Wifi Revolution

Computer chipmaker Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics unveiled Tuesday a new chip, OneDRAM, designed to speed up data processing in mobile applications.

 

OneDRAM is part of Samsung’s “Fusion Era” vision, predicting that semiconductor manufacturing in the future will utilize the advantages of bio- and nano-technology. The new chip is intended specifically for use in products such as handsets and game consoles, and for 3D graphic applications, where physical space is at a premium and powerful processing is needed.

 

For the new, 133MHz/512MB chip, Samsung took a dual-port approach in order to meet JEDEC, low power, and double-data-rate memory standards.

 

“Data managed by the processors is housed in a shared bank where the space for storing the data can be adjusted accordingly,” the company explained in its announcement.

 

To date, multimedia applications, the company elaborated, have required specifying two processors, one for communication, one for media. OneDRAM, on the other hand, channels data between processors using a single chip, thus “eliminating the need to also specify DRAM and SRAM chips for buffer memory.”

 

The result is a device that moves data faster between processors, while at the same time reducing power consumption by 30 percent, decreasing the number of chips needed, and minimizing area coverage by 50 percent. Upshot: five-fold increase in cell phone and gaming console operations speed, longer battery life, slimmer handsets.

Samsung noted that OneDRAM, which is slated to start appearing in handsets by the second half of 2007, is the second generation of fusion memory technology, following in the footsteps of OneNAND.

 

In a recent keynote address at an industry event in California, Samsung president and CEO Chang-Gyu Hwang presented his vision of the “Fusion Age,” in which three-dimensional, 3D, silicon technologies will revolutionize computer chips and the devices they are used in.

 

By tying together information technology, bio-technology, and nano-technology, Hwang said in his speech, the semiconductor industry will enter a new golden age.

 

“Unlike the paradigm shift from the personal computer to mobile and digital consumer applications, the introduction of massive-scale fusion technology -- which represents the organic convergence of IT, BT and NT, will bring together a wide range of technology-related professions as the foundation for a new technology frontier,” Hwang said.

 

He added: “This historic new frontier will change the way we develop and harness semiconductor technologies in substantially improving the level of day-to-day convenience for consumers.”

Back to WiFi Revolution home