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3D XPoint

March 03, 2023

3D XPoint (pronounced three-D cross point) is a discontinued non-volatile memory (NVM) technology developed jointly by Intel and Micron Technology. It was announced in July 2015 and was available on the open market under the brand name Optane (Intel) from April 2017 to July 2022.[1] Bit storage is based on a change of bulk resistance, in conjunction with a stackable cross-grid data access array.[2][3] Initial prices are less than dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) but more than flash memory.[4]

3D Cross Point 2 layer diagram
Intel Optane in M.2 card format

As a non-volatile memory, 3D XPoint has a number of features that distinguish it from other currently available RAM and NVRAM. Although the first generations of 3D XPoint were not especially large or fast, 3D XPoint was used to create some of the fastest[5] SSDs available as of 2019, with small-write latency. As the memory is inherently fast, and byte-addressable, techniques such as read-modify-write and caching used to enhance traditional SSDs are not needed to obtain high performance. In addition, chipsets such as Cascade Lake are designed with inbuilt support for 3D XPoint,[citation needed] that allow it to be used as a caching or acceleration disk, and it is also fast enough to be used as non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) in a DIMM package.

History

Development

Development of 3D XPoint began around 2012.[6] Intel and Micron had developed other non-volatile phase-change memory (PCM) technologies previously;[note 1] Mark Durcan of Micron said 3D XPoint architecture differs from previous offerings of PCM, and uses chalcogenide materials for both selector and storage parts of the memory cell that are faster and more stable than traditional PCM materials like GST.[8] But today, it is thought of as a subset of ReRAM.[9]

3D XPoint has been stated to use electrical resistance and to be bit addressable.[10] Similarities to the resistive random-access memory under development by Crossbar Inc. have been noted, but 3D XPoint uses different storage physics.[6] Specifically, transistors are replaced by threshold switches as selectors in the memory cells.[11] 3D XPoint developers indicate that it is based on changes in resistance of the bulk material.[2] Intel CEO Brian Krzanich responded to ongoing questions on the XPoint material that the switching was based on "bulk material properties".[3] Intel has stated that 3D XPoint does not use a phase-change or memristor technology,[12] although this is disputed by independent reviewers.[13]

3D XPoint has been the most widely produced standalone memory based on other than charge storage, whereas other alternative memories, like ReRAM or MRAM, have so far only been widely developed on embedded platforms.[14]

Initial production

In mid-2015, Intel announced the Optane brand for storage products based on 3D XPoint technology.[15] Micron (using the QuantX brand) estimated the memory to be sold for about half the price of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), but four to five times the price of flash memory.[16] Initially, a wafer fabrication facility in Lehi, Utah, operated by IM Flash Technologies LLC (an Intel-Micron joint venture) made small quantities of 128 Gbit chips in 2015. They stack two 64 Gbit planes.[6][17] In early 2016 mass production of the chips was expected in 12 to 18 months.[18]

In early 2016, IM Flash announced that the first generation of solid-state drives would achieve 95000 IOPS throughput with 9 microsecond latency.[18] This low latency significantly increases IOPS at low queue depths for random operations. At Intel Developer Forum 2016, Intel demonstrated PCI Express (PCIe) 140 GB development boards showing 2.4–3× improvement in benchmarks compared to PCIe NAND flash solid-state drives (SSDs).[19] On March 19, 2017, Intel announced their first product: a PCIe card available in the second half of 2017.[20][21]

Reception

 
Optane 900p sequential mixed read-write performance, compared to a wide range of well reputed consumer SSDs. The graph shows how traditional SSD's performance drops sharply to around 500–700 MB/s for all but nearly-pure read and write tasks, whereas the 3D XPoint device is unaffected and consistently produces around 2200–2400 MB/s throughput in the same test. Credit: Tom's Hardware.

