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Semiconductor applied sciences reside and die by business requirements, however are there occasions when it is sensible to construct a closely custom-made—even proprietary—reminiscence system?
The chip sector is replete with requirements organizations that information the evolution of extensively adopted reminiscence gadgets. JEDEC is answerable for DRAM, LPPDR, GDDR and high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM), amongst others. The Peripheral Part Interconnect Specific Particular Curiosity Group takes care of probably the most ubiquitous protocol for information motion, whereas NVMe Specific and the CXL Consortium constructed their specs with PCIe as their basis. Most just lately, the UCIe was developed to carry finest practices to chiplets.
Graham Allan, senior supervisor of product advertising and marketing at Synopsys, has been within the DRAM enterprise since 1985. “The freeway of DRAM applied sciences is affected by the roadkill of non-JEDEC-standard reminiscences,” he mentioned. “If one thing isn’t JEDEC-standard, or if a DRAM vendor tries to go it alone with one thing that they wish to differentiate with, it’s going to die.”
Among the many many deserted reminiscences that by no means noticed widespread use are Micron Know-how’s HBM competitor, Hybrid Reminiscence Dice, and Rambus’s virtual-channel DRAM, regardless that the latter had the backing of Intel. “This stuff all die as a result of they don’t get pleasure from the complete ecosystem,” Allan mentioned.
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He mentioned the worth of a standardized reminiscence system is that it may be multi-sourced—an SK Hynix product will plug into the identical socket as a Micron product.
That’s to not say some distributors aren’t providing particular options, Allan famous. “There might be DRAM distributors that can have their very own particular options that they unlock for particular clients, and it’s nonetheless commonplace DRAM,” he mentioned. “In case you have the expertise beneath the hood to benefit from this little additional stuff that they put in there, that’s going to make the product all that significantly better.”
Sole-source situations put distributors in a nook
Some reminiscences which can be developed by a couple of vendor might present potential however are subsequently deserted by all however one of many distributors. Decreased-latency DRAM was initially developed by Infineon Applied sciences within the late Nineties; Micron was subsequently introduced in as a improvement accomplice and a second supply, however Infineon opted to exit the market.
Allan mentioned the problem of being the only real supply of a reminiscence product that has a powerful buyer base—particularly if it’s a Tier 1 buyer—is that it’s tough to end-of-life the product. “Once you get a couple of key design wins for one thing that’s a distinct segment, customized product that’s not commonplace, you get sucked into that vortex,” he mentioned.
The hazard to a vendor of being the one one to promote a reminiscence system is that you simply threat getting blacklisted by that buyer for a very long time in the event that they determine to discontinue it, Allan added.
Jim Useful, principal analyst at Goal Evaluation, mentioned that there’s quite a lot of traits that may classify a reminiscence system as proprietary—a DRAM that’s extensive and slim to fulfill a buyer requirement, for instance. “That’s not unusual,” he mentioned.
How a reminiscence is packaged could make it proprietary, even when it’s an ordinary chip inside, Useful mentioned, as a result of it’s being utilized in a harsh setting, equivalent to deep-sea exploration.
Blurred traces between customized and proprietary
Useful famous that HBM began out as considerably proprietary—it was a reminiscence that SK Hynix made for AMD. He mentioned this doesn’t occur actually because one of many focal factors of reminiscences as a enterprise is that they’re an identical to one another. “That finally ends up making them quite a bit cheaper, as a result of as a substitute of getting one thing that’s solely being purchased by AMD, you’ve obtained one thing that’s being purchased by AMD and 170 different firms,” he mentioned.
Useful mentioned it’s necessary to differentiate between “customized” and “sole supply.” When it’s developed to buyer’s requests, it’s a customized reminiscence; sole supply is when the producer is the one producer of the product.
Both path goes to be costlier, and ideally, having the ability to purchase business off-the-shelf parts is most well-liked, even for specialised purposes present in navy and aerospace sectors, as a result of utilizing an ordinary product is cheaper than a customized chip.
Commonplace reminiscences encourage an engineering ecosystem to be constructed round it, which implies clients have much less threat—if their most well-liked provider exits the marketplace for no matter cause, they produce other choices.
Intel’s 3D Xpoint–primarily based Optane expertise required an excessive amount of engineering to implement. “Intel spent some huge cash making an attempt to make that occur,” Useful mentioned. Micron knew the expertise wasn’t worthwhile for Intel, which is why it by no means went to market with a 3D Xpoint SSD or DIMM. “If there have been a sufficiently big market, Samsung would have reverse-engineered the product and found out the right way to make one in every of their very own.”
Upfront threat can repay down the street
For Macronix Worldwide, an built-in system producer within the nonvolatile reminiscence market, growing a proprietary product for a buyer might be definitely worth the threat in the long run if it results in excessive volumes and a long-term partnership.
