Samsung introduces 128GB dram module for Compute Express Link 2.0

Samsung Electronics has shown its first dram module using the CXL 2.0 interconnect standard. The 128GB chip is intended for use in servers and data centers to provide more capacity and bandwidth for regular dram.

The CXL 2.0 memory module runs on the Intel Xeon platform and uses the second version of the Compute Express Link interconnect, released in 2020. This is a PCIe 5.0 standard that makes it possible, among other things, to connect CPUs and accelerators. The module has an x8 interface and offers a maximum bandwidth of 35GB/s for data transfer. The interconnect also allows for larger amounts of memory, because more memory can be added than the number of memory channels of a processor allows.

Unlike its predecessor, the 2.0 version of CXL supports memory pooling. This is a memory technique that makes it possible to create several pools of memory so that hosts can access different pools based on their needs and requirements. Samsung says that it will begin mass-producing the dram module later this year.

Last year, Samsung already introduced a DDR5 module for the first CXL version. It has a capacity of 512GB and an Enterprise and Data Center Standard Form Factor. The CXL 3.0 standard was also announced in 2022. Unlike the previous two versions, this one works with PCIe 6.0, which offers a maximum bandwidth of 64GT/s, which equates to 128GB/s for an x16 interface.