Specialist memory company Rambus has announced a fully functional DDR5 DIMM (dual in-line memory module) prototype. It claims to have achieved an industry first with its DIMM "capable of achieving the speeds required for the upcoming DDR5 standard".
Back in April HEXUS reported that JEDEC, the industry association for standards in Solid State microelectronics, had announced that both DDR5 and NVDIMM-P standards were "moving forward rapidly." At that time it was estimated that standards would be published early 2018.
To recap, DDR5 will deliver significant advantages compared to DDR4, as follows:
- Double bandwidth of DDR4
- Double density of DDR4
- Improved channel efficiency compared to DDR4
- Greater power efficiency
Explaining the above with some empirical examples, DDR5 is expected to support data rates up to 6.4Gbits/s delivering 51.2GBytes/s max, up from 3.2Gbits/s and 25.6GBytes/s for today's DDR4. Furthermore, the EETimes explains that "The new version will push the 64-bit link down to 1.1V and burst lengths to 16 bits from 1.2V and 8 bits. In addition, DDR5 lets voltage regulators ride on the memory card rather than the motherboard".
On the topic of projected early adoptees of its DDR5 DIMMs, Luc Seraphin, SVP&GM of the Rambus Memory and Interfaces Division, thinks users will be keen to put the memory to use in data-intensive applications like Big Data analytics and machine learning. "We are proud to provide an early path to adoption with the first working buffer chip prototype running at the anticipated performance of next-generation DDR5. This demonstrates our continued dedication to be first to market and remaining on the leading edge of industry standards," added Mr Seraphin.
Another Rambus exec was interviewed by the EETimes this week and on the subject of timescales suggested Rambus would be among the first to market with production sometime in 2019.
