SK hynix’s booth at COMPUTEX Taipei 2024

SK hynix presented its leading AI memory solutions at COMPUTEX Taipei 2024 from June 4–7. As one of Asia’s premier IT shows, COMPUTEX Taipei 2024 welcomed around 1,500 global participants including tech companies, venture capitalists, and accelerators under the theme “Connecting AI”. Making its debut at the event, SK hynix underlined its position as a first mover and leading AI memory provider through its lineup of next-generation products.

“Connecting AI” With the Industry’s Finest AI Memory Solutions

Themed “Memory, The Power of AI,” SK hynix’s booth featured its advanced AI server solutions, groundbreaking technologies for on-device AI PCs, and outstanding consumer SSD products.

SK hynix’s memory solutions with high bandwidth and capacity are optimized for AI servers

HBM3E, the fifth generation of HBM¹, was among the AI server solutions on display. Offering industry-leading data processing speeds of 1.18 terabytes (TB) per second, vast capacity, and advanced heat dissipation capability, HBM3E is optimized to meet the requirements of AI servers and other applications.

¹High Bandwidth Memory (HBM): A high-value, high-performance product that possesses much higher data processing speeds compared to existing DRAMs by vertically connecting multiple DRAMs with through-silicon via (TSV).

Another technology which has become crucial for AI servers is CXL^®2 as it can increase system bandwidth and processing capacity. SK hynix highlighted the strength of its CXL portfolio by presenting its CXL Memory Module-DDR5³ (CMM-DDR5), which significantly expands system bandwidth and capacity compared to systems only equipped with DDR5. Other AI server solutions on display included the server DRAM products DDR5 RDIMM⁴ and MCR DIMM⁵. In particular, SK hynix showcased its tall 128-gigabyte (GB) MCR DIMM for the first time at an exhibition.

²Compute Express Link^® (CXL^®): A PCIe-based next-generation interconnect protocol on which high-performance computing systems are based.
³Double Data Rate 5 (DDR5): A server DRAM that effectively handles the increasing demands of larger and more complex data workloads by offering enhanced bandwidth and power efficiency compared to the previous generation, DDR4.
⁴Registered Dual In-line Memory Module (RDIMM): A high-density memory module used in servers and other applications to vertically connect DRAM dies.
⁵Multiplexer Combined Ranks Dual In-line Memory Module (MCR DIMM): A module product with multiple DRAMs bonded to a motherboard in which two ranks—basic information processing units—operate simultaneously, resulting in improved speed.

Visitors to the booth could also see some of the company’s enterprise SSDs (eSSD), including the PS1010 and PE9010. In particular, the PCIe⁶ Gen5-based PS1010 is ideal for AI, big data, and machine learning applications due to its rapid sequential read speed. Additionally, SK hynix’s U.S. subsidiary Solidigm strengthened the eSSD lineup by presenting its flagship products D5-P5430 and D5-P5336 that have ultrahigh capacities of up to 30.72 TB and 61.44 TB, respectively.

⁶Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe): A high-speed input/output interface with a serialization format used on the motherboard of digital devices.

SK hynix offers leading solutions optimized for on-device AI PCs

In line with the growing on-device AI⁷ trend, SK hynix showcased its groundbreaking memory solutions for on-device AI PCs. These included PCB01, a PCIe Gen5 client SSD for on-device AI which offers the industry’s highest sequential read speed of 14 gigabytes per second (GB/s) and a sequential write speed of 12 GB/s. Alongside PCB01, SK hynix displayed other products optimized for on-device AI PCs, including the next-generation graphic DRAM GDDR7 and LPCAMM2⁸, a module solution that has the performance effect of replacing two existing DDR5 SODIMMs⁹.

⁷On-device AI: The performance of AI computation and inference directly within devices such as smartphones or PCs, unlike cloud-based AI services that require a remote cloud server.
⁸Low Power Compression Attached Memory Module 2 (LPCAMM2): LPDDR5X-based module solution that offers power efficiency and high performance as well as space savings.
⁹Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module (SODIMM): A server DRAM smaller than the regular DIMM used in desktop PCs.

SK hynix’s advanced consumer SSD products are changing the storage device game

Attendees could also get a glimpse of SK hynix’s consumer SSD products. Platinum P51 and Platinum P41, highly reliable consumer SSD solutions which offer excellent speed to boost PC performance, were displayed at the show. Set to be mass-produced later in 2024, Platinum P51 utilizes SK hynix’s “Aries”—the industry’s first high-performance in-house controller. Platinum P51 offers sequential read speeds of up to 14 GB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 12 GB/s, nearly doubling the speed specifications of the previous generation Platinum P41. This enables the loading of LLMs¹⁰ required for AI training and inference in less than one second.

¹⁰Large language model (LLM): As language models trained on vast amounts of data, LLMs are essential for performing generative AI tasks as they create, summarize, and translate texts.

