DDR5-4400 RAM modules demoed by Cadence and Micron, DDR5-6400 coming soon

The fourth generation of the DDR RAM standard is scheduled to reach its widest adaption rate this year, with more than 40% total market share. This is mostly attributed to Intel’s and AMD’s desktop and mobile platforms that take full advantage of the DDR4 specifications. However, JEDEC already released provisional specs for the DDR5 standard last year and, just recently, Cadence and Micron demoed a DDR5-4400 module, which is said to make a commercial debut in 2019. The DDR5 prototype module integrate Micron’s 8 Gb chips manufactured using TSMC’s 7 nm process, and the testing setup is designed to provide SoC developers with a blueprint for the DDR5 DRAM subsystems that are scheduled to be released in 2019-2020.

Even though, speed is one of the most important aspects for memory modules, DDR5 will provide significant performance gains, but will also provide increased capacities. The module demoed by Cadence is certified to achieve 4400 MT/s with CL42 latencies and only requires 1.1 volts, so it can actually perform considerable faster that current DDR4-3200 modules at around 9% lower voltage. Further down the road, in 2-3 years, DDR5 modules will be able to reach 6400 MT/s speeds.

As for increased capacities, the DDR5 standard will enable memory manufacturers to increase the capacity of single chips from 8 Gb to 16 Gb and even 32 Gb through internal error-correcting code technologies. With the introduction of TSMC’s new stacking methods, the future DRAM modules could get improved vertical stacking on multi-die chips.

After its 2019 release, DDR5 adoption should double every year, leading to it taking over the DDR4 standard by 2022. JEDEC is expected to finalize the DDR5 specifications later this summer, and Cadence is already making itself available to assist any integrators with guidelines.

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