The Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium (HMCC) has recently announced that Microsoft has joined the conglomerate in an effort to integrate HMC technology into next generation systems. The HMCC are a group of electronic equipment manufacturers that include industry giants such as Samsung, IBM and Micron that are looking to develop and implement advancement in DRAM memory technology called Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC).
The HMC features 15x the performance of DDR3 memory by utilizing a memory die that’s stacked using Through-silicon-VIA (Vertical Interconnect Access used to create 3D circuits- hence the ‘cube’). HMC technology has increased density that enables more memory to be packed into a space that’s 90% less over today’s DDR3 modules while utilizing 70% less energy per-bit.
The connections between the efficient stacked chips are shorter, which is why it takes up less of a foot-print over traditional DDR modules and is also significantly faster. This means that memory bandwidth and clock speeds can remain constant with each new iteration of CPU’s and GPU’s which isn’t limited to networks and PC’s but will also provide a performance boost for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets as well. Microsoft has recently join the Consortium, hoping its resources will get the technology developed quicker. If the Consortium is successful in their developments, the future will indeed be ‘cubed’!
Actual image of a HMC (via HMCC)
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