Despite the initial lukewarm reception when first released, 3D XPoint – particularly in the form of Intel's Optane range – has been highly acclaimed and widely recommended for tasks where its specific features are of value, with reviewers such as Storage Review concluding in August 2018 that for low-latency workloads, 3D XPoint was producing 500,000 4K sustained IOPS for both reads and writes, with 3–15 microsecond latencies, and that at present "there is currently nothing [else] that comes close",[22] while Tom's Hardware described the Optane 900p in December 2017 as being like a "mythical creature" that must be seen to be believed, and which doubled the speed of the best previous consumer devices.[23] ServeTheHome concluded in 2017 that in read, write and mixed tests, Optane SSDs were consistently around 2.5× as fast as the best Intel datacentre SSDs which had preceded them, the P3700 NVMe.[24] AnandTech noted that consumer Optane-based SSDs were similar in performance to the best non-3D-XPoint SSDs for large transfers, with both being "blown away" by the large transfer performance of enterprise Optane SSDs.[25]

Sale of Lehi fab, and discontinuation

On March 16, 2021, Micron announced that it would cease development of 3D XPoint in order to develop products based on Compute Express Link (CXL).[26] The Lehi fab was never fully utilized, and was sold to Texas Instruments for USD 900 Mio.[27] Intel responded at the time that its ability to supply Intel Optane products would not be affected.[28]

In 2021, Intel discontinued its consumer line of Optane products,[29] and in July 2022, Intel announced the winding down of the Optane division, effectively discontinuing the development of 3D XPoint.[30][31]

Compatibility

Intel

Intel distinguishes between "Intel Optane Memory" and "Intel Optane SSDs". As a memory component, Optane requires specific chipset and CPU support.[32] As an ordinary SSD, Optane is broadly compatible with a very wide range of systems, and its main requirements are much like any other SSD – ability to be plugged into the hardware, operating system, BIOS/UEFI and driver support for NVMe, and adequate cooling.[33]

  • As a standards-based NVMe-PCIe SSD: Optane devices can be used as the storage element of an ordinary solid-state drive (SSD), typically in M.2 card format, NVMe PCI Express format, or U.2 standalone format. When Optane is used as an ordinary SSD (in any of these formats), its compatibility requirements are the same as for any traditional SSD. Therefore, compatibility depends only upon whether the hardware, operating system and drivers can support NVMe and similar SSDs. Optane SSDs are therefore compatible with a wide range of older and newer chipsets and CPUs (including non-Intel chipsets and CPUs).
  • As a memory or on-board acceleration device: Optane devices can also be used as NVDIMM (non volatile main memory) or for certain kinds of caching or accelerating roles, but unlike general SSD roles, this requires newer hardware, since the chipset and motherboard must be designed to work specifically with Optane in those roles.

