US-based Intel Corp’s research arm and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) have created a new low-energy prototype memory array that can boost a device’s battery life.
The prototype DRAM array can achieve four times lower latency at 25 times less energy than the standard double data rate synchronous DRAM (DDR SDRAM) devices that are generally used in computers, Intel Labs said.
The improved energy efficiency can help improve the battery life of devices, integrate mobile data faster, enhance graphics with higher resolution and boost mobile user experience, it said.
Intel Labs said that technology from the prototype could be used in system-on-chip (SoC) devices for mobile devices or a memory controller for datacenter systems with large memory arrays.
The prototype is the latest in a series of continuing research efforts in advanced memory architectures by Intel Labs and ITRI since 2011. They have created experimental memory arrays and prototyping, and developed model simulation software.
“As a technology innovator for nearly half a century, Intel believes that technology can have a transformative impact on people and communities,” Intel Labs managing director Wang Wen-hann (王文漢) said on Thursday last week in Taipei.
“This belief is what drives our collaborations with governments, the research community, academia, industry and others. The goal is to enable new thinking and skills to further economic empowerment,” Wang told a news conference at the first Intel Asia Innovation Summit in Taiwan.
The Intel Asia Innovation Summit runs through today. It has brought nearly 300 attendees from China, India, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the US and Vietnam to discuss key technology topics, such as the Internet of Things, wearables, interactive tech, mobility and big data.
Intel Labs also announced on Thursday last week a software prototype in cooperation with Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) — the world’s fifth-largest computer maker — that can achieve 2.5 times the input and output performances of conventional storage servers.
The software prototype is being tested and validated using real-world workloads recorded from the operating systems of Asustek’s cloud unit, Asus Cloud Corp (華碩雲端), the research division said.
Intel Labs has been collaborating with the computer maker since last year to enhance the performance and cost-efficiency of cloud storage systems.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to