64 Mbyte Write once CMOS Chip from Standard Fabs

brian wang writes "Matrix semiconductor has taped out 64 Mbyte write once chip. It is 8 layer memory that can be made at standard fabs. They will be made at Taiwan Semiconductor initially in a 0.25micron process. It will be compatible with Flash. Obviously when they move to 0.18 micron and 0.13 and 0.10 micron processes that already are producing chips the memory size will shoot up to rival CDRoms from single chips. Revolutionary impact for handhelds, PCs, ROMDrives etc..." See, I knew it: Little is better.

Comments

Re:How much will be "enough"?

[Tsar]

In ten years, if I can have a 1-cm resolution 3D map of my city, which will overlay on my HUD-equipped Oakleys and provide interactivity with any object in my visual environment, and that database requires a 500GB solid state 3D-memory device, then that's what I'm going to want. Learn from history: If you build it, the applications will come.

I once heard a story (may be an urban legend—anybody have good data?) that Bill Gates once visited Intel's offices and that while he and Andy Grove strolled about the facility, Grove mentioned that it was difficult to imagine a widespread consumer market for the blazingly fast CPUs on the far right of Intel's roadmap. According to the story, Gates replied with something like, "Don't worry; continue to develop and market faster chips, and we will continue to develop and market innovative and compelling software that will bring it to its knees." I'd wager that the same goes for memory technology.

More info at their website

[Myco]

The article is a bit lacking on consumer-relevant details, but the marketese on their site gives you a better idea of that stuff.

Notables:

• Price: "Matrix 3DM cards will be comparable in cost to 35mm film and work in a similar fashion"
• Longevity: "Matrix 3-D Memory's array structure results in an archival storage device capable of storing data for more than 100 years."
• Scaling up: "By leveraging the same infrastructure as the rest of the industry, Matrix 3-D Memory will scale at least as fast as other semiconductor technologies, maintaining its significant cost advantage with future process generations."
• Compatibility: "Interchangeable with re-writeable flash cards"
• Capacity: "Comparable cost per megabyte to optical and magnetic storage"

Re:How much will be "enough"?

[plastik55]

...overlay on my HUD-equipped Oakleys and provide interactivity with any object in my visual environment...

You can just walk up and touch the things you know...