Samsung introduces DDR5 module with PCIe 5.0 based CXL interconnect

Samsung has unveiled a DDR5 module with a Compute Express Link. Thanks to this PCIe 5.0-based interconnect, terabyte memory modules should become available for high performance computing and artificial intelligence.

It is Samsung’s first memory module with the CXL interconnect . This is a PCIe 5.0 interface announced in 2019 between the CPU and GPU, FPGA or other accelerator, which should, among other things, ensure cache coherency . Components of supercomputers and other high-performance computing systems must be able to share cache memory with high bandwidth and low latency, while the interconnect must also allow for higher memory amounts. Samsung is talking about terabyte level quantities.

Intel was one of the driving forces at the time of the announcement, but AMD and Arm have now also joined the standard. Google, Facebook and Huawei are also behind it. Samsung gives little further details about the memory module, which it calls CXL Memory Expander. The company reports that it uses controller and software techniques such as memory mapping and error management for the module and has also validated the module with Intel processors.

Samsung does not yet disclose the size of the DDR5 used and it also seems to be a test sample for the time being, because Samsung reports that it will only be able to meet the demand for hpc applications with these types of modules as soon as they become commercially available. It is unknown when that should be the case.