Networking

Network applications have been a rapidly growing segment since the introduction of nationwide mobile communications, in which ever more powerful electronic systems are required. These are usually equipped with the most modern processor technology available. Accordingly, there is a need for the latest memory technologies. DDR4 memory has been used in the network segment since 2016 and the latest 5G mobile communications standard will make no exception, demanding state-of-the-art memory products! Due to the lower power consumption and higher bandwidths, LPDDR4 or LPDDR4X memory will probably be used in addition to conventional DDR4 memory. 

This market segment also often uses special processors optimized for networking tasks. The importance of having a fixed BOM is particularly pronounced here because these optimized CPUs are typically not adequately considered in the mass production of memory modules. MEMPHIS offers a strategy for these kinds of industrial applications under its own brand which delivers fixed BOM and customer-specific application testing supported by decades of experience.

DRAM and Flash ICs are used in network video solutions. These solutions are e.g. network cameras (a network of cameras that are connected to each other and can be controlled centrally) which are used for surveillance of buildings, places, facial recognition, license plate recognition, etc.

From a technical point of view, today everything is based on digital technology, which has almost completely displaced analog technology from the market (analog technology can still be found only in older systems installed years ago). Since the cameras used are becoming more and more powerful and high-resolution (4K, 8K in development), the storage requirements here are increasing successively.  Even "simple" systems today have 1-2Gbit DRAM (sometimes still DDR2, but mostly DDR3), 4Gb to 8Gbit per system for more powerful devices are not uncommon. State of the art systems already use LPDDR4 and are equipped with 8Gb to 16Gbit per device.

In the flash sector, SLC NAND flash in sizes from 1Gb to 8Gbit has mostly become established in this market segment. New systems are often developed with eMMC.

Since camera systems are often installed outdoors in various regions of the world, the temperature requirements for the systems are usually very high. All components used in such systems must meet a temperature requirement of -40°C to +85°C. Especially the high temperatures are often a challenge in many systems, because many components have a partly very high self-heating during operation.

Future camera systems will need a lot of bandwidth and performance to cope with 8K resolution and Deep Learning requirements. Such systems will be equipped with LPDDR4X or in the future with LPDDR5 and will also be equipped with large eMMC memories (16GB and larger) in the flash area.

Typical applications of storage solutions in network technology include switches, routers, gateways, modems, mobile and embedded networks, load balancers, DDoS protection, firewalls, and network controllers.