It's been nearly six years since we unleashed the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero on an unsuspecting world. Of all the products we've launched, Zero is still the one I'm proudest of: it most perfectly embodies our mission to give people access to tools, and to eliminate cost as a barrier. We've sold nearly four million units of Zero, and its $10 wireless-enabled big brother Zero W, and they've made their way into everything from smart speakers to hospital ventilators. But where our larger products have grown steadily more powerful over the years, we've never found a way to pack more performance into the Zero form factor. Until today.

Priced at $15, Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W uses the same Broadcom BCM2710A1 SoC die as the launch version of Raspberry Pi 3, with Arm cores slightly down-clocked to 1GHz, bundled into a single space-saving package alongside 512 MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM. The exact performance uplift over Zero varies across workloads, but for multi-threaded sysbench it is almost exactly five times faster.

Driven by such factors as the continued development of autonomous driving technologies and the build-out of 5G infrastructure, the demand for automotive memories will undergo a rapid growth going forward, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. Take Tesla, which is the automotive industry leader in the application of autonomous vehicle technologies, as an example. Tesla has adopted GDDR5 DRAM products from the Model S and X onward because it has also adopted Nvidia's solutions for CPU and GPU. The GDDR5 series had the highest bandwidth at the time to complement these processors. The DRAM content has therefore reached at least 8 GB for vehicles across all model series under Tesla. The Model 3 is further equipped with 14 GB of DRAM, and the next-generation of Tesla vehicles will have 20 GB. If content per box is used as a reference for comparison, then Tesla far surpasses manufacturers of PCs and smartphones in DRAM consumption. TrendForce forecasts that the average DRAM content of cars will continue to grow in the next three years, with a CAGR of more than 30% for the period.

Micron Technology, Inc., one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the addition of a new product to its Phase Change Memory (PCM) portfolio. With high-volume shipments of its 45-nanometer (nm), 1-gigabit (Gb) PCM-based multichip package (MCP) solution for mobile devices well underway, the company is now sampling a 512-megabit (Mb) PCM plus 512Mb LPDDR2 MCP that offers greater flexibility in terms of application requirements. The company also announced that it has been shipping 1Gb PCM to one of the world's leading mobile device manufacturers, Nokia, for use in their recently announced phones.

As the first company in the world to ship PCM solutions in volume, Micron is building on its close cooperation with chipset vendors, enablers and handset manufacturers to meet growing market demand for PCM. Nokia is using Micron's PCM solution to enrich the functionality of select devices in its portfolio.

Rambus Inc. (RMBS), one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, today announced that the International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued its notice of final determination in the action brought by Rambus against LSI Logic, ST Microelectronics and other Respondents. In its notice, the ITC affirmed the initial determination of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Theodore R. Essex that there was no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to the asserted patents. The Commission also reversed the ALJ's determinations that Rambus demonstrated the existence of a domestic industry, that certain asserted Dally claims were invalid, and that those claims were infringed. The action is Investigation Number 337-TA-753.

Rambus has not yet received the full opinion by the Commission. A copy of today's summary is available here.

Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:MU), one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced an industry first with high-volume availability of its 45-nanometer (nm) Phase Change Memory (PCM) for mobile devices, featuring 1-gigabit (Gb) PCM plus 512-megabit (Mb) LPDDR2 in a multichip package. As the first company in the world currently offering PCM solutions in volume production, Micron is providing chipset vendors, enablers, and handset manufacturers with a proven product that meets the expanding needs of today's wireless market and paves the way for enhanced features and capabilities.

PCM provides enhanced boot time, simplifies software development and boosts performance with overwrite capability. It also provides very low power consumption and extremely high reliability. In addition, the design-optimizing shared interface between LPDDR2 and PCM is fully compliant with JEDEC industry standards.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a global leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced today that it has begun producing the industry's first four gigabit (Gb), low power double-data-rate 2 (LPDDR2) memory using 20 nanometer (nm) class* technology. The mobile DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip, which went into mass production last month, will help the market to deliver advanced devices that are faster, lighter and provide longer battery life than today's mobile devices.

"Samsung began expanding the market for 4Gb DRAM last year with the first mass-produced 30nm-class DRAM, and now we are working on capturing most of the advanced memory market with our new 20nm-class 4Gb DRAM," said Wanhoon Hong, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. "In the second half of this year, we expect to strongly increase the portion of 20nm-class DRAM within our overall DRAM output to make the 4Gb DRAM line-up the mainstream product in DRAM production, and therefore keeping the leadership position in the premium market and strengthening our competitive edge."

According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the following report presents a forecast of six major DRAM and NAND Flash industry trends in 2012-2015.

