Renesas Electronics Corporation has announced the availability of its 1.1 gigabit (Gb) memory devices for use in networking equipment, including switches and routers for the next-generation Ethernet standard (100GbE) and beyond. The new network memory devices provide low power consumption, large capacity and high speed in one chip. Compared to Renesas Electronics' existing 288 megabit (Mbit) low-latency DRAM devices, the new devices feature 4x the memory capacity, a 30-percent faster random-cycle performance for high-speed data reads and writes, and twice the operating frequency. Despite these significant performance improvements, the new devices still hold memory power consumption to the same level as the existing products.

The volume of network traffic continues to grow rapidly, especially with the widespread adoption of media-rich smartphones, digital media players, and internet-enabled digital cameras. To process this traffic smoothly, data equipment on the network, such as switches and routers, is required to process increasingly larger amounts of data per-unit time.

As a result, there is growing demand for increased capacity and faster speeds, not only in the buffer memory used to hold this data temporarily within network equipment, but also in the table memory used to assign transfer destinations to this data. Furthermore, reducing the power consumption of network equipment to help achieve an ecological society on a global scale is now seen as extremely important, and thus there is an increasing need for reduced power consumption in the memory used in this equipment.

To address these needs, Renesas Electronics has developed new memory devices that achieve higher capacities and speeds, while at the same time reducing power consumption by taking advantage of its unique process and circuit technologies.

Main functions of the memory devices

(1) Higher capacities and speeds as well as reduced power consumption achieved through Renesas Electronics' 40 nanometer (nm) embedded DRAM (eDRAM) technology The new network memory devices have been fabricated through Renesas Electronics' 40nm eDRAM technology and the company's circuit technologies cultivated through its development of high-speed memory devices. As a result, compared to the company's existing low-latency DRAM products, Renesas Electronics' new network memory devices achieved quadruple memory capacity of 1.1Gb, 30 percent improved random-cycle performance of 13.3 nanoseconds (ns) for high-speed data read and write operations, and double the maximum operating frequency of 800 megahertz (MHz). Despite these improvements, the power consumption was held to a low 2 watts (W).

(2) High-speed interface with high reliability The operating frequency of the new Renesas Electronics' network memory devices increased from 400 to 800 MHz, compared to the existing Renesas Electronics memory devices. To operate the 800MHz DDR (double data rate) interface for the 36-bit data input/output (I/O) in a stable manner, the company reduced the voltage of the I/O circuits supporting a power supply of 1.0V and adopted high-side termination, which has a proven track record in graphics memory devices, to stabilize operations. The new network memory devices provide a variety of functions that assure operational reliability, starting with programmable on-die termination, which integrates on-chip termination devices for the input-signal pins. These functions also include a data-inversion function that reduces noise at data output, a per-bit deskew function that end-product manufacturers can use to adjust signal input and output timings on an individual signal-pin basis, and a mirroring function that can easily control the wiring lengths when clam-shell mounting is used on the printed circuit board.

(3) Package that features the same structure and similar size as the existing product Due to the increased operating frequency, Renesas Electronics increased the power- supply pin count to 38-pins in a package with the same structure as the 11 x 18.5 millimeter (mm) package used with the existing products, but was still able to hold the package size down to 14 x 18.5 mm. Since the new products are provided in a package that already has proven reliability in the industry, system designers who adopt the new products can build reliable systems without facing problems concerning electrical characteristics in the printed circuit-board design phase.

Renesas Electronics Corporation was formed on April 1, 2010, through a merger of NEC Electronics Corporation and Renesas Technology Corp. As a result of this merger, Renesas Electronics is now a semiconductor memory manufacturer that can independently supply TCAM (ternary content addressable memory), low-latency DRAM, and ordinary QDR SRAM memory devices for network equipment. With its leading-edge technologies, Renesas Electronics will continue to develop memory devices required in network equipment to meet future market needs.

Furthermore, Renesas Electronics' new products are devices that contribute to energy savings and offer increased performance in network equipment such as switches and routers, in which increasingly higher performance will continue to be in demand. The new devices will be marketed worldwide through various sales promotion efforts.

Pricing and Availability

Samples of Renesas Electronics' new network memory devices (part numbers uPD48011318, uPD48011336, uPD48011418 and uPD48011436) are currently available, priced at US$150 per unit. Mass production is scheduled to begin in April 2011 and is expected to reach 1,000,000 units per month by March 2012.