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NEC Develops World's Fastest MRAM
Gary writes to tell us that NEC has developed a new SRAM compatible MRAM. The new memory module is capable of speeds up to 250MHz, the world's fastest to date. "MRAM are expected to generate new value and applications for future electronic devices thanks to their nonvolatility, unlimited write endurance, high speed operation, and ability to cut memory power dissipation in half. For example, these features could enable instant start up of PCs and prevent drive recorders from losing data after a sudden break in power in the future. As substitutes for system LSI-embedded SRAM, MRAM can provide even more value as they are expected to enable extremely low power dissipation of system LSIs because they can sleep when they are not in use and wake up instantly."
MRAM are expected to generate new value and applications for future electronic devices thanks to their nonvolatility
That is, assuming they're not manufactured by Sony.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
For small sizes (32KiB), MRAM already has a wide use in Game Boy Advance cartridges as a replacement for battery backed RAM.
"because they can sleep when they are not in use and wake up instantly."
Reminds me of my cat.
Now all they need now is faster WOM
Actually I did play with the serial MRAM's back when I was an embedded systems engineer, they were pretty cool. As I recall they didn't have the write cycle count issues that EEPROMs had and had way faster write cycle times.
They ARE out to get you simply because They are in it for themselves and they don't care about you.
I was unfamiliar with it, so I looked it up:
Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory - two magnetic plates separated by an insulator. One plate has is a permanent magnet, the other holds the temporary charge.
__ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
I always wondered why more people didn't use battery-backed RAM with some slower, more persistent storage to dump it to when you lose power.
So really, the question is, which is cheaper: a gig of MRAM, or a gig of battery-backed RAM with a gig of flash or hard disk to dump to?
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
I have some MRAM samples waiting to be tested in my drawer (4Mb chips from Freescale). They look good as replacement for flash chips rather that SRAM, because of better reliability and lower power consumption, however the technology is quite young and hasn't reached yet the packing density of flash, or the speed of SRAM. Lots of potential though.
I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet -Stanislaw Lem
I'm nearly positive that the read/write cycle issues have long been moot. http://www.storagesearch.com/ssdmyths-endurance.html I realize this is an industry sponsored site but even with taking very pessimistic views of their numbers a flash drive will last far longer than most disk based drives on the market will.
The linked article seems to be Slashdotted. http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/0711/3001.html/ is NEC's own press release.
On a related note, non-volatile system memory will completely change the game for forensics experts. Right now, when they come and grab your computers, all memory contents are lost... and clever people also disable the swapfile. With MRAM, all that is out the window.
Watch for a new meme in the next years, categorizing the use of volatile RAM as a presumption of guilt.
FATMOUSE + YOU = FATMOUSE
Too bad the summary had to mention "instant-on PC" because most of the responses so far are about "No way" or "my kewl macbook does that already" and such. The biggest advantage of MRAM over SRAM/eDRAM is not that it retains data without power (though that's nice too), it's that MRAM about as fast as current eDRAM and half the power. And even zero power when not used (while retaining most recent data) is a bonus.
This is a huge plus for ASICs and other chips (ASSPs, COTS, etc.) that have a lot of memory on them (which is most of them.) It allows more memory on a chip without expensive packages/die sizes for thermal management or complex, time-consuming power management systems. LSI (large-scale integrated) circuits use a lot of memory, and power consumption is a huge problem, so cutting that in half will enable a lot of products to be made that wouldn't have been possible/affordable before, and a lot of other products will get to market faster.
MRAM has been around for a while, but the relatively slow speed made it unsuitable for most applications. Now it will be great enabling technology that will ripple through many products that use semiconductor devices.
everything in moderation
At 250MHz I don't think MRAM will be replacing your system SDRAM anytime soon (since it's probably 2-3x that if you have a relatively recent system.) But your point is interesting -- when the ASICs and chipsets all over your mobo and peripherals have MRAM in them, the forensics guys will have a field day reading that data you thought wasn't being recorded at all :)
everything in moderation
Cool, this sounds like the ticket to fast Solid State hard drives.
