Holy grail memory type merges DRAM speed with flash capacity.
We’ve always had to make a trade-off when choosing solid-state memory – you can have either fast and forgetful or much slower yet retentive.
The speedy route is through DRAM, but not only is it volatile storage (data vanishes without power), it features a very low capacity and it’s actually quite expensive per gigabyte. This makes it ideal for holding temporary system or graphics data, as it doesn’t matter if that information is lost due to power failure. The latter route is flash memory, and although it’s non-volatile, is capable of holding far more data, and is much cheaper in comparison, it’s quite a bit slow when writing to it. This makes it ideal for long-term storage.
Many companies have tried to fuse the two together by making solid-state drives out of system DRAM modules and packing it with a battery, such as with Gigabyte’s i-RAM drive. Although clever, they’re unfortunately still quite limited in the capacity arena.
This is where the holy grail of sold-state storage comes in – combining the best of both worlds, with one universal memory type. Among the promising technologies is one called resistive random access memory (RRAM) and it aims to merge the high capacitance and non-volatility of flash memory with the very feisty speeds of DRAM. As reported by EE Times, Australian-owned business 4DS claims to hold the blueprints to this very golden cup.
RRAM has been hovering on the horizon for quite some time, but no manufacturer has been able to successfully create an efficient fabrication process – this includes Samsung, Hynix, Micron, Sony, and many other big names. So, some relatively unknown Australian company announcing an easy solution comes right out of left field, and it’s already looking for manufacturing partners to help commercialise RRAM.
“It’s a simple process,” the chief executive of 4DS, Kurt Pfluger, tells EE Times. “This has the potential to replace DRAMs and flash.”
“The 4DS method uses existing semiconductor processes and requires fewer changes to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment, enabling simple manufacturing through a technology that can be scaled significantly farther than NAND or NOR flash.”
This has the potential to completely overhaul the way we handle storage in computers. For example, rather than have separate system memory and storage space, one RRAM drive could jack directly into the memory controller. It could then simply hold a page file or even a partition dedicated to holding information for executed applications, entirely replacing DRAM-based system memory – yes, with a page file. Hilarity ensues!
How long until we see this tasty technology from 4DS? Speaking optimistically, “we will see our RRAM technology move into production within the next 18 to 24 months,” Pfluger believes. With others focusing resources on researching the technology, we may even see some healthy competition early on.
Supporting our habits:
VannA
2009.02.10 16:12
I smell vapour.. Or CapEx grabs.