Trend-1: Mainstream PC DRAM Specification DDR3 to Dominate Market Until 2014

DDR3 has been the mainstream PC DRAM specification since 2011, and DRAMeXchange expects it will remain so until 2014. Although JEDEC will officially announce standards for DDR4 in 2012, DRAMeXchange is conservative as to whether the new specification will follow the historical pattern set by DDR and DDR2 and hit the market in 2014-2015, as the marginal benefit to PC performance provided by DDR4 will be limited. However, Intel will still hold decisive influence over the matter.

Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, today announced it received notice that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for its U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) action against LSI Logic, MediaTek, ST Microelectronics and other Respondents has issued an Initial Determination. According to the notice, ALJ Theodore R. Essex found there to be no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for the patents in question. The action is Investigation Number 337-TA-753.

Rambus may request a full Commission review of the ALJ's Initial Determination. If the Commission grants a petition for review, it may affirm, modify, reverse, set aside, or remand all or part of the ALJ's decision in developing the ITC's final determination.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a global leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced today that it started producing embedded multi-chip package (eMCP) memory for use in the rapidly expanding market segment for entry- to mid-level smartphones. Samsung's new eMCP solutions come in a wide range of densities, utilizing LPDDR2 (low power double-data-rate 2) DRAM made with 30 nanometer (nm) class process technology and NAND flash memory using 20 nm-class technology.

ZiiLABS, a pioneering media processor and platforms company (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd), today unveiled its ground-breaking 100-core ZMS-40 StemCell Media processor optimized for Android. The ZMS-40 combines 96 of ZiiLABS' StemCell media processing cores with four 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPUs to deliver stunning multi-tasking application and media processing performance.

By doubling the number of StemCell Media processors compared to the previous ZMS-20, the ZMS-40 delivers twice the peak media performance, while running the larger array at lower clock speeds to achieve the same performance leads to greater energy efficiency and a reduction in power consumption of up to 50 percent. With 2X the performance and 2X the power efficiency, the ZMS-40 delivers ground-breaking media capabilities to handheld devices such as tablets, including ultra-high-resolution H.264 HP decoding of up to 3840x1080 for true 1080p 3D stereo, a rich and interactive desktop browsing experience, 2560x1600 (WQXGA) display resolution support, higher-quality video encoding and immersive OpenGL ES graphics and future support for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in the development of standards for the microelectronics industry, today announced the availability of a new standard for Wide I/O mobile DRAM: JESD229 Wide I/O Single Data Rate (SDR). Widely anticipated by the industry, Wide I/O mobile DRAM is a breakthrough technology that will meet industry demands for increased levels of integration as well as improved bandwidth, latency, power, weight and form factor; providing the ultimate in performance, energy efficiency and small size for smartphones, tablets, handheld gaming consoles and other mobile devices. JESD229 may be downloaded free of charge from the JEDEC website here.

Wide I/O mobile DRAM enables chip-level three dimensional (3D) stacking with Through Silicon Via (TSV) interconnects and memory chips directly stacked upon a System on a Chip (SoC). The standard defines features, functionalities, AC and DC characteristics, and ball/signal assignments. It is particularly well-suited for applications requiring extreme power efficiency and increased memory bandwidth (up to 17GBps). Examples include 3D Gaming, HD Video (1080p H264 video, pico projectors), and running multiple applications simultaneously. Wide I/O offers twice the bandwidth of the previous generation standard, LPDDR2, at the same rate of power consumption.

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced the DRAM industry's first-ever use of high-k metal gate (HKMG) technology to develop a 2-gigabit DDR2 Mobile RAM (LPDDR2) at the 40nm-class DRAM node.

HKMG is technology that uses insulator film with a high dielectric constant (abbreviated to "high-k," a semiconductor industry measure of how much charge a material can hold) in the transistor gate to reduce current leakage and improve transistor performance. Metal gate electrodes that are required for the high-k dielectrics process are also used. Some makers of logic semiconductors have started to use HKMG, but higher heat treatment temperatures after HKMG formation and complicated DRAM structural characteristics have prevented consistent application in the DRAM fabrication process. Elpida, however, has managed to lower the heat treatment load and overcome certain memory device structural complications.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it is the first in the industry to start mass producing 32 gigabyte (GB) memory modules, essential for cloud computing and advanced server systems, using 30 nanometer (nm) class* four gigabit (Gb) DDR3 DRAM chips.

"With this module, Samsung has secured the highest level of product and solution competitiveness in the DRAM market for PC, server and mobile applications," said Wanhoon Hong, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. "We also plan to ship more energy-efficient 4Gb DDR3 DRAM based on 20nm-class* process technology in the second half of this year, which will significantly expand the rapidly growing market for green IT memory solutions. Moreover, we intend to keep delivering the greenest memory products with optimal performance for customers," he added.

