Samsung Elec unveils 512GB CXL DRAM in biggest memory capacity to date

[Source: Samsung Electronics Co.]

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to advance the next-generation memory roadmap after turning out the industry’s first 512 gigabytes (GB) compute express link (CXL) DRAM.

Samsung Electronics announced on Tuesday that it developed a new CXL DRAM with higher memory capacity and less system latency than the previous Samsung CXL version.

CXL is a new type of interface enabling a more effective management of accelerators, memory, and storage devices used with central processing units (CPUs).

Samsung Electronics developed the world’s first CXL DRAM prototype in May last year and commercialized it in the largest memory capacity to date.

The new 512GB CXL DRAM is equipped with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) CXL controller which increases memory capacity by four times and reduces system latency to one-fifth of the previous version.

512GB CXL DRAM is the first memory device that supports peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) 5.0 interface, a standardized interface that delivers data at high bandwidth across various peripherals such as graphics processing units (GPUs) and solid-state drives (SSDs).

The memory device also comes with an Enterprise & Data Center SSD Form Factor (EDSFF) that is applied to SSDs - a type of storage device used in computers – supporting a dramatic increase in the DRAM capacity of existing computing systems.

[Source: Samsung Electronics Co.]

Next-generation memory solutions like the new CXL DRAM are in high demand as larger memory capacities are required to process the mass amount of data generated in the current digital era. The large memory capacity shared between CXL DRAM and the main memory allows a single server to expand its memory capacity to tens of terabytes and increase its bandwidth to several terabytes per second.

Samsung plans to also unveil an updated version of its open-source Scalable Memory Development Kit (SMDK). The SMDK is a comprehensive software package that enables the optimal operation of the main memory and the CXL memory expander in heterogeneous memory systems. With SMDK, system developers can incorporate CXL memory into various IT systems without having to alter any existing applications.

Developers are expected to develop programs that use CXL DRAM technology more quickly and easily.

Samsung Electronics is planning to collaborate with important global data centers, servers, and chipset vendors to continue developing memory interfaces with capacities at the terabyte level to ready next-generation server platforms.

Samsung will provide 512GB CXL DRAM samples to customers and partners in the third quarter of this year.

Shares of Samsung Electronics closed down 0.61 percent at 65,700 won ($51.47) on Tuesday afternoon.

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