Micron

Micron offers NVMe AIC SSD drives (QuantX X100[34]) which maintain compatibility with NVMe capable systems. Native support as an acceleration device is not supported (although tiered storage can be used).[35]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Intel and Numonyx presented 64 Gb stackable PCM chips in 2009.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Intel Launches Optane Memory M.2 Cache SSDs for Consumer Market". AnandTech. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b Clarke, Peter (28 July 2015), "Intel, Micron Launch "Bulk-Switching" ReRAM", EE Times, "The switching mechanism is via changes in resistance of the bulk material," was all Intel would add in response to questions sent via email.
  3. ^ a b Merrick, Rick, "Intel's Krzanich: CEO Q&A at IDF", EE Times, p. 2
  4. ^ Evangelho, Jason (July 28, 2015). . Hot Hardware. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016. Intel's Rob Crooke explained, 'You could put the cost somewhere between NAND and DRAM.'
  5. ^ "Intel Optane SSD P5800X Review". 6 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Clarke, Peter (28 July 2015), "Intel, Micron Launch "Bulk-Switching" ReRAM", EE Times
  7. ^ McGrath, Dylan (28 Oct 2009), "Intel, Numonyx claim phase-change memory milestone", EE Times
  8. ^ Clarke, Peter (31 July 2015), "Patent Search Supports View 3D XPoint Based on Phase-Change", EE Times
  9. ^ "Partnership Puts ReRAM in SSDs". EE Times. 2017-09-27.
  10. ^ Hruska, Joel (29 July 2015). "Intel, Micron reveal Xpoint, a new memory architecture that could outclass DDR4 and NAND". ExtremeTech.
  11. ^ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-threshold-switches-replace-transistors-memory-cell-frederick-chen also at https://semiwiki.com/semiconductor-manufacturers/286317-can-threshold-switches-replace-transistors-in-the-memory-cell/
  12. ^ Mellor, Chris (28 July 2015). "Just ONE THOUSAND times BETTER than FLASH! Intel, Micron's amazing claim". The Register. An Intel spokesperson categorically denied that it was a phase-change memory process or a memristor technology. Spin-transfer torque was also dismissed
  13. ^ Malventano, Allyn (2 June 2017). "How 3D XPoint Phase-Change Memory Works". PC Perspective. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  14. ^ LaPedus, Mark (August 16, 2018). "Next-Gen Memory Ramping Up". Semiconductor Engineering.
  15. ^ Smith, Ryan (18 Aug 2015), "Intel Announces Optane Storage Brand For 3D XPoint Products", AnandTech
  16. ^ Mearian, Lucas (August 9, 2016). "Micron reveals marketing details about 3D XPoint memory QuantX: Intel, Micron may have made a mistake announcing 3D XPoint a year ago". Computer World. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  17. ^ Smith, Ryan (18 August 2015), "Intel Announces Optane Storage Brand For 3D XPoint Products", Anandtech, products will be available in 2016, in both standard SSD (PCIe) form factors for everything from Ultrabooks to servers, and in a DIMM form factor for Xeon systems for even greater bandwidth and lower latencies. As expected, Intel will be providing storage controllers optimized for the 3D XPoint memory
  18. ^ a b Merrick, Rick (14 Jan 2016), "3D XPoint Steps Into the Light", EE Times
  19. ^ Cutress, Ian (26 August 2016). "Intel's 140 GB Optane 3D Xpoint PCIe SSD Spotted at IDF". Anandtech. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  20. ^ Bright, Peter (March 19, 2017). "Intel's first Optane SSD: 375 GB that you can also use as RAM". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  21. ^ Figas, Jon (March 19, 2017). "Intel's first hyper-fast 3D drive is meant for servers". En Gadget. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  22. ^ "Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X Review". Storage review. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  23. ^ "Intel Optane SSD 900P 256GB Performance Testing". Tom's Hardware. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  24. ^ Robinson, Cliff (24 April 2017). "Intel Optane: Hands-on Real World Benchmark and Test Results". Serve thehome. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  25. ^ Tallis, Billy. "The Intel Optane Memory (SSD) Preview: 32GB of Kaby Lake Caching". Anandtech. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  26. ^ Micron ceases 3D XPoint
  27. ^ Tallis, Billy. "Micron Abandons 3D XPoint Memory Technology". www.anandtech.com.
  28. ^ updated, Paul Alcorn last (March 16, 2021). "Micron to Sell 3D XPoint Memory Fab and Cease Further Development (Updated)". Tom's Hardware.
  29. ^ "Intel quietly kills its face-melting Optane desktop SSDs". PCWorld. January 19, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  30. ^ "Intel to Wind Down Optane Memory Business - 3D XPoint Storage Tech Reaches Its End".
  31. ^ Why Intel killed its Optane memory business, The Register, 2022-07-22.
  32. ^ "Intel Optane Memory: Before You Buy, Key Requirements". Intel. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  33. ^ "System Requirements for an Intel Optane SSD 900P Series Drive". Intel. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  34. ^ . www.storagereview.com. 2019-10-24. Archived from the original on 2019-12-18. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  35. ^ . www.micron.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-24. Retrieved 2019-12-18.

