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As leading memory giants ramp up preparations for the next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM) battle, JEDEC—the standards-setting body for the microelectronics industry—has officially released the JESD270-4 HBM4 standard, a new memory standard designed to meet the surging demands of AI workloads.
Notably, one of the major improvements in HBM4 is the doubling of independent channels per stack—from 16 in HBM3 to 32. Each channel is further split into two pseudo-channels, allowing for faster and more flexible memory access, as stated by JEDEC.
Meanwhile, HBM4 delivers transfer speeds of up to 8 Gb/s over a 2048-bit interface, reaching a total bandwidth of 2 TB/s. It also supports lower power consumption and improved energy efficiency, according to JEDEC’s press release.
In addition to performance and efficiency gains, HBM4 offers better compatibility and flexibility. Its interface is designed to work with existing HBM3 controllers, allowing a single controller to support both HBM3 and HBM4 if needed, as indicated by JEDEC.
On the capacity side, HBM4 supports 4-high, 8-high, 12-high, and 16-high DRAM stack configurations with 24 Gb or 32 Gb die densities, enabling a maximum cube capacity of 64 GB when using 32 Gb 16-high stacks.
Finally, HBM4 also enhances reliability. According to JEDEC, it incorporates Directed Refresh Management (DRFM) to improve row-hammer mitigation and strengthens Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS).
HBM4 Standard Eases Pressure on Hybrid Bonding Adoption
As noted by ZDNet, the newly agreed JEDEC standard is expected to have a significant impact across the memory, AI semiconductor, and packaging industries. The report highlights that the increased stack height of HBM4 had raised concerns about the limits of existing packaging technologies, potentially pushing manufacturers toward adopting hybrid bonding.
However, with JEDEC confirming a relaxed nominal package thickness of 775 micrometers for both 12-high and 16-high stacked HBM4, the immediate need for hybrid bonding has diminished.
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(Photo credit: Samsung)
