Samsung has begun mass-production of its first “through silicon via” (TSV) DDR4 memory, with 128 GB modules designed for use in enterprise servers and data centers.
The 128 GB TSV DDR4 RDIMM memory uses 144 DDR4 chips arranged into thirty-six (18 per side) 4 GB DRAM packages, each containing four 20 nm 8-gigabit chips. Normally, chip packages interconnect die stacks using wire bonding, but in 3D TSV packages, the dies are vertically connected by electrodes via hundreds of fine holes pierced throughout the die, offering a significant boost in signal strength.
This isn’t the company’s first outing with 3D TSV memory. Last year, Samsung released 64 GB 3D TSV DDR4 modules, and Samsung’s new 128 GB TSV DDR4 modules offers low-power consumption with speeds up to 2,400 Mbps. In addition, the company is accelerating production of its TSV technology products and plans to introduce the high-capacity modules with data-transfer speeds up to 2,667 Mbps and 3,200 Mbps. In the future, Samsung also intends to expand TSV applications into high bandwidth memory (HBM) products.
Samsung seems to have its finger in the honeypot on several different emerging memory technologies, including it’s jointly-developed NVDIMM memory, which Samsung claimed to be lined up to compete with the likes of Intel’s 3D XPoint with high-endurance writes and speed. Whether or not TSV-based RDIMM technology will continue to be relevant when these newer technologies become available is unknown, and it seems like Samsung is hedging its bets on the future of DRAM.
For now, Samsung’s 128 GB DDR4 modules seem to offer the some of the highest capacity available for enterprise servers and datacenters. There’s no word on official pricing or availability, but we should expect to see these modules reaching vendors sometime in the first half of next year.
