Intel's 3D XPoint Plans Clearer Than Micron's

发布时间:2018-07-20 00:00
作者:Ameya360
来源:EE Times
阅读量:997

Or who you don't talk to. Micron, for its part, isn't offering any more guidance right now beyond what was stated in a joint news release issued earlier this week. "The companies have agreed to complete joint development for the second generation of 3D XPoint technology, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2019," the statement reads. "Technology development beyond the second generation of 3D XPoint technology will be pursued independently by the two companies in order to optimize the technology for their respective product and business needs."

Intel is still bullish on the technology. In a telephone interview with EE Times, Bill Leszinske, vice president of Intel's non-volatile memory solutions group, said it makes sense for Intel to continue on its present path.

"We believe in the technology," Leszinske said. He added that what Intel now calls Optane technology presents opportunities on a DIMM in a server as well as high-performance storage either in a server or a client device.

Not surprisingly, Leszinske wouldn't speak on behalf of Micron or speculate on its intentions but did say that Intel believes in the 3D XPoint technology direction the partners had jointly chosen. “Just like in 3D NAND, we believe in the floating gate direction that we've chosen," he said. "In the end, Micron said they have a different direction that they would like to head."

The biggest impact of the Intel/Micron partnership wind-down is that each company will have to completely fund its own technology development, said Leszinske. He acknowledged that this is an expensive commitment, one that includes putting Optane on DIMMs — announced by Intel in May. Dubbed Optane DC Persistent Memory, it's being sampled by customers now, he said, and will be in production the second half of this year, followed by broader availability in 2019.

So far, 3D Xpoint has only found its way into SSDs. As storage media, it may become what NAND flash was in its early days — an augmentation to spinning disk-based storage for data that needs to be accessed frequently and quickly, with flash taking the place of hard drives. "For us, having Optane and low-cost 3D NAND is our direction," said Leszinske. "We have the ability to go invest in that, and we will."

Optane is all about high performance/low latency, he said, while NAND is all about high-density affordable costs so Intel can replace hard drives and reduce customers' operating costs in a data center or make it a better-performing client device. "We will shoot for lower cost even if the performance isn't quite as good because we think bulk replacing of hard drives and building out more tiers of salvaging storage is a better business result for our customers," Leszinske said. 

Intel's Optane has found its way into real-world use cases. The University of Pisa in Italy, for example, is able to process MRIs in two minutes rather than 40, something that claustrophobic patients appreciate, said Leszinske. "That's been an amazing experience that we never would have envisioned. We know there's more of those things out there," he said. 

Intel's enthusiasm for 3D XPoint sounds every much like the buzz around the initial announcement that it and Micron were developing an entirely new class of non-volatile memory that claimed dramatically lower latency and exponentially greater endurance than NAND memory. At the time, there was a lot of speculation about 3D XPoint and the expectation that it would turn up in SSDs and DIMMs.

It's been nearly three years since 3D XPoint was unveiled. As Jim Handy, principal analyst at Objective Analysis, notes, it didn't take long to figure out that the SSDs weren't going to be able to take advantage of 3D XPoint's speed.

"And they seem to be in a struggle to get the DIMM out for whatever reason," Handy said, adding that Micron recently said that its Lehi, Utah, facility was idle. "And the only thing that the Lehi plant has been making for the past six months is 3D XPoint memory," Handy said. Objective Analyst notes that Intel's NAND flash business has been underperforming while other plays are doing quite well.

Handy said that this would seem to suggest that there's over-inventory of 3D XPoint SSDs and that they aren't selling as well as they could. "The SSDs are not really compelling," Handy said. "They're significantly more expensive and nominally better-performing than a NAND flash SSD."

Handy said that it's important to note that Intel is the only one selling anything with 3D XPoint in it. It's also important to remember that Micron and Intel's businesses are different.

"Micron's in an interesting place because they know exactly what it cost to make 3D XPoint memory and they have chosen not to introduce SSDs," said Handy. "Which, to me, says that they don't want lose money on it like Intel is." Micron would have to answer to investors if they lose money on the technology, but for Intel, losing money is fine as long as 3D XPoint helps with its Xeon sales, Handy said.

That being said, Intel's storage unit has been underperforming while everyone else in the NAND flash business "has been reaping in gobs of money," said Handy. And although Intel may optimistic about the opportunities for 3D XPoint, Intel being the only supplier of the technology might put a damper on plans by OEMs such as Dell or HP to build a product line around Optane. "How warm and fuzzy would you feel about your source of supply?"

(备注:文章来源于网络,信息仅供参考,不代表本网站观点,如有侵权请联系删除!)

