The post [Invisible Memory : Part.3] Semiconductor Memory in Our Smart Cities first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

We’ve talked about how semiconductor memory connects our homes – running through our appliances, supporting our gaming systems and enabling our smart fitness equipment. But how does it connect our homes to other homes, and cities to other cities?

Whether we realize it or not, the beating heart of modern life is powered by semiconductor memory. In cities around the world, memory-enabled technology like 5G connectivity, IoT capabilities, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI) and automotive tech keep our lives running at lightning speeds.

The world is positioned to expand how AI products think and learn, to build networks of smart cities and hospitals through IoT’s enhanced data depth, to help autonomous vehicles process information and make split-second decisions as they learn new roads and situations, to discover new worlds through augmented reality, and to lift communities out of the dark by bringing Big Data to light.

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Beating Heart of Modern Life

Today, the world runs on 5G. The 5th generation mobile network, 5G was designed to connect anyone – anywhere, any time – at ultra-fast speeds. Our smartphones, computing devices, smartwatches, and smart medicine machines all rely on 5G to receive and transmit information around the world at record speeds. Industries from transportation to healthcare to information processing benefit from the high performance and efficiency of the 5G network, and all of the technologies it enables.

And behind all of these smart devices and machines is the need for memory. Generally speaking, more information transmitted means more information stored – and the more information stored, the greater the need for sophisticated memory systems.

Source : Pixinoo/Shutterstock.com

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For Heightened Security

One of these memory-enabled technologies is facial recognition CCTV – which relies on memory to process and store the data from billions of unique faces. In China, two AI companies called Megvii and Sensetime¹ are providing face recognition AI technology to governments and police forces.

Just recently, their technology was instrumental in catching a criminal in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China. The suspect was identified by concert security footage that was a match with a face in the country’s surveillance database. In Malaysia, the police force has even begun to use this type of facial recognition technology in body cams to capture images of suspected criminals and quickly check them against the police database. According to E2 Technologies², these tools have helped reduce the crime rate in regions where they are used.

Source : Bear Robotics

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Autonomous Goods and Services

AI technologies have more light-hearted uses as well – especially in the worlds of hospitality and dining, where robots are now helping with everyday functions in hotels, restaurants and bars. At Amichi’s³, a pizza restaurant in Mountain View, California, a self-driving robot named “Penny” is serving orders.

And they’re not alone – more and more American restaurants are using memory-embedded robots from simple food preparation to serving and washing dishes. Robots not only streamline the work of restaurant employees, but also reduce overall operating costs. According to The Spoon, 2020 will be the year for ‘food robots’ to enter the market in earnest.

Similary, as autonomous vehicles for the delivery are quickly approaching on the horizon, they require functions such as multi-camera vision processing and self-driving in order to monitor surroundings around the vehicle. Thus, ultra-huge computing processing has become necessary, so has semiconductor memories.

In fact, over the last few years, and across many states in the US, autonomous vehicles for the delivery of food and goods have been approved for real-world testing from some of the top automakers and technology companies including General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Google’s Waymo, and Uber, among many others. These companies have been partnering with grocery stores, restuarants and small businesses to help ease the problems of first/last mile delivery.

Source : Nuro’s blog site. Nuro R2 self-driving delivery vehicle in Houston, Texas

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Technology startup Nuro⁴ partnered with grocery giant, Kroger, to launch pilot cities in Scottsdale, AZ and Houston, TX, where they have been testing autonomous vehicle delivery for residents with its small toaster-shaped vehicles, called R2’s. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has seen increased use as the company can safely deliver groceries to citizens and limit person-to-person contact.

Creating Memory for the Future

As the world grows increasingly reliant on high-speed connection, demand for DRAM and NAND Flash memory solutions is higher than ever. And memory providers like SK hynix are innovating nonstop to keep up.

These technologies – and the memory systems that support them – are leading the way towards the smart cities of tomorrow, and SK hynix is at the forefront of the movement towards the future of information technology.

