LPDDR6 standard to be formally introduced in Q3 2024
JEDEC has confirmed to be working on LPDDR6 standard specifications, which are to be expected this year.
The LPDDR5 standard is already 5 years old, but there were derivatives from companies like Samsung (LPDDR5) or SK Hynix (LPDDR5T) that offer mode performance and power efficiency depending on their use. Nonetheless, the main LPDDR specifications have not been updated since then; however, this is about to change.
According to ET News, JEDEC organization responsible for the memory standard has set a goal to formally introduce next-gen LPDDR specs in the third quarter of this year. This was reportedly discussed in Lisbon (Portugal) where 60 members of the organization discussed the new standard.
Maximum Speed of Low Power DDR memory
- LPDDR5: 6,400 MT/s
- LPDDR5X : 8,533 MT/s
- LPDDR6 : 12,800 MT/s
- LPDDR6X : 17,066 MT/s
Among the obvious changes to be expected, such as higher frequency (Bandwidth) support. The LPDDR6 is also poised to become a crucial on-device AI memory for smartphones and IT devices, directly supporting AI calculations in mobile devices. The AI has taken a central stage in modern computing, and it is set to impact portable devices as well, the only issue is lack of dedicated memory for AI model weights to be stored in. A new low-power memory standard could definitely contribute here.
The LPDDR6 standard has only been discussed by Samsung thus far, who expect to hit 17 GT/s bandwidth, presumably with the LPDDR6X variant. Meanwhile, the LPDDR6 could hit 12.8 GT/s speed, although this wasn’t confirmed by either JEDEC, Samsung or Hynix.
While the official specs are not here yet, not to mention any drafts, it is said that the first LPDDR6 products could arrive as early as next year, given the strong support from JEDEC members and key partners in the mobile industry. One of the first products to use LPDDR6 memory could be Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen4. Samsung and SK Hynix are said to be the first companies to commercialize LPDDR6 memory.