IDF: DDR4 - the successor to DDR3 memory

Intel and Qimonda may have given almost no details of the forthcoming DDR4 SDRAM standard for computer memory at the Intel Developer Forum, but they still expect the next generation of RAM to be introduced in 2012. Qimonda further reckons that the memory chips will, following previous trends for DDR development, have to run at clock speeds significantly greater than 1 GHz and require an operating voltage of just 1.2 volts. The JEDEC standardisation committee cited similar figures around one year ago, when an initial version of the DDR4 SDRAM specification was expected to be available this year. Most of Qimonda’s talk at the IDF concerned, more frugal memory chips – DDR3 SDRAM for example – operating at a voltage of just 1.35 rather than 1.5 volts, thereby achieving reduced power consumption. Although this is beneficial in... [read full story]