Goodbye, SO-DIMMs: JEDEC’s memory warden will formally adopt the “CAMM Common Specification” as the next standard for laptop RAM modules.
According to JEDEC Committee Member and Dell Senior Distinguished Engineer Tom Schnell, JEDEC, the memory group that homologates RAM standards, is in the process of developing a new specification to replace core SO-DIMMs that have been in use for 25 years.
Last year, Schnell actually created the original CAMM – or Compression Attached Memory Module – for Dell. The JEDEC CAMM standard will be based on this CAMM design, but will likely differ somewhat as companies develop it.
While adopting new hardware standards can be fraught with arm-twisting, procrastination, and all the friction between peers about where to dine, JEDEC seems to have handled it pretty easily.
JEDEC’s CAMM will be based on Dell’s original CAMM, which was implemented in some Dell Precision laptops last year, but probably not quite.
Dell
In fact, Schnell said, the approval went pretty well, with about 20 companies in the target group voting in favor of it.
“We unanimously approved the 0.5 specification,” Schnell told PCWorld. Schnell said JEDEC plans to finalize the 1.0 specification in the second half of 2023, with CAMM-based systems by next year.
Which companies voted for it? Schnell can’t say, as it’s up to each member to disclose, but the group spans a wide range of vendors, from SoCs to connectors to OEMs, and all voted unanimously to adopt a common CAMM specification with no dissent. There are currently 332 companies registered with JEDEC, from Apple to ZTE, each dealing with different aspects of memory in different industries.
For those who haven’t been following, Dell introduced their CAMM design in April 2022 with the goal of replacing the legacy SO-DIMM design that has been used in most gaming laptops and workstations so far. The main attraction of CAMM is that it allows for higher memory densities as well as scaling to even higher clock speeds.
Some of the expediency motivation is likely related to the fast-approaching “brick wall” laptops face when SO-DIMMs hit DDR5/6400 speeds.
Schnell said the CAMM spec is far from complete, but the first JEDEC CAMMs should take place where the SO-DIMM ends in 6400.
Dell’s illustration shows the convoluted path memory traces take from the CPU to SO-DIMMs (top left) versus the company’s new CAMMs and cDIMMs (bottom right).
Dell
CAMM is not proprietary
When Dell first introduced CAMM, it was somewhat misunderstood as a proprietary specification that “binds customers” to the design. Dell has stated that this was never its intention, and the quick approval seems to confirm this. Schnell solved this initial problem when the adoption process had already begun.
“Dell is a huge company, we don’t keep the light because we get patent royalties,” he said. “Basically, we want to recover the costs of inventing and implementing it.”
Plus, going it alone is just not how the PC world works.
“We are part of the PC industry, and the PC industry is built around an ecosystem of partners and vendors,” Schnell said. “Yes, Dell brings its own innovations to its systems, but we also integrate a lot of innovations from many people.”
Future of KAMM
Since CAMM is being developed now, Schnell outlined some possible paths for CAMM as it replaces SO-DIMM. According to him, DDR6 is the obvious way, but CAMM even allows for the possibility of LPDDR6 on a plug-in module. LPDDR, or low power DDR RAM, has long been used in small and thin laptops as well as phones to conserve power. It has also been implemented only in the form of solder for a long time.
Schnell envisions a version of CAMM that provides the performance and power benefits of LPDDR, but in a replaceable and upgradeable module. Now that JEDEC is implementing CAMM, that future is getting closer.