External links

  • "Intel Micron Webcast", YouTube, 44 minutes

March 03, 2023
xpoint, pronounced, three, cross, point, discontinued, volatile, memory, technology, developed, jointly, intel, micron, technology, announced, july, 2015, available, open, market, under, brand, name, optane, intel, from, april, 2017, july, 2022, storage, based. 3D XPoint pronounced three D cross point is a discontinued non volatile memory NVM technology developed jointly by Intel and Micron Technology It was announced in July 2015 and was available on the open market under the brand name Optane Intel from April 2017 to July 2022 1 Bit storage is based on a change of bulk resistance in conjunction with a stackable cross grid data access array 2 3 Initial prices are less than dynamic random access memory DRAM but more than flash memory 4 3D Cross Point 2 layer diagram Intel Optane in M 2 card format As a non volatile memory 3D XPoint has a number of features that distinguish it from other currently available RAM and NVRAM Although the first generations of 3D XPoint were not especially large or fast 3D XPoint was used to create some of the fastest 5 SSDs available as of 2019 with small write latency As the memory is inherently fast and byte addressable techniques such as read modify write and caching used to enhance traditional SSDs are not needed to obtain high performance In addition chipsets such as Cascade Lake are designed with inbuilt support for 3D XPoint citation needed that allow it to be used as a caching or acceleration disk and it is also fast enough to be used as non volatile RAM NVRAM in a DIMM package Contents 1 History 1 1 Development 1 2 Initial production 1 3 Reception 1 4 Sale of Lehi fab and discontinuation 2 Compatibility 2 1 Intel 2 2 Micron 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditDevelopment Edit Development of 3D XPoint began around 2012 6 Intel and Micron had developed other non volatile phase change memory PCM technologies previously note 1 Mark Durcan of Micron said 3D XPoint architecture differs from previous offerings of PCM and uses chalcogenide materials for both selector and storage parts of the memory cell that are faster and more stable than traditional PCM materials like GST 8 But today it is thought of as a subset of ReRAM 9 3D XPoint has been stated to use electrical resistance and to be bit addressable 10 Similarities to the resistive random access memory under development by Crossbar Inc have been noted but 3D XPoint uses different storage physics 6 Specifically transistors are replaced by threshold switches as selectors in the memory cells 11 3D XPoint developers indicate that it is based on changes in resistance of the bulk material 2 Intel CEO Brian Krzanich responded to ongoing questions on the XPoint material that the switching was based on bulk material properties 3 Intel has stated that 3D XPoint does not use a phase change or memristor technology 12 although this is disputed by independent reviewers 13 3D XPoint has been the most widely produced standalone memory based on other than charge storage whereas other alternative memories like ReRAM or MRAM have so far only been widely developed on embedded platforms 14 Initial production Edit In mid 2015 Intel announced the Optane brand for storage products based on 3D XPoint technology 15 Micron using the QuantX brand estimated the memory to be sold for about half the price of dynamic random access memory DRAM but four to five times the price of flash memory 16 Initially a wafer fabrication facility in Lehi Utah operated by IM Flash Technologies LLC an Intel Micron joint venture made small quantities of 128 Gbit chips in 2015 They stack two 64 Gbit planes 6 17 In early 2016 mass production of the chips was expected in 12 to 18 months 18 In early 2016 IM Flash announced that the first generation of solid state drives would achieve 95000 IOPS throughput with 9 microsecond latency 18 This low latency significantly increases IOPS at low queue depths for random operations At Intel Developer Forum 2016 Intel demonstrated PCI Express PCIe 140 GB development boards showing 2 4 3 improvement in benchmarks compared to PCIe NAND flash solid state drives SSDs 19 On March 19 2017 