Responsible for Memory Design and HBM Development for 20 Years
"PIM and CXL Will Be the Keys to Driving Change"
Chungki Song, TL at SK Hynix, who has been responsible for memory design and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) development for over 20 years, has been awarded the Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit by the government.
On May 19, at the 60th anniversary ceremony of Invention Day hosted by the Korean Intellectual Property Office and held at COEX Magok in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, the government presented awards recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to national industrial development through their inventions.
On this day, Song was recognized for his achievements in several areas: discussions on next-generation HBM product development; review and patenting of hybrid bonding technology; development and patenting of GDDR6-AiM, a generative AI-specialized GDDR6 memory with processing-in-memory (PIM) functionality; standardization and patenting of DRAM technology through the international semiconductor standards organization JEDEC; development and patenting of prototypes for high-speed interconnect technology (CXL); and conducting internal and external education to disseminate memory semiconductor technology. For these contributions, he received the Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit.
Song joined SK Hynix in 2005 and has worked as a memory design researcher for over 20 years, participating in the development of numerous DRAM products, starting with DDR2. During this period, he has filed and registered over 300 patents, including those related to memory technology standardization set by JEDEC, as well as HBM and next-generation memory.
According to SK Hynix, many of the products incorporating these patented technologies have already been commercialized, generating economic value, while various inventions related to future technologies are being evaluated as important innovations for securing future market leadership.
SK Hynix stated, "Song's efforts in patent development and expanding the technological base have become a foundation for enhancing the competitiveness of both the nation and the company," adding, "We will continue to actively support our members' research and development activities to further solidify the leading position the domestic semiconductor industry has built up."
In an interview with the SK Hynix newsroom, Song commented, "I believe the era of custom HBM, with enhanced features tailored to customer needs, will soon arrive in earnest," and explained, "This is not just about improving product performance, but about redefining the boundary between memory and logic semiconductors."
Regarding the development of hybrid bonding technology, he said, "To create HBM with more layers, it was necessary to go beyond existing stacking processes," and added, "A new stacking structure was needed that considered not only the technology of stacking itself but also the stability of electrical signals and heat dissipation. To achieve this, we conducted countless simulations and experiments."
On the next-generation semiconductor technologies PIM and CXL, he further stated, "Next-generation memory is evolving into a flexible structure that encompasses not only storage but also computation and connectivity," and "PIM and CXL will be the keys to driving these changes."
Song concluded, "Receiving the Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit is a great personal honor, but at the same time, it reminds me of the weight of technology," and added, "I will continue to do my best not only in technological development but also in passing it on to the next generation."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
