Micron Technology is upping the ante for Double Data Rate 3 (DDR3) memory with a 1-Gbit chip made in its 78-nm process that is ready to ship to customers for evaluation.
Although DDR2 is just eclipsing DDR1 as mainstream memory, most of the DRAM makers are acting quickly to get samples of DDR3 to system designers. In 2005, Samsung demonstrated a DDR3 chip and later that year Infineon Technologies (now Qimonda) shipped a working prototype to Intel Corp. Since then, most memory makers have shipped DDR3 samples, with densities ranging up to 512 Mbits.
Micron will start volume production of the 1-Gbit chip early next year. It will support data rates of 800 Mbits/s to 1,600 Mbits/s and clock frequencies of 400 to 800 MHz, respectively, doubling the speed from DDR2. Supply voltage will dip from 1.8V to 1.5V, which will initially make DDR3 more attractive for notebooks and servers because of lower power consumption and heat generation.
Configurations will come in x4, x8 and x16, supporting module densities from 512 Mbytes through 4 Gbytes and module types ranging from fully buffered DIMMs and registered DIMMs to unbuffered DIMMs and small outline DIMMs. Micron said a 2-Gbit DDR3 chip will be ready early next year.
Market researcher DRAMExchange believes DDR3 chips will account for about 30 percent of the DRAM market in 2008 and will overtake DDR2 in 2009.
