Micron Announces Low-Power Memory for Automotive Safety Applications

     Micron Technology Inc., a leading provider of memory and storage solutions, announced that it has begun sampling the industry's first automotive low-power DDR5 DRAM (LPDDR5) memory. The memory is hardware evaluated to meet the highest automotive safety integrity level (ASIL) standard, ASIL D. In addition, Micron has a series of new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26262 compliant memory and storage products for automotive security.

     The LPDDR5 DRAM has passed functional safety evaluations for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) technologies including adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and blind spot detection[1]. It has the characteristics of high performance, low power consumption and low latency at the same time, which provides performance guarantee and development space to meet the increasing bandwidth requirements of next-generation automotive systems.

     Kris Baxter, corporate vice president and general manager of Micron's Embedded Products Group, said: "Autonomous driving can make our roads safer, but autonomous driving technology relies on powerful and reliable memory to make real-time decisions in extreme environments. To meet the growing market demand, we have optimized LPDDR5 for automotive use to provide superior performance, quality and reliability for the smart and safe cars of the future."

     As electronic components become an essential part of driving safety, automakers must adhere to strict functional safety standards to ensure safety mechanisms can mitigate risks in the event of a car failure. Micron understands the increasing importance of functional safety, and has established a dedicated department within the company to work closely with customers on the memory requirements of automotive safety system design. To help customers meet complex compliance obligations, the division led the LPDDR5 market launch within Micron, accompanied by safety application notes, and published the industry's first vendor-provided DRAM hardware evaluation report. Micron's hardware evaluation report was also independently evaluated and verified by exida, a well-known professional company in the field of automotive safety. By conducting this rigorous evaluation within the company, Micron aims to help customers in the automotive sector simplify system design and accelerate time-to-market.

     Alexander Griessing, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Safety Specialist at exida, said: "Functional safety is a vital part of the development process of advanced automotive systems, but until now memory has been somewhat neglected and treated as a Ready-to-buy. Micron has set a new benchmark for the memory industry with industry-leading automotive LPDDR5, precisely compliant with ISO 26262. Increased focus on functional safety will benefit all parties, including automakers and those requiring advanced , consumers of safe vehicles.”