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that it has developed a 4-gigabit DDR2 Mobile RAMTM that employs state-of-the-art 30nm process. This new Mobile RAM features a low operating voltage of 1.2V, achieves a 1066Mbps high-speed data transfer rate, and uses roughly 30% less operating current compared with stacking two of Elpida's 40nm 2-gigabit products. Through sophisticated circuit design and advanced process technology, this product achieves the world's smallest class in chip size for a 4-gigabit LPDDR2. In addition, it is an eco-friendly DRAM equipped with a low power feature that targets mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet PCs by contributing to extended operating times of battery-powered devices.

Currently, the rapidly expanding market for smart phones and tablet PCs is striving to expand the features of its operating systems. As a result, the ideal density of DRAMs is also rapidly on the rise, and there is an increasing need for high density DRAMs - 8-gigabit for high-end smart phones and 16-gigabit for high-end tablet PCs. At the same time, there is a strong demand for smaller, thinner, and lighter DRAM packages, and attention is being focused on advanced package technologies such as Package on Package (PoP) and Multi Chip Package (MCP).

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced today that it started the industry's first production of four gigabit (Gb), low power double-data-rate 2 (LPDDR2) DRAM using 30 nanometer (nm) class technology earlier this month. The mobile DRAM chip will help the market to deliver thinner, lighter smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, with longer battery life, at a level unachievable until now.,

"Mass production of 4Gb LPDDR2 is a tremendous advancement for the mobile industry, one that will enable our OEM customers to move quickly in launching better differentiated high-performance mobile devices into the market." said Wanhoon Hong, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will continue to take the initiative in accelerating growth of the market by providing high-performance, high-density green memory products as often and as early as possible."

This Friday, ASUS will launch what it is touting to be a revolutionary new ultra-portable computing device, the Eee Pad Transformer (EP101), at a high-profile launch event in Taipei. The EP101 is a slate-type 10.1-inch tablet that can attach to a bottom-half that includes a keyboard and trackpad, and transform into a netbook. Two of its biggest features include NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor that make it both fast and its UI visually intensive; and Google's Android Honeycomb operating system largely customized by ASUS, that is optimized for larger touch devices such as tablets.

Notable components include Tegra 2 processor, 1 GB LPDDR2 memory, 16/32/64 GB eMMC storage with unlimited cloud storage, IPS display with capacitive touch and resolution of 1280 x 800, 1.2 MP front and 5 MP rear cameras, Tegra 2 graphics that can play back 1080p video, and a load of connectivity feature including WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, 3G (optional). Other human interface devices include g-sensor, compass, gyro, light sensor, and GPS. The Eee Pad Transformer is expected to be priced in Taiwan at 19,596 NTD (around US $663).More pictures follow.

Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, today announced that it has renewed their patent license agreement with Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). This agreement covers Elpida's range of memory products including SDR, DDR, DDR2, DDR3, LPDDR, LPDDR2, GDDR3 and GDDR5 DRAM.

"We are extremely pleased to have licensed another one of the top three memory companies. This agreement continues our licensing momentum and renews a winning partnership that has produced best-in-class memory solutions for customers," said Sharon Holt, senior vice president and general manager of the Semiconductor Business Group at Rambus. "Elpida's customers now have the full benefit of licensed products using our patented innovations to enrich the consumer experience of electronic systems."

Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, today announced it has filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) requesting the commencement of an investigation pertaining to products from Broadcom Corporation, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., LSI Corporation, MediaTek Inc., NVIDIA Corporation and STMicroelectronics N. V. The complaint seeks an exclusion order barring the importation, sale for importation, or sale after importation of products from Broadcom, Freescale, LSI, NVIDIA and STMicroelectronics that infringe certain patents from the Dally1 family of patents, and of products from Broadcom, Freescale, LSI, MediaTek and STMicroelectronics that infringe certain patents from the Barth family of patents. In an earlier investigation requested by Rambus, the ITC found that these same Barth patents were valid and infringed by NVIDIA products, and issued an exclusion order in July of this year.

"We have been attempting to license these companies for some time to no avail. One of the respondents frankly told us that the only way they would get serious is if we sued them. Others pursued a strategy of delay rather than negotiate a reasonable resolution," said Harold Hughes, president and chief executive officer at Rambus. "Rambus has invested hundreds of millions of dollars developing a portfolio of technologies that are foundational for many digital electronics. There is widespread knowledge within the industry about our patents including their use in standards-compatible products accused in these actions. In fairness to our shareholders and to our paying licensees, we take these steps to protect our patented innovations and pursue fair compensation for their use."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has expanded its 'Green Memory' initiative going beyond DRAM and solid state drives (SSDs) to include several memory products for PC and mobile application areas. At the seventh annual Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum being held here today, Samsung announced that its 'Green Memory' initiative will now include Samsung LPDDR2 and GDDR5 green memory as well as its GreenDDR3 and Green SSDs.

