Innoovating memory system with increasingly sophisticated technology

Yukihito Oowaki, Fellow

Expertise: Memory systems

Interview

"The technology and trends of the present day will never last for all time"
Discussion on the innovation in memory systems that is required to keep winning in the market in the ever-advancing world of computers

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Interview video: Innoovating memory system with increasingly sophisticated technology

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Expertise

I am a Fellow in Memory Systems. Kioxia is a semiconductor company that produce flash memory. However, storage won't work with a memory chip alone. We develop hardware and software for controllers that control memory, integrate them into storage with memory chips, and ship them for smartphones and SSDs. Moving compute closer to the storage is progressing steadily, and new memory filiing the gap between DRAM and Flash is emerging. We are conducting research and development on memory system for the next generation and beyond.

For further growth

There is a huge market for memory and storage. Each company has their winning strategy, and there are various ways to win the competition. One crucial strategy is to cultivate human resources. We have a diverse talent pool, so we need to think of different ways to develop them. What I can say is that technology is evolving, and the market will keep changing. For instance, only a few members working on machine learning had that expertise when they joined KIOXIA. Our machine learning experts used to be engaged in image processing, applied mathematics or statistics. I think each of us in R&D needs to focus and dig deeper into current work and brush up on benchmarking practices. That's because the technology of the day when you enter the company will never last for all time.

Contribution to the world 10 years from now

The amount of data we're handling is increasing, especially for AI and machine learning applications. 10 years from now, the data generated in a year will continue to grow at an annual rate of 25% or more. In particular, the data processed in real-time will grow at 35% annually or more with the expansion of 5G communication and AI evolution. Effective utilization of such a vast amount of data requires various functions such as storage, processing, searching, tracking, erasing and more. Moving data between storage and compute resources is inefficient in the conventional storage architecture. Therefore, we will see the advancement of architecture called near-memory and in-memory computing, where data processing is performed near or inside the memory. KIOXIA's competitive edge is that our memory will be suitable for use in that situation. KIOXIA's memory system innovations will be our role in the data-packed future.

Profile

Yukihito Oowaki, Fellow, Institute of Memory Technology Research & Development

Brief personal history

1983: Completed Applied Physics Major (Master's Degree), School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
1983: Joined Toshiba Corporation, assigned to Research & Development Center
1991 - 1993: Study overseas at University of Cambridge
2001: Group Manager, Advanced Memory Development 1, Advanced Memory Development Center, Toshiba Corporation
2002: Senior Manager, New Memory Design Technology Development Dept., SoC Research & Development Center, Toshiba Corporation
2005: Senior Manager, Mobile & Communication SoC Technology Development Dept., SoC Research & Development Center, Toshiba Corporation
2006: Senior Manager, System LSI Design Dept., System LSI Division I, Toshiba Corporation
2007: Senior Manager, Multimedia SoC Design Dept., System LSI Division, Toshiba Corporation
2011: Senior Manager, Memory System Development Department, Center of Semiconductor Research & Development, Toshiba Corporation
2014: Senior Fellow, Center of Semiconductor Research & Development, Toshiba Corporation
2017: Director, System Research and Development Center, Toshiba Memory Corporation
2019: Senior Fellow, Institute of Memory Technology Research & Development, Toshiba Memory Corporation
2020: Fellow, Institute of Memory Technology Research & Development, Toshiba Memory Corporation

Expertise

Memory systems

1983 - 1998: Research and development of DRAM and system LSI semiconductor circuit design and devices
1999 - 2002: Led the development of ferroelectric memory
2005 - 2011: Led the development of system LSI for multimedia

Awards received

1998: Invention Encouragement Award, Kanto Regional Invention Awards

External organization officer appointments, etc.

IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits JSSC Associate editor (2001-2006)
ISSCC Technical Program Committee (1997-2007)
Japan IEEE SSCS Secretary (2005-2008)

The content and profile are current as of the time of the interview (June 2021.)

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