The automobile is the ticket to moving horses around faster.
Or you can just have a car and skip the horse altogether.
And have 200 Gig of RAM and skip the Solid State drive altogether.
Whenever you buy new software you just put the software in the drive, load the software into your 200 Gig RAM, then you can just hit the power switch on the computer. Then whenever you want you just tap the power switch for an instant power-on and ALL of your software and ALL of your photos and ALL of your music and everything else, it's all already live in your 200 Gigs of RAM.
Yeah you'd want to change some aspects of the operating system to adapt to this new paradigm, in some ways you want to add new "hard drive style" management features in how you handle RAM, but you could throw the entire buggy-whip notion of a hard drive right out the window.
The only issue here is whether this is too expensive to have 100Gig+ bulk memory... but if that's the case then it would be too expensive for a "Solid State Hard Drive" anyway.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
I have one powering the MP9 player in my flying car.
Oh shit, I think I've altered the timeline, again.
The only issue here is whether this is too expensive to have 100Gig+ bulk memory... but if that's the case then it would be too expensive for a "Solid State Hard Drive" anyway.
Your conclusion paints a false dichotomy, with the unstated assumption being that any form of SSD technology has to at least be as expensive as RAM. This assumption appears unmerited, from direct observation of buyable SSD's today...
C//
You forgot, "they're expensive and low capacity".
Give it time....
One benefit for Ovonics based tech (PCM) is that it is inherently radiation and magnetic field resistant. While I realize that the former of those applications is nominal, the latter is not. It's only downfall is thermal stability, the temperatures experienced in reflow are sufficient to erase the memory. While this is beneficial from a security aspect (strip line heater on top of your memory bank, hit the panic button and poof the memory is blank) it may not be in other industrial applications.
Any indications about mRAM's magnetic/EMP stability?
-nB
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
System memory is currently running at 266-333MHz in the high end so this is a perfectly viable replacement in mid-range systems. Also for embedded systems where start-up time is more visible to the consumer than raw speed, again this is a viable replacement.
Remember DDR2 PC800 is 200MHz quad pumped not 800MHz.
-nB
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
Your conclusion paints a false dichotomy, with the unstated assumption being that any form of SSD technology has to at least be as expensive as RAM.
How does he do that?
As far as I can tell he states:
1) If this technology is expensive might be suitable for RAM, but not for SSDs
2) If this technology is cheap, it might be suitable for SSDs but would also be suitable for RAM, so remove the disk/ram distinction and have one large bank that acts as both
Your conclusion paints a false dichotomy, with the unstated assumption being that any form of SSD technology
No, I did state "this", meaning *this* technology.
If you have nonvolatile memory that is as fast as system RAM, then you may as well use it as system RAM.
A paradigm shift. When RAM is nonvolatile, it possesses all the capabilities of a drive. When a drive has the speed of RAM, it possesses all the capabilities of RAM. With this technology the capabilities RAM and drive are unified. The very concept and implementation of RAM and drive can be unified.
There is no reason to make an SSD out of this stuff, other than laziness. And even if you are lazy, you still don't make an SSD out of it... you still put the memory in the system and tag it as a RAM drive.
A rather amusing analogy, putting it all on the system and using it as a RAM drive is like strapping an internal-combustion-engine and four wheels on a horse. An engine and four wheels on a house can (sorta) work as well and as fast as a car, but it's old paradigm to build around the horse. You really want to design the horse out of it.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
Oh. Rereading, I see I misunderstood. But according to Slashdot, I'm 'Insightful'.
*chortle*
C//
... comparisons would be nicer. This new MRAM can process 1.1 million operations in the time it takes an egg to fall the width of a human hair. In fact, it's so fast, it can output 91 words in the time it takes light to travel the length of a football field.Hope this helps...