Intel Labs, ITRI launch prototype

ENERGY-EFFICIENT: The low-energy DRAM array can help improve the battery life of devices, integrate mobile data faster and enhance graphics resolution

Staff writer, with CNA





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.