14 DAY TRIAL // Elpida has begun to promote 4 Gb Wide IO Mobile RAM and 4 Gb DDR3 Mobile RAM (LPDDR3) memory chips.
The memory manufacturer believes that these latest products can simultaneously satisfy both of the two, great needs of customers.
Those needs, for performance and energy efficiency, are rather hard to fulfill at once.
For the most part, makers of DRAM chips have been resigning themselves to creating special solutions for each of these two.
This is why low-voltage chips form a category all on their own, distinct from that of mainstream and high-end / enthusiast-grade memory.
Elpida's latest approach is the Wide IO mobile RAM, which uses the x512-bit data width, ten times larger than what existing DRAMs sport.
This enables a data transfer rate of 12.8 gigabytes per second while the clock speed is of just 200 MHz.
In turn, the low clock frequency cuts power requirements by about 50%, compared to DDR2 Mobile RAM (LPDDR2).
Given that LPDDR2 (800 MHz / 1,066 MHz) is, right now, the most widespread across mobile devices, this is no small feat.
Elpida's new 4 Gb LPDDR3 is not quite as far ahead of LPDDR2, but it still gets to function at 6.4 GB/s (12.8 GB/s in dual-chip configurations) and consumes 25% less than LPDDR2.
It has a frequency of 1,600 MHz but a data input/output width of 32-bit, no different from that of LPDDR2.
All in all, the 4 Gb Wide IO Mobile RAM and 4Gb DDR3 Mobile RAM (LPDDR3) should visibly improve smartphone and tablet performance while also extending battery life.
Volume production has not begun (that will only happen in 2012) but Elpida is already sending sample shipments to interested partners.
The outfit will make two-layer and four-layer high-density packages as well (8 Gb and 16 Gb capacity, respectively) and will explore data width of x64-bit.
Go here for the exact specifications of both memory chips.