Elpida Memory, a leading maker of dynamic random memory products and a leading partner of Rambus, on Tuesday said that it has developed a 1Gb XDR x32-bit memory chip capable of operation at 7.20GHz (7200MHz), which is the fastest DRAM device on the market today.

The XDR device is manufactured using Elpida’s 65nm process technology and utilizes a 1.5V low voltage operation and an x32-bit interface, a rather unprecedented width for Rambus’ technologies-based memory products. The new memory chip operating at 7.20GHz can provide 28.8GB/s bandwidth per second per single device, an unprecedented peak bandwidth for a single DRAM that consumes a rather low amount of energy.

Elpida positions the new memory chips, which are the highest-performing Rambus XDR devices ever launched, for high memory bandwidth demanding applications, such as “game consoles, digital televisions and Blu-ray disc recorders”.

“Today's consumer electronics require both high performance and superior power efficiency. Elpida's leadership with the award-winning XDR memory architecture makes possible a range of great products for consumers to enjoy,” said Sharon Holt, senior vice president of licensing and marketing at Rambus.

Sample shipments of the new XDR have already started and mass production is scheduled to begin in April 2009. It is unclear whether there are customers for 7.20GHz XDR memory devices.

“In today's era of digital convergence many existing digital consumer electronic appliances are connecting to the Internet and the use of high compression codecs like H.264/AVC is spreading. This means there is now even more demand for greater bandwidth and higher density memory. Our newly developed 1Gb XDR provides incredibly high bandwidth with lower operating power to meet the systems needs of our customers. Elpida will continue to focus on reducing the power consumption of XDR DRAMs, which we believe can also lead to tremendous application potential in portable devices,” said Yoshitaka Kinoshita, Elpida Memory’s executive officer in charge of the mobile and digital consumer division.

Tags: Elpida, Rambus, XDR