SK Hynix makes strides in CXL technology, escalating rivalry

SK Hynix Inc., the leading global high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip provider, has moved faster than its rivals in the commercialization of the next-generation memory technology, the compute express link (CXL)-based memory solution, after completing its customer evaluation.

The South Korean memory giant announced on Wednesday that it has completed customer validation of its 96-gigabyte (GB) DDR5 module built on the CXL 2.0 standard, marking the first validation of the CXL memory solution.

The latest development is capable of processing 36 GB of data per second, thanks to a 50% increase in capacity and a 30% improvement in bandwidth compared to previous DDR5 modules, the company explained. 

Such advancements are expected to help save costs in running data centers, according to SK Hynix.

The company said it is also validating a 128 GB version with another customer, rapidly catching up to its local rival, Samsung Electronics, in the next-generation memory solution.

NEW BATTLEGROUND FOR NEXT-GEN MEMORY

CXL adds efficiency to accelerators, DRAM and storage devices used with central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) in high-performance server systems with its pooled memory system.

Pooled memory is a type of memory that is shared between processors but managed by a specific memory controller to allow more efficient use of memory resources.

CXL demand is expected to spike in the era of artificial intelligence computing and machine learning, which require massive data processing. CXL can expand memory capacity and bandwidth well beyond what is currently possible.

According to market tracker Yole Intelligence, the global CXL market is forecast to grow from $14 million in 2023 to $16 billion by 2028.

Samsung Electronics developed the industry’s first CXL-based DRAM in May 2021 and unveiled a mega-capacity 512 gigabyte (GB) CXL DRAM chip in 2022, also the world’s first.

In May 2023, the company developed a 128 GB CXL DRAM supporting CXL 2.0 technology and filed applications for four CXL trademarks in December to commercialize CXL memory.

In early 2024, it also unveiled a CXL 2.0-supportive 256 GB CMM-D product and planned to mass-produce its 256 GB DRAM supporting CXL 2.0 before the end of last year. 

But the Korean chip giant has not yet commercialized its CXL memory architecture, while SK Hynix has moved faster in making it available to its customers for real use.  

SK Hynix plans to accelerate the expansion of its CXL lineup and its ecosystem after completing customer validation for its 128-GB CXL DRAM.

It has developed software called the heterogeneous memory software development kit (HMSDK), optimized for CXL-based environments and integrated with Linux.

The software is designed to help manage memory bandwidth and data allocation, ensuring system efficiency, according to SK Hynix.

The customer validation of SK Hynix's latest CXL product is expected to advance the blooming of the CXL market, industry observers said.

With the delayed commercialization of the CXL DRAM, the CXL market is still in the very early stages of its development. 

If SK Hynix commercializes its CXL memory product before Samsung, the Korean chipmaker, which has already dominated the global HBM market, could also lead the AI chip race ahead of its rivals.

Samsung is also going all-out to take the lead in the CXL market. 

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at why29@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.