Cadence Enables Next-Gen AI and HPC Systems with Industry's Fastest HBM4 12.8Gbps IP Memory System Solution

High-performance solution with lowest area and power available now for customer engagements

SAN JOSE, Calif.— April 18, 2025 - Cadence (Nasdaq: CDNS) today announced the industry’s fastest HBM4 12.8Gbps memory IP solution, which meets the increasingly higher memory bandwidth needs of SoCs targeted for the next generation of AI training and HPC hardware systems. The Cadence^® HBM4 solution is compatible with the JEDEC specification JESD270-4 and doubles the memory bandwidth compared to the previous generation of HBM3E IP products. Available now for customer engagements, the Cadence HBM4 PHY and controller IP boast an industry-leading performance of 12.8Gbps, with 20% greater power efficiency per bit and 50% better area efficiency while doubling the number of I/Os for higher bandwidth.

The new Cadence HBM4 IP offers a PHY and a high-performance controller as a complete memory subsystem solution. The HBM4 PHY will be available as a drop-in hardened macro in the TSMC N3 and N2 technology nodes, while the HBM4 controller will be provided as a soft RTL macro. The best-in-class 12.8Gbps data rate exceeds the available HBM4 DRAM device speeds by 60%—giving designers ample system margin, enabling support for potential speed improvements, and future-proofing their SoC products. The high-performance, low-latency architecture includes RAS and BIST features for fine-tuning memory subsystem performance in the field for optimal data center operations. The standard HBM4 IP offering includes support for all flavors of interposer design implementation options and lab software for rapid memory subsystem bring-up of customer SoCs.

“The proliferation of generative and agentic AI applications and the resulting increase in AI workloads demand higher memory bandwidth for greater AI hardware system efficiency without further draining power. Cadence’s HBM4 solution addresses this insatiable need for memory bandwidth by providing the highest performance available at 12.8Gbps while maintaining area and power efficiency—key concerns for AI factories,” said Boyd Phelps, senior vice president and general manager of the Silicon Solutions Group at Cadence.

Cadence’s HBM4 solution includes a comprehensive set of deliverables for faster integration of the IP to SoC design and post-silicon bring up. The deliverables include a reference interposer design validated at 12.8Gbps on a full-featured test chip consisting of an HBM4 controller, PHY, interposer, and HBM4 DRAM device. LabStation software with extensive features and test suites for rapid SoC post-silicon lab bring-up is provided for faster time to market.

Cadence’s HBM4 PHY and controller have been verified with Cadence’s Verification IP (VIP) for HBM4 to provide rapid IP and SoC verification closure. Cadence VIP for HBM4 includes a complete solution from IP to system-level verification with DFI VIP, HBM4 memory model, and System Performance Analyzer.

Learn more about Cadence’s HBM4 PHY and controller in this HBM4 blog.

About Cadence

Cadence is a market leader in AI and digital twins, pioneering the application of computational software to accelerate innovation in the engineering design of silicon to systems. Our design solutions, based on Cadence’s Intelligent System Design^™ strategy, are essential for the world’s leading semiconductor and systems companies to build their next-generation products from chips to full electromechanical systems that serve a wide range of markets, including hyperscale computing, mobile communications, automotive, aerospace, industrial, life sciences and robotics. In 2024, Cadence was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the world’s top 100 best-managed companies. Cadence solutions offer limitless opportunities—learn more at www.cadence.com.

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