Cadence and Micron Demonstrate on 7nm Produced DDR5 Memory Controller

Cadence and Micron have demonstrated a printed circuit board with a 7nm ddr5 memory controller and 8Gb ddr5 memory chips. With the test board, soc manufacturers can get started with ddr5.

Cadence’s memory controller and phy are made using TSMC’s 7nm process and, in combination with Microns memory chips, achieve 4.4GT/s at a voltage of 1.1 volts. That is not yet the maximum that ddr5 can achieve according to the Jedec organization, which is 6.4GT/s. The throughput is a lot higher than the 3.2GT/s of ddr4, which also functions at a higher voltage with 1.2V. Cadence emphasizes in a blog that the DDR5 standard is not yet final.

Cadence’s PCB uses 8Gb Micron memory. That is the minimum that Jedec prescribes. The maximum capacity of gddr5 memory chips will be 32Gb. With ddr4, the minimum is 2Gb and the maximum is 16Gb.

Due to the higher capacity and throughput, high-end memory modules for servers get their own voltage regulator and power management chips, according to AnandTech. Cadence expects the first systems with ddr5 to be on the market in 2019. According to the company, the growth in the following years will mainly come from servers.