¹Blake Schmidt, “Hong Kong Police Already Have AI Tech That Can Recognize Faces”, Bloomberg. (2019)
²Amanda Lentino, “This Chinese facial recognition start-up can identify a person in seconds”, CNBC. (2019)
³Ahn Jung-rak, “Cooking is basic, serving and washing dishes… Robot wind blowing in an American restaurant”, Hankyung. (2019)
⁴Dave Ferguson, “Introducing R2, Nuro’s Next Generation Self-Driving Vehicle”, Medium. (2020)

Puzzle:

The post [Invisible Memory: Part.3] Semiconductor Memory in Our Smart Cities first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

The post [Invisible Memory : Part.2 Video Version] Semiconductor Memory in Our Smart Homes first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

Semiconductors are the veins of our society. They run through the heart of modern life, conducting current across nearly all electronic devices and enabling the quick, convenient connectivity that fuels today’s fast-paced world.

Semiconductors are broken into two categories, logic and memory. Based on the Von Neumann Architecture¹, instruction data and program data are stored in the memory, which is still used in most of the computers created today. Semiconductor memory’s role in this process is to store data and work with the computer’s central processing unit (CPU) to execute certain functions of a computer program.

In our new series Invisible Memory, we explore where we can find semiconductor memory, both common and uncommon, and show how important they are to the functionality of the technology. Semiconductor memory plays an important role in next-generation technologies both past and present, and functions using diverse data materials.

For this series, we’re going to challenge our readers with various mind puzzles. Get your processor ready, for this week’s crossword!

Uncovering Semiconductor Memory

The need for memory is growing rapidly each year and we are seeing it integrated into more products than ever before. According to IC Insights², growth forecasts for the memory market will continue upwards through 2023 “when total sales in this segment are expected to reach $220.5 billion.” That is even more than the video game industry which is expected “to be worth over 180 billion U.S. dollars by 2021” according to research firm Statista³.

Figure 1. Total memory IC market in global market

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They enable our smartphones, our tablets, our computers, our cameras, and our processing systems. They are central to the functionality of the technology we rely on every day. Semiconductor memory products, like HBM2E, are found and will be found in high-performance computing in supercomputers, graphic cards, and various AI-driven tasks, and allows these devices to store, transfer, and process information in the blink of an eye.

Semiconductor memory is not commonly sold in stores but can be found in many products that you purchase. Most consumer electronics such as computers, smartphones, digital cameras, and smart TVs depend on semiconductor memory.

Furthermore, they play key roles in temperature control in our refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and even in lesser-known devices such as smart light bulb systems and smart home appliances. These smart devices have embedded controllers powered by semiconductor memory that you can program with pre-set modes and control from anywhere over Wi-Fi.

Additionally, semiconductor memory plays a vital role in social infrastructure and keep out cities running efficiently. Public transportation like trains and planes keep us on time and secure our finances with their roles in banks and ATMs. More now than ever we see the importance of semiconductor memory’s use in medical networks including hospitals and the care of the elderly, like SK hynix’s Silver Friend and Happy GPS.

Figure 2. Semiconductor Memory Application

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As you can see, semiconductor memory is an integral part of our workplaces, homes, hospitals, and public spaces. Over the past decade, SK hynix – as well as the entire memory industry – has made incredible progress in the field. SK hynix will start the mass-production of its DDR5 memory chip which will lead the industry as one of the world’s most powerful memory chips. Today, and into tomorrow, we continue to deepen our understanding of semiconductor memory, develop our capabilities, and bring innovative new products into the world. We’re looking forward to the potential of our products to continue to evolve the entire IT landscape.

At SK hynix, our goal is to make people’s lives easier and give our partners best-in-class technology. By delivering innovative, high-performance and reliable products to our customers and the expansion of the 4th industrial revolution technology, we will continue to see semiconductor memory prosper.

In this series, we will continue to look into the uses of semiconductor memory and the unfamiliar places that we find it. Our next article will focus on smart applications used at home including smart speakers, smart TVs, gaming consoles, and home fitness devices.

¹John von Neumann, “First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC”, (1945)
²“The McClean Report, Section 6: ‘Memory Overview’”, IC Insights, Inc. (2020)
³Christina Gough, “Video game market value worldwide from 2012 to 2021”, Statista (2019)

The post [Invisible Memory Part.1] What is Semiconductor Memory? Introducing the Invisible Memory Series first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.