With 64-bit computing touted as the next step for chipset evolution in smartphones and tablets, Samsung has readied the world's first 4GB RAM meant for mobile devices. Currently, the highest RAM configuration for handheld devices is 3GB, that too only in Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 phablet and Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) tablet.
On the official Samsung Tomorrow blog, the company said that it has developed the developed the industry's first 8Gb (or 1GB) low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4), mobile DRAM.
"The 8Gb LPDDR4 is fabricated on 20nm class process technology, and offers 1GB on a single die, which is the largest density available for DRAM components today. With four of the 8Gb chips, a single 4GB LPDDR4 package can provide the highest level of performance available today," the post said.
The new DDR4 mobile RAM will offer 50% higher performance than today's DDR3 memory chips, and still consume 40% less battery. Other benefits of this new memory chip include faster and more responsive applications, more advanced features and higher resolution displays.
According to Samsung, the new 8Gb LPDDR4 uses a Low Voltage Swing Terminated Logic (LVSTL) I/O interface. Based on this new interface, the LPDDR4 chip will enable a data transfer rate per pin of 3,200Mbps, which is twice that of the 20nm-class LPDDR3 DRAM now in mass production
"This next-generation LPDDR4 DRAM will contribute significantly to faster growth of the global mobile DRAM market, which will soon comprise the largest share of the entire DRAM market," said Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics.
Samsung is expected to unveil its first smartphone with 64-bit processor this year, most likely the Galaxy S5. The desktop-class 64-bit CPU architecture requires at least 4GB RAM to process resource-consuming tasks. However, there are no apps in Android, Windows Phone or Apple's iOS ecosystems that require such computing power.
Apple has already introduced the world's first mobile processor with 64-bit architecture. However, it does not have much real-world usage since all iOS apps are developed for 32-bit chips and iPhones and iPads do not offer less than 4GB RAM