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Intel Previews Potential Replacement for Flash Memory

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the welcome-to-the-world-of-tomorrow dept.

GeeksAreSexy writes "Eweek has an article up about the invention of a new kind of nonvolatile memory technology that could one day replace traditional flash memory. Unlike traditional flash memory, chips using this new technology will be able to execute code with performance, and sustain millions of read/write cycles without dying." From the article: "This is a case in which 'Necessity is the mother of invention' is very true. We were forced to look for something else, completely different. That's why we decided to invest in PCM ... There are definitely limits to what you can do with our current flash methodology. There needs to be a complete quantum leap somewhere along the line to push everything forward. We believe PCM are going to be that quantum leap."

3 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Another one already? by Ant+P. · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So is this better or worse than that other "flash replacement" memory we heard about on /. the other week? You know, the one that's supposedly got the best parts of DRAM, hard disks and flash all in one?

  2. Millions of read/write cycles... by joto · · Score: 3, Interesting

    [snip] execute code with performance, and sustain millions of read/write cycles without dying.

    Wow! That means that in the worst case, it will last SEVERAL seconds!!!

    (Wouldn't it be better to have something like trillions of read/write cycles, so we know it will at least last a few years?)

  3. A Lot of Potential, But a Long Way to Go by organgtool · · Score: 3, Interesting
    According to Wikipedia, PCM has the potential to squeeze a terabyte into one square inch. However, even a few gigs is enough to make a huge difference. PCM could be used to store the operating system and application files as well as for swap. Since PCM performs similarly to DRAM, it would be like having all of your applications loaded into memory at all times. And since this memory is non-volatile, going into and out of hibernation mode would be almost instantaneous and it would not use any power while in hibernation mode. It would also having the following benefits:
    • Lower power consumption since this has no moving parts and your computer would only need to spin the hard drive if the user is requesting a document file
    • Less noise since the hard drive could remain powered down if the user was not currently accessing documents
    • Less heat which would reduce the number of case fans required
    • Since it uses less power, laptops would get more life out of their batteries

    I can see a day where this memory is used in place of DRAM and application files are permanently stored in memory even when the system is off.