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http://www.tgdaily.com/2007/02/14/ibm_edram/
IBM claims new eDRAM will double processor performance
Wolfgang Gruener
February 14, 2007 12:15
San Francisco (CA) - IBM today revealed first data about a new
embedded DRAM device, which the company claims achieves record access
times. The technology is expected to debut in 2008 as part of the 45
nm generation of IBM processors.
According to the company, the eDRAM chip "vastly improves
microprocessor performance in multi-core designs and speeds the
movement of graphics in gaming, networking, and other image intensive,
multi-media applications." Shown as a 65 nm concept at the currently
held International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), IBM claims
that the eDRAM exceeds the performance of conventional SRAM, which is
typically used for on-die CPU cache, in about one-third the space with
one-fifth the standby power.
DRAM's history goes back to 1970 and was driven since then mainly by
cost factors, while logic technologic has received a more performance-
focused evolution. IBM said that this environment has led to a
widening gap between slower memory and faster logic devices, which
resulted in a need for increasingly complex levels of memory
hierarchies. Today, "DRAM can provide six to eight times as much
memory as SRAM in the same area, but has been too slow to be used at
any cache level," IBM said.
http://images.tomshardware.com/2007/02/14/edram2.jpg
With a random cycle time of 2 ns and a latency of 1.5 ns, IBM now is
convinced that DRAM is ready to be integrated into the CPU with the
goal to replace SRAM. "With this breakthrough solution to the
processor/memory gap, IBM is effectively doubling microprocessor
performance beyond what classical scaling alone can achieve," said Dr.
Subramanian Iyer, distinguished engineer and director of 45 nm
technology development at IBM, in a prepared statement. "As
semiconductor components have reached the atomic scale, design
innovation at the chip-level has replaced materials science as a key
factor in continuing Moore's Law."
eDRAM so far has been used in applications ranging from supercomputing
to gaming. For example, IBM's BlueGene/L system uses eDRAM as L3 cache
technology, while game consoles such as the Gamecube, the Xbox 360 and
the Wii have been using eDRAM as embedded memory technology for their
graphics processors. Compared to conventional DRAM modules,
integrating DRAM has provided a key advantage of performance gains
eliminating the need to drive I/O signals to external memory chips.
eDRAM manufacturers such as NEC also believe that the technology will
make its way into mobile application due to the low power consumption
of eDRAM devices.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
eDRAM CPU and GPU better be in PS4, since PS3 is a memory bandwidth
DISASTER compared to Xbox 360, and even compared to last-gen consoles
including PS2.... the PS3 cannot currently even run PS2 games without
the PS2 EE+GS chip inside it, because the PS3 GPU has less bandwidth
than the PS2's Graphics Synthesiser chip.
IBM claims new eDRAM will double processor performance
Wolfgang Gruener
February 14, 2007 12:15
San Francisco (CA) - IBM today revealed first data about a new
embedded DRAM device, which the company claims achieves record access
times. The technology is expected to debut in 2008 as part of the 45
nm generation of IBM processors.
According to the company, the eDRAM chip "vastly improves
microprocessor performance in multi-core designs and speeds the
movement of graphics in gaming, networking, and other image intensive,
multi-media applications." Shown as a 65 nm concept at the currently
held International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), IBM claims
that the eDRAM exceeds the performance of conventional SRAM, which is
typically used for on-die CPU cache, in about one-third the space with
one-fifth the standby power.
DRAM's history goes back to 1970 and was driven since then mainly by
cost factors, while logic technologic has received a more performance-
focused evolution. IBM said that this environment has led to a
widening gap between slower memory and faster logic devices, which
resulted in a need for increasingly complex levels of memory
hierarchies. Today, "DRAM can provide six to eight times as much
memory as SRAM in the same area, but has been too slow to be used at
any cache level," IBM said.
http://images.tomshardware.com/2007/02/14/edram2.jpg
With a random cycle time of 2 ns and a latency of 1.5 ns, IBM now is
convinced that DRAM is ready to be integrated into the CPU with the
goal to replace SRAM. "With this breakthrough solution to the
processor/memory gap, IBM is effectively doubling microprocessor
performance beyond what classical scaling alone can achieve," said Dr.
Subramanian Iyer, distinguished engineer and director of 45 nm
technology development at IBM, in a prepared statement. "As
semiconductor components have reached the atomic scale, design
innovation at the chip-level has replaced materials science as a key
factor in continuing Moore's Law."
eDRAM so far has been used in applications ranging from supercomputing
to gaming. For example, IBM's BlueGene/L system uses eDRAM as L3 cache
technology, while game consoles such as the Gamecube, the Xbox 360 and
the Wii have been using eDRAM as embedded memory technology for their
graphics processors. Compared to conventional DRAM modules,
integrating DRAM has provided a key advantage of performance gains
eliminating the need to drive I/O signals to external memory chips.
eDRAM manufacturers such as NEC also believe that the technology will
make its way into mobile application due to the low power consumption
of eDRAM devices.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
eDRAM CPU and GPU better be in PS4, since PS3 is a memory bandwidth
DISASTER compared to Xbox 360, and even compared to last-gen consoles
including PS2.... the PS3 cannot currently even run PS2 games without
the PS2 EE+GS chip inside it, because the PS3 GPU has less bandwidth
than the PS2's Graphics Synthesiser chip.