An updated version of the portable SSD Beetle X31 was also unveiled at the event. This compact and stylish SSD uses a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface to reach a rapid operation speed of 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). In addition to the existing 512 GB and 1 TB versions, SK hynix plans to launch the higher-capacity 2 TB version in the third quarter of 2024.

Earlier in May, the outstanding design of SK hynix’s SSD lineup was highlighted when its stick-type SSD Tube T31 and heat sink for Platinum P41, Haechi H02, both won a prestigious 2024 Red Dot Design Award.

Lastly, SK hynix’s ESG strategy was highlighted at the show, including its efforts to enhance the energy efficiency of its products. The company’s range of energy-efficient solutions are particularly suited for improving the sustainability of AI applications, which require significant amounts of power.

Continuing to Push the Boundaries of AI Memory

In line with the theme of COMPUTEX Taipei 2024, SK hynix continues to advance its technologies to help realize a future where “Connecting AI” becomes an everyday reality. The company will continue to participate in global conferences that present the industry’s latest trends to push its AI memory capabilities to greater heights.

The post “Memory, The Power of AI”: SK hynix Showcases Strength of Its Next-Gen Solutions at COMPUTEX Taipei 2024 first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

• Operation of world’s fastest DDR5 with expected data transfer rate of greater than 8Gbps
• SK hynix leads development of MCR DIMM through collaboration with Intel and Renesas
• Efforts to seek technological breakthrough, solidify leadership in server DRAM market continue

Seoul, December 8, 2022

SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) announced today that it has developed working samples of DDR5¹ Multiplexer Combined Ranks² (MCR) Dual In-line Memory Module, the world’s fastest server DRAM product. The new product has been confirmed to operate at the data rate of minimum 8Gbps, and at least 80% faster than 4.8Gbps of the existing DDR5 products.

MCR DIMM is an achievement coming from out-of-the-box thinking with an aim to improve the operation speed of DDR5. Challenging the prevailing concept that the operation speed of DDR5 relies on that of DRAM chip itself, engineers sought to find a way to improve the speed of modules instead of chips for development of the latest product.

SK hynix designed the product in a way that enables simultaneous operation of two ranks by utilizing the data buffer³ installed onto the MCR DIMM based on Intel’s MCR technology.

¹Double Data Rate (DDR), a DRAM standard mainly used for servers and client applications, has been developed up to the fifth generation. The MCR DIMM is a module product with multiple DRAM chips attached to the board and improved speed as a result of two ranks operating simultaneously.
²Rank: A collection of basic transfer units of the data sent to CPU from DRAM module. A rank typically refers to 64 bytes of data to be transferred to central processing unit as a bundle.
³Buffer: A component that optimizes signal transmission performance between DRAM and CPU. Mainly installed onto modules for servers requiring high performance and reliability.

By enabling simultaneous operation of two ranks, MCR DIMM allows transmission of 128 bytes of data to CPU at once, compared with 64 bytes fetched generally in conventional DRAM module. An increase in the amount of data sent to the CPU each time supports the data transfer rate of minimum 8Gbps, twice as fast as a single DRAM.

A close collaboration with business partners Intel and Renesas was key to success. The three companies worked together and cooperated throughout the process from the product design to verification.

SK hynix’s Head of DRAM Product Planning Sungsoo Ryu said that the achievement was possible thanks to convergence of different technologies. “SK hynix’s DRAM module-designing capabilities were met with Intel’s excellence in Xeon processor and Renesas’ buffer technology,” Ryu said. “For a stable performance of MCR DIMM, smooth interactions between the data buffer and processor in and out of the module are essential.”

Data buffer transmits multiple signals coming from the module in the middle and server CPU accepts and handles the signals coming though the buffer.

“SK hynix delivered another technological evolution for DDR5 by developing the world’s fastest MCR DIMM,” Ryu said. “Our efforts to find technological breakthroughs will continue as we seek to solidify our leadership in the server DRAM market.”

Dr. Dimitrios Ziakas, Vice President of Memory and IO Technologies at Intel, said that Intel and SK hynix are leading the way on memory innovation and the development of high performance, scalable DDR5 for servers, along with other key industry partners.

“The technology brought forward comes from years of collaborative research between Intel and key industry partners to produce significant increases in deliverable bandwidth for Intel Xeon processors,” he said. “We look forward to bringing this technology to future Intel Xeon processors and supporting standardization and multigenerational development efforts across the industry.”

Vice President and General Manager of Memory Interface Division at Renesas Sameer Kuppahalli said that Renesas’ development of the data buffer is a culmination of three years of intensive effort spanning from concept to productization. “We’re proud to partner with SK hynix and Intel in the endeavor to realize this technology into a compelling product,” he said.

SK hynix expects the market for the MCR DIMM to expand driven by high performance computing that will take advantage of the increased memory bandwidth. SK hynix is planning to bring the product to mass production in the future.

The post SK hynix Develops MCR DIMM – World’s Fastest Server Memory Module first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.