Samsung Launches High Density LPDDR2 DRAM

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a provider of semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence solutions, introduced a monolithic four Gb low power double-data-rate 2 or ‘LPDDR2’ DRAM using 30 nm class technology. It will be deployed in high-end mobile applications such as smartphones and tablet PCs.

Capable of transferring data at speeds up to 1,066 Mbps, the new 4Gb LPDDR2 DRAM provides enhanced performance to memory solutions for PC applications. A yet another mobile DRAM, or MDDR had been previously introduced that operates between 333Mbps and 400Mbps, and the new chip offers more than double its performance.

“The mobile device market is gaining momentum with the advent of tablet PCs, which is adding significantly to the already surging smartphone segment,” commented Jun-Young Jeon, vice president, memory product planning team at Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics, in a press release. “Samsung will work closely with mobile device designers to bring high-performance, high-density mobile solutions to market as rapidly as possible.”

It is becoming necessary for enterprises to develop advanced memory chips offering both high performance and high density in order to successfully address the ever expanding consumer needs for mobile application features. The market experts predict that 8Gb will become the mainstream density for the mobile DRAM market next year, keeping which in mind Samsung will soon start sampling 8Gb LPDDR2 DRAM by stacking two 4Gb chips in a single package.

Enterprises used to stack four 2Gb chips to sample an 8Gb or ‘1GB’ LPDDR2 DRAM till now, while the new Green 4Gb LPDDR2 enables a 20 percent package reduction in height with the new dimension of 0.8mm in comparison to 1.0mm of the previous solutions. It also saves 25 percent of the power consumed by the previous 8Gb package that used four 2Gb chips, which enables thinner, lighter mobile devices with longer battery life.

Previously, Samsung had developed a 2Gb LPDDR2 DRAM chip based on 40nm-class technology in February 2010, and launched the solution in April to fulfill the ever increasing requirement of advanced mobile DRAMs. The company hopes to address the sharply increasing needs for high-density LPDDR2 solutions with the new 30nm-class 4Gb chip.

In November 2010, Applied Materials (News - Alert), Inc., a provider of equipment, services and software, entered into a settlement agreement with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The new agreement aimed at resolving potential civil claims and removing the risk of civil litigation between the parties relating to the alleged acquisition, misappropriation and misuse of Samsung confidential semiconductor information in Korea.