Counterfeit chips are large and growing problem putting both civilian and military supply chains at risk. Estimates of the size of the counterfeit market run to $75B and more. With electronics at the heart of so many of the products we depend upon, the risks of counterfeit semiconductors range from inconvenience to loss of property and life.
よりセキュアなシリコンサプライチェーン (A More Secure Silicon Supply Chain)
AIと5Gにより高まるIoT機器の脅威 (5G and AI Raise Security Risks for IoT Devices)
5G represents a revolution in mobile technology with performance that will rival that of wireline networks. 5G’s Ultra-reliable Low Latency Communication (uRLLC) links will enable a profusion of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered IoT devices from delivery drones to smart cities. The rapid rise in the number of smart IoT devices, coupled with expanded connectivity, will greatly escalate the growth of data and network traffic.
チップ攻撃技術の全貌とその対策 (Anti-Tampering Technologies)
The design of chip anti-tamper protection needs to adapt and scale with rising threats. Adversaries range from high school hackers to well-funded state actors. Given the threats, it’s useful to think about anti-tamper countermeasures as a hierarchy of safeguards that parallel the type, effort and expense of attacks.
Rambus Demonstrates HBM2E Running at 4 Gbps: 512 GB/s per HBM2E Stack
Rambus has demonstrated that its HBM2E solution, which consists of a memory controller and a verified 1024-bit PHY, can operate at a whopping 4.0 Gbps data transfer rate per pin. The demonstration is meant to prove potential clients that the HBM2E solution can scale and offer a 25% higher peak bandwidth than is officially defined by JEDEC’s HBM2E standard.
Rambus Advances HBM2E Performance to 4.0 Gbps for AI/ML Training Applications
Highlights:
- Fully-integrated HBM2E memory interface solution, consisting of verified PHY and controller, achieves industry’s fastest performance
- New benchmark in performance supports accelerators requiring terabyte-scale bandwidth for artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) training applications
- Partners with SK hynix and Alchip to develop 2.5D HBM2E memory system solution using TSMC N7 process and CoWoS® advanced packaging technologies
- Offers unrivaled system expertise supporting customers with interposer and package reference designs to speed time to market
Read first our primer on:
HBM2E Implementation & Selection – The Ultimate Guide »

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Sept. 9, 2020 – Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS), a premier silicon IP and chip provider making data faster and safer, today announced it has achieved a record 4 Gbps performance with the Rambus HBM2E memory interface solution consisting of a fully-integrated PHY and controller. Paired with the industry’s fastest HBM2E DRAM from SK hynix operating at 3.6 Gbps, the solution can deliver 460 GB/s of bandwidth from a single HBM2E device. This performance meets the terabyte-scale bandwidth needs of accelerators targeting the most demanding AI/ML training and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.
“With this achievement by Rambus, designers of AI and HPC systems can now implement systems using the world’s fastest HBM2E DRAM running at 3.6 Gbps from SK hynix,” said Uksong Kang, vice president of product planning at SK hynix. “In July, we announced full-scale mass-production of HBM2E for state-of-the-art computing applications demanding the highest bandwidth available.”
The fully-integrated, production-ready Rambus HBM2E memory subsystem runs at 4 Gbps without PHY voltage overdrive. Rambus teamed with SK hynix and Alchip to implement the HBM2E 2.5D system to validate in silicon the Rambus HBM2E PHY and Memory Controller IP using TSMC’s N7 process and CoWoS® (Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate) advanced packaging technologies. Co-designing with the engineering team from Rambus, Alchip led the interposer and package substrate design.
“This advancement of Rambus and its partners, using TSMC’s advanced process and packaging technologies, is another important achievement of our ongoing collaboration with Rambus,” said Suk Lee, senior director of the Design Infrastructure Management Division at TSMC. “We look forward to a continued partnership with Rambus to enable the highest performance in AI/ML and HPC applications.”
“Alchip brought a demonstrated track record of success in 7nm and 2.5D package design to this initiative,” said Johnny Shen, CEO of Alchip Technologies. “We’re extremely proud of our contributions to Rambus’ breakthrough achievement.”
Rambus has 30 years of high-speed memory design applied to the most demanding computing applications. Its renowned signal integrity expertise was key to achieving an HBM2E memory interface capable of 4 Gbps operation. This raises a new benchmark for meeting the insatiable bandwidth requirements of AI/ML training.
“With silicon operation up to 4 Gbps, designers can future-proof their HBM2E implementations and can be confident of ample margin for 3.6 Gbps designs,” said Matthew Jones, senior director and general manager of IP cores at Rambus. “As part of every customer engagement, Rambus provides reference designs for the 2.5D package and interposer to ensure first-time right implementations for mission-critical AI/ML designs.”
Benefits of the Rambus HBM2E Memory Interface (PHY and Controller):
- Achieves the industry’s highest speed of 4 Gbps per pin, delivering a system bandwidth of 460 GB from a single 3.6 Gbps HBM2E DRAM 3D device.
- Fully-integrated and verified HBM2E PHY and Controller reduces ASIC design complexity and speeds time to market
- Includes 2.5D package and interposer reference design as part of IP license
- Provides access to Rambus system and SI/PI experts helping ASIC designers to ensure maximum signal and power integrity for devices and systems
- Features LabStation™ development environment that enables quick system bring-up, characterization and debug
- Supports high-performance applications including state-of-the-art AI/ML training and high-performance computing (HPC) systems
For more information on the Rambus Interface IP, including our PHYs and Controllers, please visit rambus.com/interface-ip.
Micron Reveals GDDR6X Details: The Future of Memory, or a Proprietary DRAM?
Micron Technology shared some additional details about its latest GDDR6X SGRAM used by Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards at a virtual briefing last week. The company revealed that it has experimented for more than a decade with technologies enabling the new type of memory and said that GDDR6X SGRAM had not been standardized by JEDEC yet. Right now, only Nvidia uses GDDR6X memory, but Micron hopes this will change over time. Can it?

