DenseMem CXL memory expansion

DenseMem increases effective CXL Type 3 Device memory capacity by a factor of 2x through transparent, in-line memory compression/decompression with minimal impact to latency and badwidth. DenseMem is available as an area and power efficient drag and drop IP block portable across the latest process nodes.

Overview

Standards

Protocol: CXL 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, cxl.mem
Compression: LZ4, ZID (proprietary)
AMBA interface: AXI4, CHI

Architecture

Transparent addressing to host
Arbitrary cache line read/ write
Bridge to cxl.mem, optionally to cxl.io
Support for DCD, optional custom interface
Type 3 device support, NUMA based memory tiering

Features

Turn key solution: compression, compaction, memory management
Automatic compressed memory tier
Multi-instance support to match interface throughput
Cache line granularity decompression for highest read performance (proprietary algorithm)

Deliverables

FPGA evaluation license
Encrypted IP delivery (Xilinx)

HDL Source Licenses

Synthesizable System Verilog RTL (encrypted)
Implementation constraints
UVM testbench (self-checking)
Vectors for testbench and expected results
User Documentation

Applications

Data Center operators at scale regularly employ software memory compression to create an additional memory tier to conserve capacity and interconnect bandwidth. Such operations consume monetizable host node compute cycles. DenseMem offloads compression/ decompression , tranparently creating a new, dynamically adjusting compressed memory tier within the Type 3 Device. DenseMem free up host cycles to service end user workloads. DenseMem supports industry standard compression algorithms for compatibility/ interoperability and alternatively offers propreitary compression algorithms for highest performance. DenseMem AI features adapt performance by adjusting to workloads automatically.

Integration

DenseMem can be integrated into the CXL Type 3 device SoC, between the CXL controller and memory controller logic blocks, supporting both AXI4 and CHI specifications. DenseMem lightweight firmware enables communication with the device over CXL.mem commands when reading and writing pages. DenseMem exposes compressed memory region as an additional Tier in the memory hierarchy, for easy integration into existing linux and software application stacks as well as CXL fabric management software.

Benefits

2-3x effective capacity increase. New compressed memory tier instantiated automatically inside CXL Type 3 device. Turn key solution: Real-time compression/decompression coupled with compaction, and transparent memory management. Operations at main memory speed and throughput. Compatible with AXI4/CHI specifications for easy integration. Intelligent real-time analysis and tuning to adapt to diverse workloads.

Performance / KPI

Feature	Performance
Compression ratio:	2-3x across diverse data sets
Frequency:	1.6GHz (@5nm TSMC)
IP area:	Starting at 0.23mm² (@5nm TSMC) 75% is SRAM
Memory technologies supported:	(LP)DDR4, (LP)DDR5

System integration of DenseMem

Integrated within a CXL Type 3 device

Cache MX

The Cache MX compression solution increases the cache capacity by 2x at an 80% area and power saving to comparable SRAM capacity.

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SuperRAM

High performance and low latency hardware accelerated compression at unmatched power efficiency.

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Ziptilion™ BW

Delivers up to 25% more (LP)DDR bandwidth at nominal frequency and power, enabling a significantly more performance and energy efficient SoC.

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DenseMem

Double the CXL connected memory capacity with data DenseMem.

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Flash MX

Double the NvMe storage capacity with Flash MX.

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SphinX

High Performance and Low Latency industry-standard encryption / decryption. Independent non-blocking encryption and decryption channels.

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