South Korea's SK Hynix has simultaneously secured international certifications in two fields—industrial functional safety and automotive cybersecurity—for its low-power DRAM "LPDDR5X." The move reflects a strategy to leverage the reliability of its memory semiconductors to target the so-called "physical AI" market, in which AI directly makes judgments and moves within the physical world, such as in robots and
self-driving cars.
SK Hynix said on the 11th that its LPDDR5X DRAM received Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 certification under "IEC 61508," the international standard for industrial functional safety. It also obtained certification of a cybersecurity management system (CSMS) based on "ISO/SAE 21434," the international standard for automotive cybersecurity. Both were audited by global certification body SGS-TUV Saar.
IEC 61508 is an international standard that evaluates safety to ensure that industrial electrical and electronic systems do not escalate into dangerous accidents even when they fail. Levels are divided into stages 1 through 4, and the SIL 3 obtained this time is regarded as the highest level a single memory semiconductor can reach.
In particular, the design and verification were carried out so that the product can be applied to robot control, a field that requires maintaining a safe state continuously while equipment is in operation.
The automotive cybersecurity certification assesses whether a system is in place to respond to external attacks such as hacking. The company was judged to meet international standards for security procedures spanning everything from the product design stage to production and vulnerability management.
Because automobiles must manage cybersecurity risks across their entire lifecycle from development to disposal, the response systems of memory suppliers are also subject to verification.
With these certifications, SK Hynix has completed an international certification portfolio covering functional safety, cybersecurity, and information security.
The company previously obtained ASIL-D, the highest safety integrity level under ISO 26262, the international standard for automotive functional safety, and in early last year became the first in the memory industry to secure TISAX, the global automotive industry information security certification.
With the addition of industrial functional safety and automotive cybersecurity, the company has laid the groundwork to expand its scope of application beyond automobiles to industries at large, including robots and smart factories.
SK Hynix emphasizes that it obtained certification not only for the finished LPDDR5X product but also for the overall product development process. The company says it has established a system that can consistently apply functional safety requirements to products currently in mass production as well as those to be developed in the future.
It plans to leverage its low-power, high-performance characteristics to meet the functional safety requirements of customers developing robot platforms and system-on-chips (SoCs).
Kim Jong-hwan, vice president of SK Hynix and head of the DRAM Development Division, said, "As the physical AI market blossoms, safety and security systems that conform to international standards are becoming increasingly important in the memory development process as well." He added, "Based on safety and security capabilities proven across the automotive and industrial sectors, we will solidify our leadership in…
