Samsung introduces Lpddr5x and hints at new platform for VR and AR hardware
Samsung has developed a 16Gbit chip of Lpddr5x memory, with which Lpddr5x modules of up to 64GB can be made. Samsung says it will work with chip manufacturers on a ‘digital reality framework’, which includes the memory.
The Lpddr5x memory has a speed of 8.5Gb/s and according to Samsung is 1.3x faster and 20 percent more efficient than the existing Lpddr5 memory, which is currently used in high-end smartphones, some laptops and Valve’s Steam Deck. Samsung makes the new memory using its ‘most advanced 14nm process’. This is probably the 14nm process with EUV, which the manufacturer also uses for its DDR5 memory.
Samsung is the first manufacturer to announce a Lpddr5x chip. Standards organization Jedec published the Lpddr5x standard in July, which prescribes a speed of up to 8533Mbit/s. With Lpddr5 this is a maximum of 6400Mbit/s. The standard was developed in collaboration with memory manufacturers Samsung and Micron.
No memory modules have been announced that use the Lpddr5x memory, but Samsung says that the 16-gigabit chips can be used for modules of up to 64GB and that the use goes beyond mobile applications. The manufacturer also wants to use the memory in servers and cars and states that it is suitable for ‘the metaverse’. Earlier this year, Nvidia announced that it would combine its Arm server processor Grace with Lpddr5x. That platform will be released in 2023.
‘Framework for digital reality’
In the announcement, Samsung also said it will partner with chipset manufacturers worldwide later this year to build “a more viable framework” for the “growing world of digital reality.” Lpddr5x will form an important part of that basis, according to Samsung. The wording is vague, but it seems that the manufacturer is referring to a hardware platform for VR and AR products. For example, Qualcomm has its Snapdragon XR2 platform, which in the Quest 2 is combined with Lpddr4x memory. Samsung may be working with the manufacturer to upgrade it.