Sunday, August 24, 2003
MRAM Coming To A Device Near You?
Posted by Janak Parekh in "HARDWARE" @ 04:00 PM
When you think about it, RAM technology really hasn't changed much in the last ten years or so. We've got dynamic, static, and Flash memory. DRAM is somewhat fast and volatile. Static is very fast, volatile, but expensive. Flash is non-volatile, but slow, expensive, and less reliable. Motorola and IBM think that MRAM (magnetoresistive random access memory), which is cheaper, faster, yet non-volatile, might be the answer.
"Unlike conventional high-speed memory devices, MRAM uses magnetism instead of electrical charges to store data -- making it, in a sense, a back-to-the-future technology based on the same laws of physics that enabled the creation of audio and videotape recorders as well as hard drives."
Fluffy comments aside, the implications could be enormous -- MRAM could do things from powering the next-generation of solid state drives to providing memory to PDAs and laptops that reduces power requirements. If you're curious, Howstuffworks has a useful article on the subject.
"Unlike conventional high-speed memory devices, MRAM uses magnetism instead of electrical charges to store data -- making it, in a sense, a back-to-the-future technology based on the same laws of physics that enabled the creation of audio and videotape recorders as well as hard drives."
Fluffy comments aside, the implications could be enormous -- MRAM could do things from powering the next-generation of solid state drives to providing memory to PDAs and laptops that reduces power requirements. If you're curious, Howstuffworks has a useful article on the subject.
