The JEDEC association today announced the publication of the long-awaited JESD79-5 DDR5 SDRAM standard. The standard addresses the industry-established demand requirements for next-generation RAM, with twice the performance and much higher power efficiency. Let’s see what we can expect from DDR5 RAM.
The DDR5 standard for RAM has been designed to meet the growing needs for efficient performance in a wide range of applications, including user PCs and also high-performance servers. The new standard incorporates memory technology that leverages and expands the industry knowledge developed in previous generations.
DDR5 is therefore designed to allow RAM memory performance to scale without degrading channel efficiency at higher speeds, which has been achieved by doubling the burst length to BL16 and the memory bank count from 16 to 32 This architecture provides better efficiency per channel, and it also has two completely independent 40-bit subchannels in the same module to increase reliability as well as efficiency.
New Features of DDR5 RAM
New features like Decision Feedback Equalization (DFE) enable scaling of input and output speeds to provide higher bandwidth compared to the previous generation, and are expected to deliver 4.8 Gbps (50 at launch). % faster than current DDR4, which runs at 3.2 Gbps).
Among its additional features we find:
- “Fine Grain” Update Function : Compared to DDR4, any memory bank update improves device latency to 16Gbps. Automatic updating of the same bank offers better performance by allowing some banks to update at the same time as others are in use.
- Built-in ECC and other scaling features allow for mass manufacturing on advanced process nodes.
- Energy efficiency is improved as the Vdd drops from 1.2V to 1.1V compared to DDR4.
- Use of the MIPIÒ Alliance I3C Basic specification for the system management bus.
- At the module level, the voltage regulator in DIMM design allows for easier scalability, better voltage tolerance for better DRAM performance, and the potential to further reduce power consumption.
“With several new performance, reliability and power saving modes implemented in its design, DDR5 RAM is ready to support and enable next-generation technologies,” said Desi Rhoden, chairman of the JC-42 memory committee and executive vice president of Montage Technology, “The tremendous dedication and effort of the more than 150 JEDEC member companies worldwide has resulted in a standard that addresses all aspects of the industry, including system requirements, manufacturing processes, circuit design and simulation tools and tests, greatly enhancing developers’ capabilities to innovate and advance a wide range of technology applications. “
The adoption of DDR5 in the industry
“High-performance computing requires memory that can keep up with the increasing demands of modern processors. With the publication of the DDR5 standard, AMD can better design its products to meet the future demands of our customers and end users.” – Joe Macri, CTO of AMD Compute and Graphics.
“With the release of JEDEC’s DDR5 standard, we are entering a new era of RAM performance and capabilities. Developed with significant industry-wide effort, DDR5 marks a major leap forward in memory capabilities, for the first time while offering a 50% bandwidth jump to the start of a new technology, which will meet all the needs of Artificial Intelligence and high-performance computing. “.- Carolyn Duran, vice president of Data Platforms Group at Intel .
“Micron is proud to be part of the JEDEC organization, which provides an efficient way for industry-to-industry collaboration on cutting-edge technology standards. The DDR5 standard offers the industry a critical advance in system memory performance to enable a Next-generation computing needed to convert data into information in the cloud, business, networks, high-performance computing and Artificial Intelligence applications. “- Frank Ross, Micron Technology.
“Samsung has actively contributed to defining the new DDR5 standard for the industry, recognizing that this new framework is a critical point in the advancement of memory for servers, PCs and other electronic devices of great importance in the modern world. We are delighted to see the launch of this standard, and we anticipate bringing our standardized solutions for DDR5 to mass production within a time frame that matches market demands. “- Sangjoon Hwang, vice president of memory products, Samsung .
“DDR5 RAM is poised to improve computing performance by applying various features that overcome the challenge of future technological scaling and improve performance compared to DDR4. On this basis, the new standard will lead the evolution of the era Data-centric and will play a critical role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution SK Hynix is opening a new industry in the marketplace by developing the industry’s first JEDEC-compliant DDR5; we’ve been working with many partners to verify this ecosystem through the development of test chips and modules since 2018, and doing our best to ensure mass production levels in the second half of this year. “- Uksong Kang, Head of DRAM Product Planning at SK Hynix .