In an unique interview with EE Instances, Macronix chairman and CEO Miin Wu mentioned he’s finally answerable for deciding if it is sensible to supply a proprietary or extremely custom-made product to a buyer with particular necessities. Except for the monetary reward if the upfront funding pays off, the work itself might be fairly rewarding for these engaged on a brand new product line.
Wu mentioned some purposes and market segments usually tend to have customized necessities, which Macronix can clear up, equivalent to gaming and safety. Working with a buyer or accomplice on a customized design might not instantly seem like a high-volume enterprise alternative, however it could open the door to future alternatives.
Macronix’s ArmorFlash expertise is an instance of a custom-made product designed for a selected buyer alternative that gave delivery to a wider product class as a result of it addresses widespread safety challenges as extra gadgets connect with the web and are pushed out to the community edge.
Wu mentioned Macronix is targeted on growing new options within the market fairly than simply being one other provider competing with different distributors promoting related merchandise. “We’re creating our personal product; we’re creating our price,” he mentioned.
Any customized product that Macronix makes should meet high-quality requirements, Wu mentioned, and there must be sturdy indications that it’ll turn into a high-volume enterprise. Sure purposes increase the chance that there are long-term advantages for taking a threat on a customized or proprietary product, equivalent to safety or aerospace, that can result in broader market alternatives, he mentioned, particularly in industries that require a excessive diploma of qualification for harsh environments with excessive temperatures.
Distinctive initiatives drive innovation, expertise improvement
Partnerships with different firms, equivalent to Macronix’s relationship with Nvidia, are examples of how getting onboard early with a growing market can result in huge payoffs—Wu famous that Nvidia has primarily created a brand new market.
Taking the street much less traveled additionally permits Macronix and its staff to develop new skillsets that may be utilized to all elements of the enterprise. “If we create a challenge for our engineers to problem themselves, ultimately that can actually assist us to create protections in our future enterprise,” Wu mentioned.
Like Macronix, Phison has little interest in being a “quick follower,” however the firm is discerning on the subject of growing area of interest or proprietary merchandise.
In an unique interview with EE Instances, Phison CTO Sebastien Jean mentioned every part has caveats on the subject of growing proprietary or closely custom-made options for purchasers—and the road between them is blurry. “If you wish to really customise low-level signaling, overlook it,” he mentioned. “Nobody will make one thing that’s interoperable together with your system until you’re Samsung and also you simply make all of the elements your self and also you’re promoting to your self.”
Jean mentioned making gadgets that go towards requirements by swapping alerts and pins can actually trigger sparks—creating one thing proprietary isn’t definitely worth the bother as a result of nothing finally ends up working collectively and clients get pissed off.
An instance of a really proprietary storage system was Sony’s short-lived reminiscence stick, Jean mentioned, which had a singular type issue that appeared quite a bit like an SD card that was squished down and made longer. There have been no apparent advantages, he mentioned. “They have been doing that to lock folks right into a type issue so they’d solely purchase them from a Sony. Form of like printer ink cartridges.”
Buyer vetting is crucial
Customization that leverages standards-based protocols does have worth, Jean mentioned, nevertheless it raises points round mental property (IP): “There’s a authorized distinction.” He mentioned clients coming to Phison figuring out what modifications they wish to personal the IP, but when Phison comes up with the answer, there’s a chance to use it to different clients, even when it could’t disclose particulars of the unique buyer engagement that sparked the thought.
The potential for prime volumes is a consideration for Phison, however so is the boldness that the shopper might be round for the long term, Jean mentioned.
However whereas many huge gamers will instantly flip down low-volume work, Phison will take into account it by vetting the shopper and can finally cost for any non-recurring engineering (NRE), Jean mentioned. “It weeds out the individuals who ask for stuff and don’t have any actual plan to really make it actual or promote it, as a result of finally, we don’t become profitable off of the NRE,” he mentioned. “It covers the chance prices and it ensures engagement.”
These initiatives have to have govt sponsorship from the shopper to display they’re severe, Jean mentioned. “In any other case, it should very seemingly die on the vine.” He mentioned if a buyer comes and asks for one thing and so they’re prepared to pay for it, Phison will take it on if its engineering assets can be found and never tied up elsewhere.
Even when the work does go forward, it’s finally as much as the shopper to promote its product, Jean mentioned.
The good thing about taking up customized initiatives, particularly from huge gamers, might be invaluable in a tight-knit business, he added, as phrase will get round that Phison is working with Tier 1 firms, which is nice phrase of mouth and the corporate’s popularity.
In the end, Phison should stay aggressive on its expertise path, Jean mentioned. “We additionally need to be perceived as expertise innovators.”