Will ‘NAND-stacking’ HBF Commercialization Accelerate? “To be integrated into Nvidia GPUs in 2–3 years”
The commercialization of High Bandwidth Flash (HBF), often referred to as the ‘NAND Flash version of HBM,’ is expected to arrive sooner than anticipated. This analysis stems from the fact that DRAM-based HBM alone is hitting capacity limits in handling the exploding volume of AI data, leading to a rapid surge in demand for NAND-based solutions that offer high-capacity advantages. Leading memory manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, are expected to leverage the design and process technologies accumulated through HBM to fast-track the implementation of HBF.
Kim Jung-ho, a professor at the School of Electrical Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), stated at the "Materials, Components, and Equipment (So-Bu-Jang) Future Forum" held in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, on the 16th, “Samsung Electronics and SanDisk plan to integrate HBF into products from Nvidia, AMD, and Google by late next year or early 2028.” He added, “While HBM took over 10 years to develop, I believe HBF will be possible in a much shorter timeframe. Since process and design technologies have already been established through HBM, development is proceeding based on those foundations. It will likely progress much faster.”
HBF is a memory concept that increases bandwidth by vertically stacking multiple 3D NAND cells, similar to how HBM is made by stacking DRAM. It utilizes a method where NAND layers are stacked atop a base die and connected via Through-Silicon Vias (TSV).
It is garnering attention as a next-generation memory technology capable of responding to AI demand because it can expand bandwidth to HBM-like levels while maintaining the high capacity of an SSD. According to industry sources, HBF’s bandwidth per second is predicted to reach over 1,638 GB/s. This is a massive increase considering that the maximum bandwidth of standard SSD storage is around 7,000 MB/s based on NVMe PCIe 4.0. Furthermore, HBF offers a capacity of 512GB, which is significantly higher than HBM4 (64GB).
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix previously signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for HBF standardization with the U.S.-based SanDisk and are currently working on standardization through a consortium. They are developing products with a goal of entering the market by 2027. SK Hynix also announced that a trial version of HBF will be released for demonstrations at the end of this month.
Professor Kim explained, “For a GPU to perform AI inference, it must read variable data called 'KV Cache' from the HBM. It then generates words one by one based on that interpretation, a task I believe will utilize HBF.” He continued, “HBM is fast, while HBF is slower but has about 10 times the capacity. However, while HBF has no limit on the number of reads, it has a write limit of about 100,000 cycles. Therefore, companies like OpenAI or Google will need to architect their software to be read-centric when writing programs.”
He further illustrated, “If the bookshelf at home is HBM, HBF is like going to a library to study. It’s a bit slower, but it’s based on a much larger volume of content.” He added, “You can take an exam with a few books at home, but for complex and professional studies, you must go to the library.”
HBF is expected to be installed alongside HBM next to AI accelerators such as GPUs. Professor Kim predicted that HBF will see widespread use around the time HBM6 is released.
He noted, “By the time we reach HBM6, it won't just be a single stack; multiple HBMs will be connected via a network, much like an apartment complex being built.” He added, “Since DRAM-based HBM has capacity limits, HBF made by stacking NAND will emerge. I believe we will see the term HBF very frequently in 2–3 years.”
He continued, “HBF will then start to take off, and data storage will be attached behind it. Currently, to supply data to a GPU, it must travel a very long path through a storage network to the data processor and then the GPU. In the future, the concept of processing data directly from behind the HBM may appear in HBM7. This is being referred to as a ‘Memory Factory’.”
Finally, he projected, “By around 2038, I think the HBF market might even surpass the HBM market.”
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