在线留言询价

相关阅读
Intel’s Next Gen CPU to Produce at TSMC with 3nm in First Half of Next Year
  Intel’s upcoming Lunar Lake platform has entrusted TSMC with the 3nm process of its CPU. This marks TSMC’s debut as the exclusive producer for Intel’s mainstream laptop CPU, including the previously negotiated Lunar Lake GPU and high-speed I/O (PCH) chip collaborations. This move positions TSMC to handle all major chip orders for Intel’s crucial platform next year, reported by UDN News.  Regarding this news, TSMC refrained from commenting on single customer business or market speculations on November 21st. Intel has not issued any statements either.  Recent leaks of Lunar Lake platform internal design details from Intel have generated discussions on various foreign tech websites and among tech experts on X (formerly known as Twitter). According to the leaked information, TSMC will be responsible for producing three key chips for Intel’s Lunar Lake—CPU, GPU, and NPU—all manufactured using the 3nm process. Orders for high-speed I/O chips are expected to leverage TSMC’s 5nm production, with mass production set to kick off in the first half of next year, aligning with the anticipated resurgence of the PC market in the latter half of the year.  While TSMC previously manufactured CPUs for Intel’s Atom platform over a decade ago, it’s crucial to note that the Atom platform was categorized as a series of ultra-low-voltage processors, not Intel’s mainstream laptop platform. In recent years, Intel has gradually outsourced internal chips, beyond CPUs, for mainstream platforms to TSMC, including the GPU and high-speed I/O chips in the earlier Meteor Lake platform—all manufactured using TSMC’s 5nm node.  Breaking from its tradition of in-house production of mainstream platform CPUs, Intel’s decision to outsource to TSMC hints at potential future collaborations. This move opens doors to new opportunities for TSMC to handle the production of Intel’s mainstream laptop platforms.  It’s worth noting that the Intel Lunar Lake platform is scheduled for mass production at TSMC in the first half of next year, with a launch planned for the latter half of the year, targeting mainstream laptop platforms. Unlike the previous two generations of Intel laptop platforms, Lunar Lake integrates CPU, GPU, and NPU into a system-on-chip (SoC). This SoC is then combined with a high-speed I/O chip, utilizing Intel’s Foveros advanced packaging. Finally, the DRAM LPDDR5x is integrated with the two advanced packaged chips on the same IC substrate.
2023-11-22 11:18 阅读量:1833
Intel’s CEO Envisions Over One Hundred Million AI PC Shipments in Two Years
  On November 7th, Intel held its “Intel Innovation Taipei 2023 Technology Forum”, with CEO Pat Gelsinger highlighting the healthy state of PC inventory. He also expressed optimism about the injection of several more years of innovative applications and evolution in PCs through AI.  Intel Aims to Ship over One Hundred Million AI PC within the Next Two Years  Gelsinger expressed that the PC inventory has reached a healthy level, and he is optimistic about the future growth of AI PCs, which are equipped with AI processors or possess AI computing capabilities. He anticipates that AI will be a crucial turning point for the PC industry.  Additionally, Gelsinger stated that the server industry may have seemed uneventful in recent years, but with the accelerated development of AI, it has become more exciting. AI is becoming ubiquitous, transitioning from the training phase to the deployment phase, and various platforms will revolve around AI.  Gelsinger expressed his strong confidence in Intel’s position in the AI PC market, expecting to ship over one hundred million units within two years.  Intel’s Ambitious Expansion in Semiconductor Foundry Landscape  Intel is actively promoting its IDM 2.0 strategy, with expectations from the industry that the company, beyond its brand business, has advanced packaging capabilities to support semiconductor foundry operations. In the future, Intel is poised to compete with rivals such as TSMC and Samsung.  Gelsinger noted that some have viewed Intel’s plan of achieving five technical nodes in four years as “an ambitious endeavor.” However, he emphasized that Intel remains committed to its original goal of advancing five process nodes within four years.  The company’s foundry business has received positive responses from numerous potential customers, and while it may take three to four years for significant expansion, the advanced packaging aspect may only require two to three quarters to get on track.  This transformation marks a significant shift for the company, setting new standards in the industry. Intel is making steady progress in its four-year plan to advance five nodes, and Moore’s Law will continue to extend. The construction of Intel’s new factories is also ongoing.  According to Intel’s roadmap, Intel 7 and Intel 4 are already completed, Intel 3 is set for mass production in the latter half of this year, and Intel 20A and 18A are expected to enter mass production in the first and second halves of next year, respectively.
