Renesas Electronics Introduces 576-Megabit Low-Latency DRAM for Network Equipment Combining Large Capacity, High Speed, and Low Power Consumption

The 576Mb low-latency DRAM products provide a dramatic reduction in power consumption per unit of memory capacity compared with earlier products, contributing to better energy efficiency overall and helping to alleviate problems related to heat dispersion when designing network devices.

With the spread of broadband networks and the advancement of cloud computing, transferring large amounts of data over networks has become routine, and the volume of this network traffic is growing rapidly. This has led to demand for larger capacity, higher speed, and reduced power consumption in memory for use in network equipment such as switches and routers in order to assure smooth processing of the increased data traffic and to address increased importance of energy efficiency. The new low-latency DRAM products were developed to meet these demands.

Key features of the new 576Mb low-latency DRAM products:

1) Large capacity and high speed combined with low power consumption

The 576Mb low-latency DRAM products achieve faster data read/write speeds and consume substantially lower power than existing low-latency DRAM by leveraging the company’s high-speed sense amplifier technology and low-power memory technology. This has been accumulated through the development of high-speed memory products, and by utilizing a memory control system that minimizes the memory array area that is activated during operation. The result is a doubling of memory capacity from 288 Mb to 576 Mb and a 25 percent increase in random cycle performance during high-speed reading and writing of data from 20 nanoseconds (ns) to 15 ns, compared with Renesas Electronics 288M low-latency DRAM products. In addition, the maximum operating frequency has been raised from 400 megahertz (MHz) to 533 MHz, and power consumption has been reduced by more than 10 percent.

2) Same package as existing 288M low-latency DRAM products to enable shorter development cycles

Although the memory capacity has been doubled, the 576Mb products use the same package measuring 11 millimeters (mm) × 18.5 mm as Renesas Electronics’ existing 288M low-latency DRAM products. The adoption of this widely used package with a proven record of high reliability enables customers to increase the performance of their systems in terms of memory capacity and speed, without the need to make major changes to the design of the printed circuit boards used. In addition, they can minimize risks regarding reliability and electrical characteristics.

Renesas Electronics is unique in that it is the only network memory supplier that offers QDR/DDR SRAM, low-latency DRAM, and ternary content addressable memory (TCAM). The company currently offers a lineup of QDR™ SRAM (18Mb to 72Mb) TCAM and low-latency DRAM (288Mb, 1.1Gb). The addition of the 576Mb low-latency DRAM products broadens Renesas Electronics’ product offerings. Renesas Electronics expects memory products to play a key role in boosting the performance and reducing the power consumption of network equipment where demand for improved performance continues to grow. The company is therefore committed to continue developing advanced memory solutions for the network equipment market.