Micron sampling 2-Gb, LPDDR2 for mobile devices

SAN FRANCISCO—Micron Technology Inc. said Tuesday (April 20) it is sampling a monolithic 2-gigabit low-power DDR2 (LPDDR2) memory chip designed to provide mobile products, such as smartphones and smartbooks, with improved battery life and speedier system performance.

The new 2-Gb, low-power DDR2 can be used as a stand-alone device or in combination with Micron's NAND for high-capacity multichip package or package-on-package solutions, Micron (Boise, Idaho) said. By stacking four of these devices, Micron can achieve an ultra high-density, 8-Gb-based solution, the company said.

As smartphones and smartbooks become more feature rich and application intensive, more memory is required to keep the system operating at peak performance, according to Micron.

"LPDDR2 memory is fast becoming an essential IP ingredient for a whole range of low-power applications being developed by ARM partners," said Rob Kaye, senior fabric marketing manager at ARM Holdings plc, in a statement. "ARM Memory Controller and System IP have been verified alongside this latest LPDDR2 from Micron, enabling ARM partners to rapidly integrate this LPDDR2 memory into their designs."

Micron said its LPDDR2 family operates at 1.2-volts, reducing the device's memory power consumption as much as 50 percent when compared to LPDDR1. The LPDDR2 family also delivers data transferring speeds of up to 1066 Mb per second, boosting the operating capability of mobile applications, Micro said.

Micron said it expects to begin mass producing 2-Gb LPDDR2 in the third