice the performance of previous generation memory modules.
Samsung detailed the chip (pictured) today. The company is focusing it on processor-intensive business use cases such as supercomputing, machine learning, and analytics.
RAM chips are made up of numerous tiny circuits known as cells that have gotten smaller over the years as manufacturers like Samsung refined their manufacturing techniques. The smaller the cells, the more they can fit on a single chip, increasing capacity and performance. But there is a trade-off: RAM circuits, like all circuits, become more susceptible to a microscopic phenomenon known as quantum tunneling as they shrink in size.
Memory cells store data in the form of electrons. Quantum tunneling allows those electrons to occasionally leave a cell, a fact that, when added, reduces the overall efficiency of a memory chip and, as a result, reduces performance. High-k metal gate technology, the innovation at the core of Samsung’s fast new chip, increases performance by mitigating the effects of quantum tunnels.
The technology swaps some of the silicon in a chip’s memory cells with a material that is harder for electrons to pass through. The result, the company says, is a maximum data transfer rate of 7,200 megabits per second. That’s more than twice the maximum speed supported by DDR4, an industry specification that powers many of the memory modules on the market today.
Samsung’s fast new chip is based on DDR5, the latest version of the standard, and provides 512 gigabytes of capacity. The chip is made up of four memory “stacks” that each comprise eight layers. Each layer, in turn, has space for 16 gigabytes of data and is connected to the rest of the module by miniature electrical connections known as silicon pathways. Pathways through silicon are more efficient than more traditional wiring technologies because they are built directly into the chip, allowing electrons to take a shorter route to their destination.
Increasing the memory speed helps improve the overall performance of the device. A faster RAM module enables a system’s processor to obtain and write data faster while performing calculations.
In addition to being faster, Samsung says its new chip also has another advantage: it is more energy efficient. The company promises a reduction of approximately 13% in electricity consumption compared to existing technologies. The increased efficiency will be a boon for cutting-edge computing devices and autonomous vehicles, which must balance performance requirements with battery size limitations.
Samsung says it has started testing chips based on the new technology for customers.
Photo: Samsung
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