Intel and STMicroelectronics have managed to produce a breakthrough in a new type of memory technology that could replace flash. Members of their joint venture Numonyx, which is trying to develop memory chips reliant on phase-change memory (PRAM) to store information, will present a paper today demonstrating how they’ve used it to double the amount of information they can store. It’s good news, but it still means it will cost twice as much to store the same amount of data on PRAM chips compared with the competing flash technology.
Phase-change memory relies on changes in temperature to store data; it competes with NOR flash, which is used to store the programs that run your VCR, set-top box and cell phone. The other type of flash, NAND, is used to store larger amounts of memory, such as the songs on an iPod.
Like all chips, memory follows Moore’s Law, which requires the space between transistors to get smaller. Kind of like doing the limbo, flash memory may not be able to go any lower. By allowing storage capacity to continue to expand while making chips ever smaller (and more cost-effective to produce), PRAM could provide the next breakthrough. However, although the breakthrough from Intel and STMicro puts PRAM at the same cost as NOR flash, it only stores half the data. So another breakthrough is still needed.
2 trackbacks so far
5:52 PM PT
[...] taking off this year and dropping to near-affordable prices. While flash-based memory is likely as small as it’s going to get, it’ll be available in larger capacities at cheaper prices. [...]
9:01 AM PT
[...] creation of EverSpin follows similar memory spinouts, such as Numonyx, set up by Intel and STMicrosystems to research PRAM, and the less research-oriented Infineon from Qimonda. AMD and Fujitsu spun out their Flash memory [...]
8 comments so far
12:21 PM PT
Big yawn, when are we going to have some innovation in batteries? That’s what’s holding back most devices.
2:20 PM PT
When did the writers from engadget get hired on GigaOm?
4:34 PM PT
Eh…”However, although the breakthrough from Intel and STMicro puts PRAM at the same cost as NOR flash, it only stores half the data.”
That negates my excitement for now.
2:59 AM PT
Strange to see this trumpeted so much. The technology has been around for a long time. Some guy started a company called Ovonyx (sp?) and I believe that a public company, ENER, owns a major share of it. The technology has indeed been licensed by firms like Intel and Samsung although the terms appear to be unknown.
This is one fairly obscure paper in a sea of advance for NAND and other memory technology papers.
To put a headline like this “So long FLASH… ” is pretty irresponsible.
It’s one of the emerging technologies that we watch and it could become more mainstream but certainly not from this paper.
10:33 AM PT
Does this mean Intel has to push the PRAM a lot?
10:38 AM PT
I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for this, but if it “relies on changes in temperature to store data” then how do outside elements affect it? If I’m copying a large file and carry my laptop from my 95-degree deck to my 68-degree house.. what does that do to the transfer that’s in progress?
4:18 PM PT
Scionguy, The heat required is intense, around 600 degrees Celsius, so you should be okay. Kris, this is theoretical and perhaps I should have resisted the compelling headline opportunities and pointed out that this was first theorized in 1970. Mea culpa.
4:34 PM PT
600 C? Holy cow! That’s verging on the melting point of Aluminum. Though I do admit when I read heat is this memory’s mechanism, I thought “What does that mean to something I leave in my car on a sunny day?” Will my portable little drive get erased if it cooks for an afternoon?
Leave a Comment