JEDEC Solid State Technology Association today announced the
publication of JEDEC DDR3L, an addendum to its JESD79-3 DDR3
Memory Device Standard.
Continuing the evolution of DDR3 as the dominant DRAM
standard today, DDR3L will enable a significant reduction in
power consumption for a broad range of products that utilize
memory; including laptops, desktops, servers, networking
systems and a wide array of consumer electronics products.
The updated version of JESD79-3, including the DDR3L
addendum, is available for free download at www.jedec.org.
Called DDR3L for DDR3 Low Voltage, devices adhering to the
new standard will operate from a single 1.35V power supply
voltage compared to 1.5V in existing devices. Under the new
standard, DDR3L memory devices will be functionally
compatible to DDR3 memory devices, but not all devices will
be interoperable at both voltage ranges, JEDEC said.
The DDR3L standard defines the operating characteristics for
DDR3L memory devices, with the devices offering a reduction
in power consumption of 15% or more as compared to DDR3 (and
40% as compared to DDR2), when operating at the same
performance and load capacity. This significant reduction in
power consumption, especially in memory-intensive systems,
will have benefits in areas such as power supply demand,
system cooling requirements and potential packaging density.
Already available in limited supply with some manufacturers,
1.35V devices are forecasted to be widely available from
suppliers, who have been working within JEDEC to ensure
DDR3L compatible devices may be procured from multiple
sources. Rapid introduction will be facilitated by the fact
that the fundamental specifications have not changed, and
many systems will require only minor modifications in order
to adhere to the new standard.
John Kelly, JEDEC President, added, "The publication of
DDR3L is an integral part of the ongoing effort within JEDEC
to extend memory device technologies to meet the industry?s
need for environmentally-friendly, high performance
products."