2023-11-08 16:10 阅读量:1432
Intel, Facebook working on cheaper AI chip
 Intel and Facebookare working together on a new cheaper Artificial Intelligence (AI) chip that will help companies with high workload demands.At the CES 2019 here on Monday, Intel announced "Nervana Neural Network Processor for Inference" (NNP-I)."This new class of chip is dedicated to accelerating inference for companies with high workload demands and is expected to go into production this year," Intel said in a statement.Facebook is also one of Intel's development partners on the NNP-I.Navin Shenoy, Intel Executive Vice President in the Data Centre Group, announced that the NNP-I will go into production this year.The new "inference" AI chip would help Facebook and others deploy machine learning more efficiently and cheaply.Intel began its AI chip development after acquiring Nervana Systems in 2016.Intel also announced that with Alibaba, it is developing athlete tracking technology powered by AI that is aimed to be deployed at the Olympic Games 2020 and beyond.The technology uses existing and upcoming Intel hardware and Alibaba cloud computing technology to power a cutting-edge deep learning application that extracts 3D forms of athletes in training or competition."This technology has incredible potential as an athlete training tool and is expected to be a game-changer for the way fans experience the Games, creating an entirely new way for broadcasters to analyse, dissect and re-examine highlights during instant replays," explained Shenoy.Intel and Alibaba, together with partners, aim to deliver the first AI-powered 3D athlete tracking during the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020."We are proud to partner with Intel on the first-ever AI-powered 3D athlete tracking technology where Alibaba contributes its best-in-class cloud computing capability and algorithmic design," said Chris Tung, CMO, Alibaba Group. 
2019-01-09 00:00 阅读量:2521
Israel Approves $185 Million Grant for Intel Fab
The Israeli parliamentary finance committee approved a $185 million grant to Intel in return for meeting job creation targets and local contract guarantees.Last May, Intel announced it would spend $5 billion over two years to upgrade its Fab 28 in Kiryat Gat, Israel, from 22nm to 10nm production technology.Israel's grant is conditional on Intel meeting its already announced commitment to hire 250 new staff at the fab, and on awarding contracts worth around $560 million to local suppliers.Earlier this month, Ann Kelleher, Intel’s senior vice president and general manager of manufacturing and operations, said the company was planning for manufacturing site expansions in Oregon, Ireland and Israel, with multi-year construction activities expected to start in 2019.In a blog post, Kelleher said, “Having additional fab space at-the-ready will help us respond more quickly to upticks in the market and enables us to reduce our time to increased supply by up to roughly 60%. In the weeks and months ahead, we will be working through discussions and permitting with local governments and communities.”Kelleher said it was part of the company’s strategy to prepare the company’s global manufacturing network for flexibility and responsiveness to demand. As part of this, the company is spending to expand its 14nm manufacturing capacity, made progress on the previously announced schedule for the Fab 42 fit-out in Arizona, and located development of a new generation of storage and memory technology at its manufacturing plant in New Mexico.Kelleher also said that Intel would also supplement its own manufacturing capability with selective use of foundries for certain technologies "where it makes sense for the business." The company had already been doing this but will do so more as it aims to address a broader set of customers beyond the PC and into a $300 billion market for silicon in cars, phones, and artificial intelligence (AI) based products.
2019-01-04 00:00 阅读量:1312
  • 一周热料
  • 紧缺物料秒杀
型号 品牌 询价
RB751G-40T2R ROHM Semiconductor
MC33074DR2G onsemi
TL431ACLPR Texas Instruments
BD71847AMWV-E2 ROHM Semiconductor
CDZVT2R20B ROHM Semiconductor
型号 品牌 抢购
BP3621 ROHM Semiconductor
BU33JA2MNVX-CTL ROHM Semiconductor
ESR03EZPJ151 ROHM Semiconductor
TPS63050YFFR Texas Instruments
IPZ40N04S5L4R8ATMA1 Infineon Technologies
STM32F429IGT6 STMicroelectronics
热门标签
ROHM
Aavid
Averlogic
开发板
SUSUMU
NXP
PCB
传感器
半导体
相关百科
关于我们
AMEYA360微信服务号 AMEYA360微信服务号
AMEYA360商城(www.ameya360.com)上线于2011年,现 有超过3500家优质供应商,收录600万种产品型号数据,100 多万种元器件库存可供选购,产品覆盖MCU+存储器+电源芯 片+IGBT+MOS管+运放+射频蓝牙+传感器+电阻电容电感+ 连接器等多个领域,平台主营业务涵盖电子元器件现货销售、 BOM配单及提供产品配套资料等,为广大客户提供一站式购 销服务。