A 9.6 gigabits per second mobile DRAM product has been released, surpassing the current fastest operating speed of 8.5 gigabits per second. SK Hynix has once again shown off its memory technology by releasing a new product that breaks the fastest operating speed record in just two months.

SK Hynix announced on the 25th that it has developed the fastest mobile DRAM available, 'LPDDR5T (Low Power Double Data Rate 5 Turbo)', and provided samples to customers.

LPDDR5T is an upgraded version of the mobile DRAM LPDDR5X that SK Hynix released in November of last year. The company increased the operating speed of this new product to 9.6 Gbps (9.6 gigabits per second), which is 13% faster than LPDDR5X.

Additionally, LPDDR5T operates at 1.01 to 1.12 V (volts), which is the minimum voltage standard set by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Committee (JEDEC). SK Hynix emphasized that the product has implemented both speed and ultra-low power characteristics.

SK Hynix stated, “We have once again surpassed technological limitations in just two months since launching the 8.5Gb/s LPDDR5X,” and “Based on this new product, we will further solidify our leadership in the mobile DRAM market by supplying products with various capacities that customers need.”

In fact, SK Hynix recently combined LPDDR5T individual chips into a 16GB (gigabyte) package product and provided samples to customers. The data processing speed of the package product is 77GB per second, which is equivalent to processing 15 FHD (Full-HD) movies in one second.

SK Hynix named its product with 'Turbo' after LPDDR5 to highlight the fact that it has achieved the highest speed. The latest standard is LPDDR 7th generation (5X), which is developed in the order of '1-2-3-4-4X-5-5X'. LPDDR5T is the version first developed by SK Hynix, and is a product that upgrades the performance of the 7th generation LPDDR5X before the 8th generation LPDDR6 was officially released to the industry.

Following LPDDR5X, SK Hynix applied the 'HKMG (High-K Metal Gate)' process to this product as well. The company said, "The HKMG process technology has enabled the new product to have the best performance," and "LPDDR5T, which has dramatically widened the technological gap until the next generation LPDDR6 comes out, will lead this market."

The IT industry predicts that as the 5G smartphone market expands in the future, demand for memory with advanced specifications such as speed, capacity, and low power will increase. In this flow, SK Hynix expects that the scope of application of this LPDDR5T will expand beyond smartphones to include artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR).

SK Hynix Vice President Ryu Sung-soo (in charge of DRAM product planning) said, “Through the development of this new product, we have been able to satisfy the needs of customers demanding ultra-high speeds,” and “We will continue to strive to develop ultra-gap technologies that will lead the next-generation semiconductor market and become a game changer in the IT world.”

Meanwhile, it is reported that products based on the 10nm-class 4th generation (1a) fine process are also planned to enter mass production from the second half of this year.