IBM Reveals Breakthrough eDRAM Memory Technology

In papers presented at the International Solid State Circuits Conference, IBM revealed a first-of-its-kind, on-chip memory technology that features the fastest access times ever recorded in eDRAM (Embedded Dynamic Random Access Memory). IBM's new microchip technology will more than triple the amount of memory stored on chips and double the performance of computer processors. It will be available in 2008.

This new technology, designed using IBM’s Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) for high-performance at low power, vastly improves microprocessor performance in multi-core designs and speeds the movement of graphics in gaming, networking, and other image intensive, multi-media applications.

The technology is expected to be a key feature of IBM’s 45nm microprocessor roadmap and will become available beginning in 2008.

IBM’s new eDRAM technology, designed in stress-enabled 65nm SOI using deep trench, dramatically improves on-processor memory performance in about one-third the space with one-fifth the standby power of conventional SRAM (static random access memory).

“With this breakthrough solution to the processor/memory gap, IBM is effectively doubling microprocessor performance beyond what classical scaling alone can achieve,” said Dr. Subramanian Iyer, Distinguished Engineer and director of 45 nm technology development at IBM. “As semiconductor components have reached the atomic scale, design innovation at the chip-level has replaced materials science as a key factor in continuing Moore’s Law. Today’s announcement further demonstrates IBM’s leadership in this critical area of microprocessor design innovation.”

IBM innovations in microelectronics and the company's groundbreaking system-on-a-chip designs have transformed the world of semiconductors. IBM breakthroughs include High-k, which enhances the transistor’s function while allowing it to be shrunk beyond today's limits, dual-core and multi-core microprocessors, copper on-chip wiring, silicon-on-insulator and silicon germanium transistors, strained silicon, and eFUSE, a technology that enables computer chips to automatically respond to changing conditions. The White House has awarded IBM the National Medal of Technology, the nation's highest technical honor, for 40 years of innovation in semiconductors.

IBM chips are the heart of the company's server and storage systems, the world's fastest supercomputers and many of the best-known and widely used communications and consumer electronics brands.

New eDRAM Specifications:

Among the specifications of IBM’s high-performance eDRAM technology:

Cell size: 0.126 mm²
Power supply: 1 V
Availability: 98.7%
Tile: 1K RowX16 Col X146 (2Mb)
AC power: 76 mW
Standby keep alive Power: 42 mW
Random cycle time: 2ns
Latency: 1.5ns


Source: IBM Microelectronics

Related stories:

New logic: the attraction of magnetic computation
European researchers are the first to demonstrate functional components that exploit the magnetic properties of electrons to perform logic operations. Compatible with existing microtechnology, the new approach heralds the next era of faster, smaller and more efficient electronics.
An oblivious transfer protocol for quantum cryptography
“It's hard to beat the noise that you have with quantum information,” Barbara Terhal tells PhysOrg.com. “So our security protocol relies on the fact that storing quantum bits noiselessly is hard to do with current technology.”
IBM Cools 3-D Chips with Water
In IBM’s labs, tiny rivers of water are cooling computer chips that have circuits and components stacked on top of each other, a design that promises to advance Moore’s Law in the next decade and significantly reduce energy consumed by data centers.
NCAR installs 76-teraflop supercomputer for critical research on climate change, severe weather
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has taken delivery of a new IBM supercomputer that will advance research into severe weather and the future of Earth's climate. The supercomputer, known as a Power 575 Hydro-Cluster, is the first in a highly energy-efficient class of machines to be shipped anywhere in the world.
Stanford, tech giants team up to enable software for parallel computers
Stanford and many of the biggest companies in computing will announce Friday, May 2, a joint effort to address a major missed opportunity in information technology: the dearth of software that can harness the parallelism of the multiple processors that are being built into virtually every new computer. The Pervasive Parallelism Lab (PPL) pools the efforts of many leading Stanford computer scientists and electrical engineers with support from Sun Microsystems, Advanced Micro Devices, NVIDIA, IBM, Hewlett Packard and Intel.
Researchers Move Closer To New Class of Memory
Computer memory that combines the high performance and reliability of flash with the low cost and high capacity of the hard disk drive could be closer than you think, thanks to a team of IBM scientists.
Copolymers block out new approaches to microelectronics at NIST
In response to the electronics industry’s rallying cry of “smaller and faster,” the next breakthroughs in the electronics size barrier are likely to come from microchips and data storage devices created out of novel materials such as organic molecules and polymers.
AMD, Partners Produce Test Chip Using EUV Lithography
AMD, working together with its research partner, IBM, announced it has produced a working test chip utilizing Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography for the critical first layer of metal connections across the entire chip.

News discussion:

Technology news