Intel announced their first product a PCIe card available in the second half of 2017 20 21 Reception Edit Optane 900p sequential mixed read write performance compared to a wide range of well reputed consumer SSDs The graph shows how traditional SSD s performance drops sharply to around 500 700 MB s for all but nearly pure read and write tasks whereas the 3D XPoint device is unaffected and consistently produces around 2200 2400 MB s throughput in the same test Credit Tom s Hardware Despite the initial lukewarm reception when first released 3D XPoint particularly in the form of Intel s Optane range has been highly acclaimed and widely recommended for tasks where its specific features are of value with reviewers such as Storage Review concluding in August 2018 that for low latency workloads 3D XPoint was producing 500 000 4K sustained IOPS for both reads and writes with 3 15 microsecond latencies and that at present there is currently nothing else that comes close 22 while Tom s Hardware described the Optane 900p in December 2017 as being like a mythical creature that must be seen to be believed and which doubled the speed of the best previous consumer devices 23 ServeTheHome concluded in 2017 that in read write and mixed tests Optane SSDs were consistently around 2 5 as fast as the best Intel datacentre SSDs which had preceded them the P3700 NVMe 24 AnandTech noted that consumer Optane based SSDs were similar in performance to the best non 3D XPoint SSDs for large transfers with both being blown away by the large transfer performance of enterprise Optane SSDs 25 Sale of Lehi fab and discontinuation Edit On March 16 2021 Micron announced that it would cease development of 3D XPoint in order to develop products based on Compute Express Link CXL 26 The Lehi fab was never fully utilized and was sold to Texas Instruments for USD 900 Mio 27 Intel responded at the time that its ability to supply Intel Optane products would not be affected 28 In 2021 Intel discontinued its consumer line of Optane products 29 and in July 2022 Intel announced the winding down of the Optane division effectively discontinuing the development of 3D XPoint 30 31 Compatibility EditIntel Edit Intel distinguishes between Intel Optane Memory and Intel Optane SSDs As a memory component Optane requires specific chipset and CPU support 32 As an ordinary SSD Optane is broadly compatible with a very wide range of systems and its main requirements are much like any other SSD ability to be plugged into the hardware operating system BIOS UEFI and driver support for NVMe and adequate cooling 33 As a standards based NVMe PCIe SSD Optane devices can be used as the storage element of an ordinary solid state drive SSD typically in M 2 card format NVMe PCI Express format or U 2 standalone format When Optane is used as an ordinary SSD in any of these formats its compatibility requirements are the same as for any traditional SSD Therefore compatibility depends only upon whether the hardware operating system and drivers can support NVMe and similar SSDs Optane SSDs are therefore compatible with a wide range of older and newer chipsets and CPUs including non Intel chipsets and CPUs As a memory or on board acceleration device Optane devices can also be used as NVDIMM non volatile main memory or for certain kinds of caching or accelerating roles but unlike general SSD roles this requires newer hardware since the chipset and motherboard must be designed to work specifically with Optane in those roles Micron Edit Micron offers NVMe AIC SSD drives QuantX X100 34 which maintain compatibility with NVMe capable systems Native support as an acceleration device is not supported although tiered storage can be used 35 See also EditIntel Turbo Memory NAND flash memory NOR flash memoryNotes Edit Intel and Numonyx presented 64 Gb stackable PCM chips in 2009 7 References Edit Intel Launches Optane Memory M 2 Cache SSDs for Consumer Market AnandTech 27 March 2017 Retrieved 13 November 2017 a b Clarke Peter 28 July 2015 Intel Micron Launch Bulk Switching ReRAM EE Times The switching mechanism is via changes in resistance of the bulk material was all Intel would add in response to questions sent via email a b Merrick Rick Intel