New Memory Standards Approved: DDR5 MRDIMM and LPDDR6

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, an industry group working to develop standards, announced that it is working on two standards, DDR5 MRDIMM and LPDD6 CAMM, especially for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence applications.

DDR5 MRDIMM, which stands for Multiplexed Rank Dual Inline Memory Modules, represents system RAMs designed for servers and data centers. MRDIMMs will add multiplexing capabilities to the RDIMMs used in most today’s systems, combining multiple data signals and transmitting them over a single channel. In this way, the bandwidth in the memory module can be increased without adding pin outputs and higher data transfer rates will be possible compared to standard DDR5 RDIMMs.

However, MRDIMMs are planned to be compatible with RDIMMs, use standard DDR5 DIMM components and maximize the existing LRDIMM ecosystem. Thanks to MRDIMM, the peak bandwidth of native DRAM can be doubled, enabling memory modules to keep up with the demands of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

On the consumer side, work is being carried out on LPDDR6 CAMM2 standards for laptops. JEDEC approved the CAMM2 standard in late 2023, which uses DDR5 and LPDDR5(X) memory. The addition of LPDDR6 memory to the CAMM2 standard will offer 24-bit subchannel, 48-bit subchannel, and a connector array while increasing maximum speeds for laptops to 14.4 GT/s. This new standard will help manufacturers achieve a thin and light profile for the average laptop and use LPDDR memory without having to resort to soldered RAM.

Finally, JEDEC is also evaluating a tall MRDIMM form factor that would allow manufacturers to double the amount of DRAM in a single module without resorting to 3D Stacking.