According to a report by the Korean media outlet Business Korea yesterday.SamsungElectronics and SK HynixCurrentlyCollaborative Standardization of LPDDR6-PIM Memory Products. The partnership aims to accelerate the standardization of low-power memories dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI).
The report mentions that the two companies have determined thatThe need for alliancesto bring next-generation memory in line with this trend.
The report also said that the cooperation between Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix is still in the process ofearly stage, preliminary work is under way to register standardization with the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC). Discussions are under way on the appropriate specifications for each of the items to be standardized.
PIM memory technology is a technology that integrates storage and computing functions within a memory cellIt directly performs computation. It directly calculates, effectively solving the "storage wall" and "power consumption wall" problems faced by traditional chips when running AI algorithms, thus significantly improving AI computing efficiency and reducing costs.
LPDDR with PIM requires different technical characteristics than traditional memory, such as "internal bandwidth," which refers to the bandwidth within the memory, rather than the "external bandwidth" between the processor and the memory.
A representative of Samsung Electronics said, "The two companies are exchanging ideas and collaborating on product standardization," he added, "As the collaboration has just begun, we are developing an implementation plan for a standardized target schedule."
1AI notes that there is also a rivalry between Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, who have long been vying for dominance in the high bandwidth memory (HBM) market. Despite the competition, the rise of AI has changed the competitive landscape.
The report mentions that both companies have identified PIM technology as a future growth engine and have been developing products, but have not made significant progress towards commercialization:
- Samsung Electronics has introduced HBM and LPDDR5 products and pursued standardization, but it hasn't happened yet.
- SK Hynix released the GDDR6-PIM, but it was essentially a token product.
Developing products based on the standards of both can lead to differences in concepts and specifications, making it difficult for the industry to adopt common standards. That's why the two companies began working together on standardization discussions prior to the release of the PIM product.