Next-generation mobile applications expected to multiply.
Samsung has completed a
working prototype of a 512Mb mobile dynamic RAM (DRAM) device that operates up
to 333Mbps, transmitting 32 bits of data simultaneously. Powered by only 1.8
volts, this memory chip is fast enough to support high-quality 3D graphics and
streaming video in high-capacity mobile devices such as third-generation (3G)
handsets.
The high-bandwidth chip is available in
double data rate (DDR) and synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) formats, working with as
many data transmission systems as possible. Samsung will develop versions of the
512Mb mobile memory for its multi-chip packages (MCPs) and system-in-a-package
(SIP) devices.
The eight-die MCP uses all the memory
devices available today for mobile products in a single 11 x 14 x 1.4mm package:
two 1GBit NAND flash memories, two 256MBit NOR flash memories, two 256MBit
mobile DRAMs, one 128MBit UtRAM, and one 64MBit UtRAM. To avoid increasing
package thickness when increasing the number of chips, Samsung used its wafer
supporting system technology to make wafers thinner during design processing.
Overall die thickness was minimized and space between stacked dies decreased,
resulting in an eight-die MCP product with total capacity of 3.2 gigabits in a
package that is 1.4mm thick—the thickness of a four-die MCP solution.
3G mobile phones, equipped to handle
streaming video, create the largest market for the 512Mb mobile DRAM. Samsung
expects its eight-chip MCP to trigger development of new next-generation mobile
applications because of its ability to provide greater functionality: movie
videos, games, faster Internet access, etc. Two 512Mb mobile DRAMs can also be
stacked together to provide a one-gigabit memory capacity, a great step forward
in mobile storage.
Samsung will begin producing the chip
early in the second half of this year. Both x16 and x32 devices will be
produced.
