IBM Claims World's Smallest SRAM Memory Cell

nokiator writes "IBM issued a press release today claiming that it has built an SRAM memory cell that is ten times smaller than those currently available. My interpretation of the PRese in this release is that IBM will be able to build 256Mb or 512Mb SRAM chips or integrate 32MB or more SRAM into processor dies for cache applications in the future. Of course, showing some SRAM cell prototypes is a long ways from being able to manufacture this technology in a cost effective way. There is no information in this PR about the speed or power consumption of SRAM blocks that can be built with this new cell technology. This is not likely to be a potential DRAM replacement for mainstream applications as DRAM already offers more than ten times density compared to SRAM at much better cost."

Comments

These memory cells are so small...

[Anonymous Coward]

...they can only store zeros. They are working feverishly on scaling them up to store ones.

Re:Chips = what?

[ottffssent]

The memory modules you put in your computer are composed of DRAM chips. DRAM uses a capacitor and a transistor per cell (plus sense amps, decoders, etc.). DRAM requires refresh (the charge on the cap leaks off) but is relatively low-power and very dense. SRAM uses no capacitors, but more transistors (4 or 6) per bit; it's higher-power but faster and doesn't require refresh.

So, SRAM density has nothing to do with DIMMs you put in a computer. It's used for on-chip caches (and off-chip caches), but is too expensive for main memory. Denser SRAM means that Opteron you've got with 1M L2 cache could have 4M or 8M if IBM can mass-produce the stuff.

DIMMs usually have 16 chips (18 for ECC modules). So, if you have 512Mbit DRAMs, you put 16 of them on a module and you get 8Gbit = 1Gbyte. Gigabit DRAMs can make 2GB DIMMs. 2Gbit DRAMs are needed to make 4GB DIMMs; they cost hundreds of dollars each (and you need 16!), which is why 4GB DIMMs are so amazingly expensive.

Cost effective? That depends...

[cavac]

Of course, showing some SRAM cell prototypes is a long ways from being able to manufacture this technology in a cost effective way.

Well, were still talking about IBM here? Do you really think that a few hundred dollars more would even get noticed at clients that buy a server in the 100K range?

The main advantage of buying high-end gear from IBM, Cisco and the like isn't that you get cheap hardware ('cause you simply don't). You buy the gear from that company because you get 10 years in-house service including remote failure detection if you pay for it. That means, THEY call YOU before you even notice one of your tripple-redunant drives has problems. At this point in time, the technician is probably already on the way up to your office.

Sure, it's very expensive. But you save quite a lot by not having any significant downtime...

Seen in that context, 500 bucks more for RAM is IMHO just irrelevant to even think of...

SRAM has plusses and minuses.

[Sheetrock]

As mentioned in the article, SRAM (Static RAM) is many times faster than DRAM (Dynamic RAM) while simultaneously offering a smaller footprint.

However, I wonder if the additional implementation requirements justify the benefits. Static typing is only found in certain computer languages, and programmers have come to rely on dynamic memory allocation offered by malloc() or similar routines. I suspect with careful design one could fully exploit the advantages present -- with software being cheaper than hardware, it could easily be well worth it in embedded or pre-fabricated devices.

The type of implementor that uses (dynamic) extreme programming methodologies may be left out in the cold, although I would like to suggest that would occur anyway to a person working without a blueprint. Regardless, it will be exciting to see how this develops from the embedded perspective...

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Re:IBM Rocks

[Martin Blank]

Their server division buys most if not all of its parts from other companies, excepting perhaps the PPC chips. Cases, CPUs, memory, video chips, and most likely even motherboards are manufactured by other companies, who probably also have a more direct hand in design than does IBM, which may only do oversight engineering such as reviewing final designs to ensure there are no significant bottlenecks or thermal build points.