Samsung mass producing the industry's first combined DRAM and eMMC ePOP memory package

Samsung has announced that it has begun mass production of the industry’s first ePOP memory, which could result in cost and space savings in future high-end smartphone production.

ePOP stands for embedded package on package. Samsung’s design combines 3GB LPDDR3 DRAM volatile memory and 32GB eMMC non-volatile storage into a single package. eMMC memory already combines the flash memory and required controller into a single module. The 3GB LPDDR3 DRAM operates at an I/O data transfer rate of 1,8666Mb/s. Essentially, Samsung’s ePOP memory is a one stop shop for all your mobile memory needs.

What makes this particularly important for smartphone design is that the new all-in-one package reduces the size taken up by various memory components. The entire package fits into a 15mm x 15mm (225mm2) area, rather than two separate chips that can take up over 374.5 square millimetres. Furthermore, the ePOP memory can also be stacked on top of typical mobile processor packages, to save on additional space.

Samsung suggests that its ePoP memory is suitable for both high-end smartphones and tablets. The company also has a similar single-package solution for wearable devices.

Samsung’s semiconductor business turned a healthy profit from mobile memory sales last year and its new package could turn out to be an equally good earner for the company.