Samsung on Thursday said it has developed a fast version of low-power memory that could help speed up applications in tablets and smartphones.
The 4-gigabit (Gb) LPDDR2 DRAM can transfer data up to 1,066 megabits per second (Mbps), which is as fast as memory used in PCs, Samsung said in a statement.
Tablets are giving momentum to the mobile device market, which is “adding significantly” to the smartphone segment, said Jun-Young Jeon, vice president of the memory product planning team at Samsung Electronics, in the statement.
There is a growing demand for faster memory as mobile devices handle more data-intensive applications such as video. Faster memory access helps process and run applications faster.
The new 4Gb LPDDR2 DRAM offers more than double the performance of mobile DRAM used in current smartphones, which transfers data at speeds of between 333Mbps and 400Mbps, according to Samsung. The chip will be made using a “30-nanometer class” manufacturing process, Samsung said.
The company will start shipping test samples of 8Gb LPDDR2 DRAM, which will stack two 4Gb chips in one 8Gb — or 1GB — package, Samsung said. The company is working with device designers to bring the memory to market as quickly as possible.
8Gb is expected to become “the mainstream density for the mobile DRAM market next year,” Jun-Young said.
Samsung earlier this year developed a 2Gb LPDDR2 DRAM chip using an older manufacturing process, and has been stacking four chips in one 8Gb product.