SK Hynix Reveals Industry’s First CXL-Based Computational Memory Solution
SK Hynix at the OCP Global Summit introduced the world’s first CXL memory with computational capabilities. CXL is a new type of interface that increases the efficiency of GPUs, CPUs, memory and accelerators. Back in August, SK Hynix announced their first ever CXL memory sample.
CXL, which is based on PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), is a new standardized interface that helps increase the efficiency of utilizing CPUs, GPUs, accelerators, and memory
The World’s First CMS
CXL or Compute Express Link offers much more memory bandwidth along with higher capacities. SK Hynix’s CMS is equipped with an SoC capable of handling machine learning and data filtering computation functions. It also identifies whether a task is too taxing on the CPU or not. In the future, this could separate the more CPU-oriented tasks from the SoC for additional efficiency.
Similarly as highlighted by Tom’s Hardware, this Computational Memory Solution ships with a PCIe 4.0 interface supporting the CXL.mem and CXL.io protocols offered by CXL.
- CXL.io – This protocol is based on the PCIe 5.0 standard and allows for device discovery, enumeration, register I/O access and much more.
- CXL.mem – This protocol enables the host CPU to access cache host memory while providing a low-latency I/O interface.
When compared against normal CPUs, this solution can offer several times faster performance in specific workloads. For day-to-day uses, that may not mean much. However, for servers that revolve around specific types of computations, this technology will prove to be extremely fruitful.
Currently, SK Hynix has developed a 96GB CXL memory device consisting of 24GB DDR5 DRAMs. However, this new CXL memory prototype features a whopping 512GB of memory spanning across four 128GB modules. SK Hynix aims to show more regarding this technology at the upcoming SK Tech Summit in Korea planned in early November.
The CXL memory solution prototype developed by SK hynix and the big data analysis platform optimized together with SK Telecom will be unveiled initially at the Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit and will also be demonstrated at the SK Tech Summit in Korea in early November. In the future, SK hynix plans to actively conduct R&D and collaborations related to CXL memory that provides added value from the customer’s point of view.
~SK Hynix
