Dynamic Trends in Nonvolatile Memory Technologies

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Dynamic Trends inNonvolatile Memory TechnologiesTom Coughlin, Coughlin Associates, www.tomcoughlin.comJim Handy, Objective Analysis, www.Objective-Analysis.com

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Outline

• Why Now?

• Changes to the Computing Model

• Emerging Memories 101

• Who’s Producing It?

• Real Life Applications

• Outlook

• Conclusions

• References

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Why Now?

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Why Emerging Persistent Memories are Necessary • Flash can’t scale with process advances

• NAND flash went 3D at 15nm

• NOR scaling stops with FinFET

• 28nm & smaller processes need something new

• SRAM scaling may stop at 14nm

• In addition, low power high density non-volatile memory is needed for embedded and data center applications

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NOR Flash Scaling Ends at 28nm

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SRAM’s In Trouble Too

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Changes to the Computing ModelEnabling the use of Emerging Memories

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Key Issue: Pricing!

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1.E+00

1.E+01

1.E+02

1.E+03

1.E+04

1.E+05

1.E+06

1.E+07

1.E-01 1.E+00 1.E+01 1.E+02 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06

Ban

dwid

th (M

B/s

)

Price per Gigabyte

Tape

HDD

SSD

DRAM

L3

L2

L1

101

100

102

103

104

105

106

107

101 102 103 104 105 10610010-1

3DXPoint

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Moving from a von Neumann to aMemory-Centric Compute Model

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Processor

Memory

Processor

Memory

Processor

Memory

Processor

Memory

Classical von Neumann Model

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Moving from a von Neumann to aMemory-Centric Compute Model

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Processor

MemoryNear Memory

Far Memory

Processor

MemoryNear Memory

Far Memory

Processor

MemoryNear Memory

Far Memory

Processor

MemoryNear Memory

Far Memory

Divide off some of the memory

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Moving from a von Neumann to aMemory-Centric Compute Model

© 2021 SNIA Persistent Memory + Computational Storage Summit. All Rights Reserved.

Processor

Near Memory

Far Memory

Processor

Near Memory

Far Memory

Processor

Near Memory

Far Memory

Processor

Near Memory

Far Memory

Put this memory into a shared pool

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Memory Interconnect Types

• CXL for “Far Memory”

• Pools heterogeneous memories

• Mixed latencies and data rates

• Gen-Z to connect storage boxes and racks

• The DDR interface will stay with us for “Near Memory”

• DDR good for smaller systems

• HBM fast but restrictive and costly

• OMI for both high speed and large capacities

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Approaches to Near Memory

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Emerging Memories 101

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Candidates for Persistent Memory

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MRAM

ReRAM FRAM

PCM

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MRAM • Everspin

• Over 120M chips shipped

• Partnership with Global Foundries

• Used in IBM’s FlashCore modules in Storwise and FlashSystem arrays

• Renesas (Formerly IDT)• 8Mb, SPI

• Leading foundries starting to ship • GlobalFoundries

• TSMC

• Samsung

• Others

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Source: TechInsights

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PCM (3D XPoint)

• The second-oldest emerging memory (1970)

• Intel Optane products

• NVMe shipped in 2017

• DIMMs in 2018

• Micron Abandoning 3D XPoint

• Selling Lehi fab

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ReRAM • Adesto has shipped CBRAM chips for several years

• Dialog Semiconductor acquired Adesto June 2020

• Will license CBRAM technology to GLOBALFOUNDRIES

• GF will first offer as an embedded, option on its 22FDX platform

• GF Plans to extend to other platforms.

• Cerfe Labs (Arm spin-out)• Correlated electron materials (CeRAM)

• Licensed from Symetrix.

• Others (Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, Panasonic, Winbond, Honeywell,…)

• Foundry support (GLOBALFOUNDRIES, TSMC, others)© 2021 SNIA Persistent Memory + Computational Storage Summit. All Rights Reserved.

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FRAM

• The oldest emerging memory (1955)

• The highest-shipped emerging memory

• Finding new life with new materials

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2020

Who’s Producing It?

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Major Chip Foundries OfferMRAM, FRAM, and ReRAM Options • TSMC, Samsung, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, UMC,

TI, …

• STT-MRAM, FRAM, & ReRAM today

• SOT-MRAM and other MRAM technologies later on

• Could compete against lower level cache (faster) SRAM

• Possible DRAM alternative for higher performance at lower power

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TSMC MRAM Roadmap

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2323

Real-Life ApplicationsIt’s Here Now!

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MRAM IoT SoC – Ambiq Apollo

• SoC for intelligent endpoint IoT devices

• Ultra-low battery power

• Serves as both an application processor and a coprocessor

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MRAM DNN Accelerator Chip – NuMem

• Used by NASA

• 1-32 processing engines, 32-1024 ALUs per chip• Efficient for matrix multiplication, convolution, etc.

• Radiation hard, high endurance MRAM• Nonvolatility reduces energy requirements

• Numerous Applications:• Sensor fusion for super resolution

• Terrain Mapping for Depth and Terrain Classification

• Navigation systems: Object Detection & Tracking

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MRAM GPS Receiver – Sony

• CXD5605 GPS Receiver

• Used in Huawei GT 2 Smartwatch

• 8Mb Embedded MRAM

• Samsung 28 FD-SOI Process

© 2021 SNIA Persistent Memory + Computational Storage Summit. All Rights Reserved.

Source: TechInsights

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Other Emerging Memory Products

• NXP MRAM MCU

• STMicro PCM MCU

• TI FRAM MCU

• Fujitsu FRAM MCUs

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Outlook

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Growth in New Memory Shipments

© 2021 SNIA Persistent Memory + Computational Storage Summit. All Rights Reserved.

MRAM

3DXPoint

0.01

0.10

1.00

10.00

100.00

1,000.00

10,000.00

100,000.00

1,000,000.00

10,000,000.00

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030

Peta

byte

Shi

pmen

ts

MRAM DRAM 3D XPoint NAND

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Summary

• NOR flash and SRAM have stopped scaling

• New non-volatile memory types will fill the void

• This will lead to new memory-centric computer architectures

• The storage/memory hierarchy will change

• There are four leading candidates: MRAM, PCM, ReRAM, and FRAM

• Leading foundries already support these new memories

• New memories are in use today

• MRAM and PCM revenues should exceed $36B by 2030

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New Report:Emerging Memories Find Their Direction

© 2021 SNIA Persistent Memory + Computational Storage Summit. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.tomcoughlin.com/techpapers.htmhttps://Objective-Analysis.com/reports/#Emerging

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References

• Emerging Memories Find Their Direction, Coughlin Associates and Objective Analysis, https://tomcoughlin.com/tech-papers/

• The Future of Low-Latency Memory, White Paper, April 2021

• Computer Express Link 2.0 Specification: Memory Pooling, CXL BrightTalk, March 23, 2021

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