Samsung completes prototype DDR3 memory chip

South Korean chip giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd said it has finished work on a prototype DDR3 DRAM memory prototype.

The 512Mb device, which is due to enter volume production in 2006, operates from a 1.5V supply and can transfer data at up to 1,066Mbps. That's twice as fast as DDR2, which is just coming into the market in volume, and four times the speed of DDR.

Samsung said it plans to make the chips using an 80nm manufacturing process and, citing data from research house IDC, believes DDR3 will account for 65 percent of the market in 2009.

- Mike Clendenin

EE Times