Stepping up its efforts to increase worldwide interest in Green IT products and eco-friendly solutions, a new website has been launched to promote the expanded initiative to OEM customers and consumers. It provides detailed information on Samsung's green product strategies and green-focused partners, for all three market areas, as well as industry-wide green IT trends.

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that it had developed a 2-gigabit DDR2 Mobile RAM, the DRAM industry's smallest LPDDR2 chip. The new DDR2 is expected to become the main product manufactured by the 40nm process line at Elpida's Hiroshima Plant (the 40nm line is currently undergoing a capacity expansion).

The new 2-gigabit DDR2 Mobile RAM was developed to target the smart phone and tablet PC markets. In addition to featuring low operating voltage of 1.2V it achieves a 1066Mpbs high-speed data transfer rate and can reach 8.5GB/second for a 64-bit system configuration. Because it uses roughly 30% less operating current compared with Elpida's existing 50nm products the new Mobile RAM is an eco-friendly DRAM that contributes to extending the operating time of mobile devices.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, today announced the industry's first multi-chip package (MCP) with PRAM - for use in mobile handsets beginning later this quarter.

The 512 megabit Samsung PRAM in the MCP is backward compatible with 40 nanometer-class* NOR flash memory in both its hardware and software functionality, allowing mobile handset designers the convenience of having multi-chip packaging fully compatible with past stand-alone PRAM chip technology. PRAM is expected to be widely embraced by next year as the successor to NOR flash in consumer electronics designs, to become a major memory technology.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Numonyx B.V. today announced they are jointly developing market specifications for Phase Change Memory (PCM) products, a next generation memory technology that will help enable makers of feature-rich handsets and mobile applications, embedded systems* and high-end computing devices to meet the increasing performance and power demands for platforms loaded with content and data. Creating common hardware and software compatibility for PCM products should help simplify designs and shorten development time, enabling manufacturers to quickly transition to high-performance, low-power PCM products from both companies.

Phase change memory produces very fast read and write speeds at lower power than conventional NOR and NAND flash memory, and allows for bit alterability normally seen in RAM.

"Our joint efforts with Numonyx will enable a more secure path for introducing PCM into the mobile environment," said SeiJin Kim, vice president, mobile memory technology planning and enabling, Samsung Electronics. "We anticipate that PCM will eventually be a major addition to our family of memory products, one that will nicely compliment our other mobile memory solutions and ultimately increase our leadership in the industry," he added.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced the publication of JESD209-2 LPDDR2 Low Power Memory Device Standard. Available for free download from JEDEC's website here, the new standard offers advanced power management features, a shared interface for nonvolatile memory (NVM) and volatile memory (SDRAM), and a range of densities and speeds. The standard will enhance the design of such products as smart phones, cell phones, PDAs, GPS units, handheld gaming consoles, and other mobile devices by enabling increased memory density, improved performance, smaller size, overall reduction in power consumption as well as a longer battery life.

Micron Technology and Nanya Technology Corporation, today announced that they have jointly developed low-power DDR2 (LPDDR2) DRAM technology for mobile and consumer applications with initial die densities up to 1Gb. Developed through the companies' DRAM joint development program (JDP), the LPDDR2 is designed to operate at 1.2-volts, providing as much as a 50-percent power reduction when compared to LPDDR1.
"LPDDR2 DRAM is important for the design of today's mobile applications, prolonging a device's battery life with its low-power consumption and improvement of overall system performance compared to low-power DDR1," said John Schreck, vice president of DRAM design at Micron. "Development of this high-performing LPDDR2 is credit to the swift progress in technology design that we have achieved through our JDP with Nanya. We look forward to growing our relationship with Nanya, continuing to bring industry-leading DRAM design to our customer base."

Hynix Semiconductor today introduced the world's first and fastest 1 Gigabite mobile LPDDR2. This product meets JEDEC standard and is expected to lead international LPDDR2 standard. 1Gb LPDDR, Low Power DDR2, is built on the Company's leading edge 66nm process technology. It boasts maximum operating speed of 800Mbps at 1.2V power supply. It consumes less power but operates at a faster speed than mobile DDR. With the fastest speed and small form factor package of 9mm x 12mm,, it is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of mobile applications which demand high memory density and fast operating speed features. This new product has function of Hynix's 'One Chip Solutions' and it allows Hynix the flexibility of offering wire bonded options to meet the specific needs of the customer by combining SDRAM/DDR DRAM interfaces, and x16/x32 organizations on a single chip. Hynix plans to start mass production of LPDDR2 in the fourth quarter of this year to meet the increasing demand for high performance mobile applications.