According to the company, its JEDEC compliant Micro-DIMMs, which are 65 percent of the size of equal capacity SO-DIMMs (Small Outline DIMMs) used for notebooks, will further accelerate the manufacturing of lighter and smaller sub-notebooks with enhanced functionalities and battery lifetime.

Dr. Carsten Gatzke, Senior Director Marketing of Infineon's Commodity Memory Products Business Group, said, "This innovative, industry-leading technology reduces space, increases notebook designers' flexibility and addresses changing customer requirements in the mobile computing market."

To offer sub-notebooks with increased functionalities and feature options, the space for standard components needs to be reduced. Until now, DDR2-based notebooks have used SO-DIMMs with 200 pins, a form factor that limits the use of the modules in smaller sub-notebooks, Infineon explained. The Micro-DIMMs are manufactured using a new 214-pin "mezzanine connector" technique that reduces the size of the module and the area covered by the connector by about 40 percent compared to currently available SO-DIMMs. Additionally, the company said, the use of low-power DDR2 components will reduce the power consumption of the module by approximately 50 percent, contributing to either extended battery life or allowing battery size reduction in the sub-notebook.

Samples of the Micro-DIMMs are available for speeds of PC2-3200 and PC2-4300. The 256MB Micro-DIMMs are priced between $80 and $100, the 512MB densities between $150 and $170, and prices for the 1GB Micro-DIMMs are available on request. Volume production of the 256MB and 512MB Micro-DIMMs is scheduled to start in September, while volume production of the 1GB Micro-DIMMs is expected in 2005.