For Intel, solid-state memory production continues to be an important, albeit far from high-margin, activity. At a special briefing, company representatives explained that the supply of drives based on 144-layer 3D NAND memory will begin this year, and next year it will spread to the entire current range of SSDs.
If we compare Intel's progress in increasing the density of data storage in 3D NAND memory, then it cannot be attributed to outsiders, although the company is taking quite large steps in increasing the number of layers. Intel's main competitors crossed the 96-layer milestone either last year or early this year, but the company expects to jump from 144 to 144 layers this year, ahead of rivals for some time. Deliveries of Keystone Harbor series drives based on 3-layer 144D NAND memory should begin this year, and next year the entire range of SSDs of this brand will switch to XNUMX-layer memory.
According to Intel representatives cited by the resource , shipments of the brand's solid-state drives based on QLC memory have already exceeded the ten million mark. The development of PLC (Penta-level cell) memory, which will allow five bits of information to be placed in one cell, is still ongoing.
The Alder Stream generation Optane series will be available in a single-port version this year, moving to a dual-port version next year. The Alder Stream family will use next generation 3D XPoint memory with four layers instead of the current two. This will allow doubling the maximum capacity of such drives. Considering that now the capacity ceiling reaches one and a half terabytes, then Alder Stream will allow you to raise it to three terabytes. This family of drives will receive a new controller with support for PCI Express 4.0.
The development of new generations of 3D XPoint memory is continued by the laboratory at the enterprise in New Mexico, Micron continues to supply the current generation memory under the existing contract, but in the future its production will be established at Intel's own enterprises. Their specialization within this migration has not yet been determined.
Drives of the Intel Optane family are gaining popularity among the company's customers. Eighty-five percent of customers testing Intel drives go on to purchase Optane for their production systems. If we talk about memory like Optane DC, then it is used by two hundred companies from the Fortune 500 list, at least. Second-generation Optane DC memory modules under the symbol Barlow Pass will be introduced before the end of this year. An Intel event is scheduled for June, which will present new products from the solid-state memory segment.
Source: 3dnews.ru