What is high-bandwidth memory and why is the USA blocking China?
What is high-bandwidth memory and why is the USA blocking China?
The US government has imposed new export controls for the sale of high-tech memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications. These rules affect both high -volume width memory (HBM) and chips produced from abroad. Here you can find out everything you need to know about these state -of -the -art semiconductors, the demand of which has risen rapidly in parallel to the global hype.
What is high -volume width memory (HBM)?
high -band range (HBM) basically consists of a stack of memory chips, small components that store data. HBM can save much more information and transmit data much faster than the older technology called dram (Dynamic Random Access Memory).
HBM chips are often used in graphics cards, high-performance computer systems, data centers and autonomous vehicles. It is particularly important that they are indispensable for the increasingly popular AI applications, including generative AI. These are operated by AI processors, such as the graphics processors (GPUS), which are produced by companies such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
"The processor and the memory are two essential components for AI. Without the memory, it is as if you have a brain with logic, but no memory," said G. Dan Hutcheson, Vice President of Techinsights, a research organization that specializes in chips.
How do the restrictions on China work?
The latest Export restrictions Previous rounds that have been issued by the bid administration in the past three years in relation to advanced chips. The aim is to block China's access to critical technology that could give him a military advantage.
As retaliation, Beijing has imposed new restrictions on the export of Germanium, gallium and others for the production of semiconductors and other high-tech devices. Experts agree that the new export restrictions of China's development of AI chips will slow down and at best bring access to HBM to a standstill. While China's ability to manufacture HBM is currently behind that of South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung and the American Micron, the country is developing its own skills in this area.
"The US export restrictions would restrict China's access to high quality HBM at short notice," said Jeffery Chiu, CEO of Ansforce, an expert network advice that specializes in technology. "In the long term, however, China will continue to be able to create HBM independently, even if it works with less advanced technologies." In China, Yangtze Memory Technologies and Changxin Memory Technologies are the leading manufacturers of memory chips and seem to expand capacity to produce HBM lines in order to achieve their strategic goal of technological self-sufficiency.
Why is HBM so important?
HBM chips are so powerful, especially due to their larger storage space and the considerably faster data transmission, compared to conventional memory chips. Since AI applications require many complex calculations, these properties ensure that these applications work smoothly, without delays or disorders.
A larger storage space means that more data can be saved, transferred and processed, which improves the performance of AI applications, since large voice models (LLM) are able to work with more parameters. Imagine the higher speed of data transmission or the higher range in the chip language like a highway: the more lanes a motorway, the less likely traffic jams, and the more vehicles it can absorb.
"It is like the difference between a two -lane motorway and a hundred -lane highway. You just have no traffic jams," said Hutcheson.
Who are the leading manufacturers?
currently only three companies dominate the global HBM market. In 2022, Hynix made 50 % of the total market share for HBM, followed by Samsung with 40 % and micron with 10 %, according to a research note , which was published by the Taipei-based market research agency Trendforce. It is expected that both South Korean companies in the HBM market will also hold similar shares in 2023 and 2024, which would bring them around 95 % in total.
Micron strives to increase its market share in the HBM area to between 20 % and 25 % by 2025, reports the official news agency Taiwans, citing Praveen Vaidyanatha, a senior employee at Micron. The high value of HBM has meant that all manufacturers align a significant part of their production capacity to the more advanced memory chip. According to Avril Wu, Senior Research Vice President of Trendforce, HBM is expected to make up more than 20 % of the total market for standard memory chips from 2024 and may be over 30 % next year.
How is HBM made?
Imagine that several standard memory chips are stacked on top of each other in layers, similar to a hamburger. This is basically the structure of HBM. At first glance, it sounds quite simple, but it is anything but easy to implement, which is also reflected in the price. The sales price per unit of HBM is several times higher than that of conventional memory chips.
This is because the height of an HBM chip corresponds roughly that of six human hair. This means that every layer of the stacked standard memory chips must be extremely thin, which requires a high degree of manufacturing knowledge that is known as advanced packaging.
"Each of these memory chips must be sanded onto the thickness of half a hair before they are stacked on top of each other, which is very difficult," said Chiu. In addition, holes are drilled into these memory chips before they are mounted on top of each other so that electrical wires can be passed through. The Position and size of these holes must be extremely precise.
"You have a lot more striking points when you try to make these devices. It's almost like building a house of cards," noted Hutcheson.