s Krzanich CEO Q amp A at IDF EE Times p 2 Evangelho Jason July 28 2015 Intel and Micron Jointly Unveil Disruptive Game Changing 3D XPoint Memory 1000x Faster than NAND Hot Hardware Archived from the original on August 15 2016 Retrieved January 21 2016 Intel s Rob Crooke explained You could put the cost somewhere between NAND and DRAM Intel Optane SSD P5800X Review 6 April 2021 a b c Clarke Peter 28 July 2015 Intel Micron Launch Bulk Switching ReRAM EE Times McGrath Dylan 28 Oct 2009 Intel Numonyx claim phase change memory milestone EE Times Clarke Peter 31 July 2015 Patent Search Supports View 3D XPoint Based on Phase Change EE Times Partnership Puts ReRAM in SSDs EE Times 2017 09 27 Hruska Joel 29 July 2015 Intel Micron reveal Xpoint a new memory architecture that could outclass DDR4 and NAND ExtremeTech https www linkedin com pulse can threshold switches replace transistors memory cell frederick chen also at https semiwiki com semiconductor manufacturers 286317 can threshold switches replace transistors in the memory cell Mellor Chris 28 July 2015 Just ONE THOUSAND times BETTER than FLASH Intel Micron s amazing claim The Register An Intel spokesperson categorically denied that it was a phase change memory process or a memristor technology Spin transfer torque was also dismissed Malventano Allyn 2 June 2017 How 3D XPoint Phase Change Memory Works PC Perspective Retrieved 8 June 2017 LaPedus Mark August 16 2018 Next Gen Memory Ramping Up Semiconductor Engineering Smith Ryan 18 Aug 2015 Intel Announces Optane Storage Brand For 3D XPoint Products AnandTech Mearian Lucas August 9 2016 Micron reveals marketing details about 3D XPoint memory QuantX Intel Micron may have made a mistake announcing 3D XPoint a year ago Computer World Retrieved March 31 2017 Smith Ryan 18 August 2015 Intel Announces Optane Storage Brand For 3D XPoint Products Anandtech products will be available in 2016 in both standard SSD PCIe form factors for everything from Ultrabooks to servers and in a DIMM form factor for Xeon systems for even greater bandwidth and lower latencies As expected Intel will be providing storage controllers optimized for the 3D XPoint memory a b Merrick Rick 14 Jan 2016 3D XPoint Steps Into the Light EE Times Cutress Ian 26 August 2016 Intel s 140 GB Optane 3D Xpoint PCIe SSD Spotted at IDF Anandtech Retrieved 26 August 2016 Bright Peter March 19 2017 Intel s first Optane SSD 375 GB that you can also use as RAM Ars Technica Retrieved March 31 2017 Figas Jon March 19 2017 Intel s first hyper fast 3D drive is meant for servers En Gadget Retrieved March 31 2017 Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X Review Storage review 31 July 2018 Retrieved 15 April 2019 Intel Optane SSD 900P 256GB Performance Testing Tom s Hardware 4 December 2017 Retrieved 15 April 2019 Robinson Cliff 24 April 2017 Intel Optane Hands on Real World Benchmark and Test Results Serve thehome Retrieved 15 April 2019 Tallis Billy The Intel Optane Memory SSD Preview 32GB of Kaby Lake Caching Anandtech Retrieved 15 April 2019 Micron ceases 3D XPoint Tallis Billy Micron Abandons 3D XPoint Memory Technology www anandtech com updated Paul Alcorn last March 16 2021 Micron to Sell 3D XPoint Memory Fab and Cease Further Development Updated Tom s Hardware Intel quietly kills its face melting Optane desktop SSDs PCWorld January 19 2021 Retrieved February 15 2021 Intel to Wind Down Optane Memory Business 3D XPoint Storage Tech Reaches Its End Why Intel killed its Optane memory business The Register 2022 07 22 Intel Optane Memory Before You Buy Key Requirements Intel Retrieved 15 April 2019 System Requirements for an Intel Optane SSD 900P Series Drive Intel Retrieved 15 April 2019 Micron X100 NVMe SSD 3D XPoint Unveiled StorageReview com Storage Reviews www storagereview com 2019 10 24 Archived from the original on 2019 12 18 Retrieved 2019 12 18 X100 www micron com Archived from the original on 2020 07 24 Retrieved 2019 12 18 External links Edit Intel Micron Webcast YouTube 44 minutes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 3D XPoint amp oldid 1142354135 Initial production, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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