Memory Tech Day: Samsung Innovations To Lead Hyperscale AI Era

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. held its annual Memory Tech Day, showcasing innovations and new memory products to accelerate technological advancements across future applications – including the cloud, edge devices and automotive vehicles.

Jung-Bae Lee, president and head, memory business, Samsung Semiconductor,
delivers opening keynote at annual Memory Tech Day

Attended by about 600 customers, partners and industry experts, the event served as a platform for the firm’s executives to expand on the company’s vision for ‘Memory Reimagined,’ covering long-term plans to continue its memory technology leadership, outlook on market trends and sustainability goals. The firm also presented product innovations such as the HBM3E Shinebolt, LPDDR5X CAMM2 and Detachable AutoSSD.

Lee used his keynote address to expand on how the company will overcome the challenges of the hyperscale era through innovations in new transistor structures and materials. For example, the firm is currently preparing new 3D structures for sub-10-nm DRAM, allowing larger single-chip capacities that can exceed 100Gb. Following its 12nm-class DRAM that began mass production in May, 2023, the company is working on its next-gen 11nm-class DRAM, which is set to offer the industry’s highest density.

NAND flash breakthroughs that will shrink cell sizes and refine channel hole etching techniques are also in development, with the goal of ushering in 1,000-layer vertical NAND (V-NAND). Development is on track for the company’s 9th-gen V-NAND to provide an industry’s highest layer count based on a double-stack structure. The firm has secured a functional chip for the new V-NAND and plans to start mass production early next year.

“The new era of hyperscale AI has brought the industry to a crossroads where innovation and opportunity intersect, presenting a time with potential for great leaps forward, despite the challenges,” said Lee. “Through endless imagination and relentless perseverance, we will continue our market leadership by driving innovation and collaborating with customers and partners to deliver solutions that expand possibilities.”

Introducing HBM3E ‘Shinebolt’
Today’s cloud systems are evolving to optimize compute resources, which require high-performance memory to handle high capacity, bandwidth and virtual storage capabilities. Building on Samsung’s expertise in commercializing the industry’s 1stt HBM2 and opening the HBM market for HPC in 2016, the company today revealed its next-gen HBM3E DRAM, named Shinebolt.

The firm’s Shinebolt will power next-gen AI applications, improving TCO and speeding up AI-model training and inference in the data center. The HBM3E boasts a speed of 9.8Gb/pin speed, meaning it can achieve transfer rates exceeding up to more than 1.2TB/s.

In order to enable higher layer stacks and improve thermal characteristics, the Korean manufacturer has optimized its non-conductive film (NCF) technology to eliminate gaps between chip layers and maximize thermal conductivity.

The firm’s 8H and 12H HBM3 products are currently in mass production and samples for Shinebolt are shipping to customers. Leaning into its strength as a total semiconductor solutions provider, the company also plans to offer a custom turnkey service that combines next-gen HBM, advanced packaging technologies and foundry offerings together.

Other products highlighted at the event include the 32Gb DDR5 DRAM with an industry’s highest capacity, the industry’s first 32Gb GDDR7 and the petabyte-scale PBSSD, which offers a boost to storage capabilities for server applications.

Redefining edge devices through powerful form factors
In order to process data-intensive tasks, today’s AI technologies are moving toward a hybrid model that allocates and distributes workload among cloud and edge devices. Accordingly, the company introduced a range of memory solutions that support high-performance, high-capacity, low-power and small form factors at the edge.

In addition to an industry’s first 7.5Gb LPDDR5X CAMM2 ⁽¹⁾ – which is expected to be a game changer in the next-gen PC and laptop DRAM market – the company also showcased its 9.6Gb LPDDR5X DRAM, LLW ⁽²⁾ DRAM specialized for on-device AI, next-gen Universal Flash Storage (UFS), and the high-capacity QLC SSD BM9C1 for PCs.

Paving the road for automotive memory solutions leadership
With advancements in autonomous driving solutions, market demand is also rising for high-bandwidth, high-capacity DRAM and Shared SSDs, which share data with multiple SoCs. The company presented its Detachable AutoSSD that allows data access from a single SSD to multiple SoCs through virtual storage.

The Detachable AutoSSD supports sequential read speed of up to 6,500MB/s with 4TB of capacity. As it comes in a detachable form factor, the SSD makes upgrades and adjustments easier for vehicle users and manufacturers. The firm also displayed automotive memory solutions such as high-bandwidth GDDR7 and LPDDR5X with a more compact package size.

Technology that makes technology sustainable
As part of its commitment to minimizing environmental impact, the firm underscored a variety of innovations within its semiconductor operations that will contribute to increased energy efficiency for customers and consumers.

The company plans to secure ultra-low-power memory technologies that can decrease power consumption in data centers, PCs and mobile devices, while using recycled materials in portable SSD products to reduce its carbon footprint. The firm’s next-gen solutions, such as the PBSSD, will also help reduce energy usage for server systems as they maximize space efficiency and rack capacity.

While collaborating with stakeholders across the semiconductor value chain, including customers and partners, the company’s semiconductor business will continue to play an active role in tackling global climate issues through its sustainability initiative, ‘Technology that makes technology sustainable.’

⁽¹⁾ CAMM: Compression Attached Memory Module.
⁽²⁾ LLW: Low Latency Wide I/O.

Resources:
Blog: Samsung’s Memory Innovation Opens Infinite Possibilities by Jung-Bae Lee, president and head, memory business, Samsung
Blog: How Samsung Is Breaking New Ground in DRAM for the AI Era by SangJoon Hwang, EVP and head of DRAM product and technology team, Samsung