SanDisk on Wednesday introduced an interesting new memory that could wed the capacity of 3D NAND and the extreme bandwidth enabled by high bandwidth memory (HBM). SanDisk's high-bandwidth flash (HBF) memory enables access to multiple high-capacity 3D NAND arrays in parallel, thus providing plenty of bandwidth and capacity. The company positions HBF as a solution for AI inference applications that require high bandwidth and capacity coupled with low power requirements. The first-generation HBF can enable up to 4TB of VRAM capacity on a GPU, and more capacity in future revisions. SanDisk also foresees this tech making its way to cellphones and other types of devices. The company hasn't announced a release date yet.
"We are calling it the HBF technology to augment HBM memory for AI inference workloads," said Alper Ilkbahar, memory technology chief at SanDisk. "We are going to match the bandwidth of HBM memory while delivering 8 to 16 times capacity at a similar cost point."
