Micron Technology, Inc. has begun sampling its automotive low-power DDR5 DRAM (LPDDR5) memory. LPDDR5 is part of Micron’s new portfolio of memory and storage products targeted for automotive functional safety based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26262 standard. Micron’s functional safety-evaluated DRAM is compatible with many of today’s advanced safety technologies, including intelligent cruise control, blind-spot detection, and automatic emergency braking. Micron’s LPDDR5 is designed to address the increasing bandwidth requirements of these and other next-generation automotive systems.
“Autonomous vehicles promise to make our roads safer, but they need powerful, trusted memory that can enable real-time decision-making in extreme environments,” said Kris Baxter, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Micron’s Embedded Business Unit. “To fulfill this growing market need, we’ve optimized our automotive LPDDR5 to deliver the utmost performance, quality, and reliability for the smart, safe cars of tomorrow.”
Increased Data Access & Power Efficiency
Micron notes that ADAS-enabled vehicles now run over 100 million lines of code and require hundreds of tera operations per second. According to Micron, LPDDR5 is meant to addresses this with a 50 percent increase in data access speeds and a 20 percent improvement in power efficiency for both electric and conventional vehicles. Micron says LPDDR5 will handle extreme temperatures and is qualified for automotive reliability standards such as Automotive Electronics Council-Q100 and International Automotive Task Force 16949.
Collaboration & Risk Mitigation
Micron has established an office for collaborating with customers on the memory requirements that next-generation automotive safety systems necessitate. To help customers navigate complex compliance obligations, this office spearheaded the launch of LPDDR5 with a safety application note and the industry’s first supplier-provided hardware evaluation report of DRAM. Micron’s hardware evaluation has also been independently assessed and verified by exida.
“Functional safety is essential to the development of advanced automotive systems, but to date, memory has had a somewhat neglected commercial off-the-shelf existence,” said Alexander Griessing, Chief Operating Officer and Principal Safety Expert at exida. “Micron has launched its industry-leading automotive LPDDR5 with a laser focus on ISO 26262, setting a new standard for the rest of the memory industry.”
Micron’s LPDDR5 ultimately supports customers in conducting comprehensive safety analysis during system configuration, according to the company. To meet top-level safety requirements, LPDDR5 incorporates safety mechanisms to detect and control memory errors during operation, as well as mechanisms that system integrators can implement to reduce risk further.
“This increased attention to functional safety will benefit all, from automakers to consumers who need advanced, safe vehicles,” Griessing added.
