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HP Creates First Hybrid Memristor Chip

Posted by timothy on from the stitch-in-time dept.

An anonymous reader writes "HP researchers have built the first functioning hybrid memristor-transistor chip. Lead researcher Stanley Williams and his team built the very first memristor — the '4th fundamental element' of integrated circuits after resistors, capacitors and inductors — back in April. Memristors can remember their resistance, leading to novel electronic capabilities. The new FPGA circuit uses memristors to perform tasks normally carried out by (many more) transistors and is therefore smaller, more power efficient and cheaper to make, HP says. Memristors could also turn out to be a more compact, faster alternative to flash memory."

155 comments

  1. Hybrid, eh? by the_humeister · · Score: 2, Funny

    But does it get better gas mileage??

  2. Well that was faster than expected... by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Am I the only when that thought memristors would remain the the 5-10 year category for the next couple of decades? Granted, this is just a proof of concept chip but it is moving along very rapidly compared to most 'game changing' advances.

    20 years of theory and work just to make the first memristor, less than a year to use the new memristor in a device that actually improves over the standard technology. So when will we see commercially available devices? Next year some time at this rate?

    1. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by Xerolooper · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It depends on whether they realize how bad the economic situation is. Right now they still think we are in a recension. The old business model of innovation to drive sales is valid in that circumstance. If they start to think we are going into a depression *cough* then they will cut off research and start fortifying existing tech. I for one hope this technology has enough momentum to carry it through.

      --
      "The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget." -Thomas Szasz
    2. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by swaq · · Score: 4, Funny

      Right now they still think we are in a recension.

      We're in a critical revision of a text?

    3. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, the U.S. Constitution.

      Thank you! I'll be here all week!

      --
      -=Bang Bang=-
    4. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by hattig · · Score: 1

      So when will we see commercially available devices?

      The article says around three years, and from what I understood initially could be used to lower the cost and/or lower the size and/or increase the performance of FPGA circuits amongst other applications, but the memristor knowledge isn't widespread in the development community.

    5. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by mo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The reason that memristors were so quick to market is that they were discovered while researching new fabrication processes. This isn't like, say, carbon nanotubes where they're able to make one or two in a lab. For memristors, they had a fabrication process from day one.

    6. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by CorporateSuit · · Score: 3, Funny

      Am I the only when that thought memristors would remain the the 5-10 year category for the next couple of decades?...So when will we see commercially available devices?

      In 5-10 years.

      --
      I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
    7. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by TheGeniusIsOut · · Score: 1

      If they start to think we are going into a depression *cough* then they will cut off research and start fortifying existing tech.

      It is unfortunate that many tech companies take this approach, but if you look back to the 2001 tech bubble burst, the companies that came out ahead of the rest with a better market position were the ones that put more money into R&D. Hopefully HP will keep moving forward with this line of research, they have made amazing strides in advacing this realm of electronics. We desparately need to move away from our current form of memory technology that is 30+ years old in its transistor based design. Memristor and quantum data storage are the computer technologies of the future, and I for one cannot wait to get ahold of a pocket computer with entangled photon links back to a centralized quantum computer system. The future is bright indeed, now where did I put those shades...

      --
      Ignorance is Bliss -- And the Opposite is True -- Genius is Madness
    8. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no commonly agreed upon definition for "a depression". So it's mostly a nonsense word. We are probably in a recession. I don't think the numbers have come back yet to show two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

      We may be in for a really bad recession, but you can't say "we're in for a depression" since it has no meaning.

    9. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by lenester · · Score: 2, Funny

      Parent is currently modded Insightful. While this is not inaccurate, it turns the joke a little sour. :(

    10. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by lenester · · Score: 1

      "Recession" is also not formally defined, and the rule of thumb you quote has little meaning when GDP is measured in a currency which can be inflated by the same individuals deciding whether or not we're "in a recession."

    11. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by m.ducharme · · Score: 1

      I'm afraid it's a little too early to mod him "funny."

      --
      Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
    12. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by moosesocks · · Score: 1

      If HP have *any* brains at all, they'll cut everything else they have going on to bring this to market.

      If everything works out, the development of this technology could almost be as important as the development of the transistor was in the 20th century.

      Now, can we start pooling out money to buy this technology from of HP to put in the public domain for the benefit of mankind?

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
    13. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by FlyByPC · · Score: 1

      Let's help them move it forward. Anyone else here think it would be worth $20 or so to get even one memristor to play with? How about cashing in on it a bit by making up a couple thousand simple units for us electronics geeks to drool over and pay them way too much for?

      --
      Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
    14. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by Korin43 · · Score: 1

      I think just one would be a waste of money. It would probably still be $100, and you could only store 1 bit of information on it.

    15. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      I was surprised that they announced it. I think that we will soon see companies keeping things like this quiet for about a year or more and then pushing hard to create a device. In this case, the flash memory approach would have put them in total control of the market.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    16. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by neomunk · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Ahh, but what's the resolution of that one 'bit'? AFAIK this is an analog device, not at all limited to 1 or 0, but able to be used as such to to the handy-dandy DAC. :-D At first this is a thing for circuit-nerds, but don't despair, as when the circuit-nerds have hand their hands dirty for a minute, computer nerds are going to get to write "programs" for FPGAs, and then not long after that, libraries will emerge that let C nerds (and regular ole' C monkeys) utilize the goodness of these little variable connections.

      As for myself, I'm eagerly waiting to see what the FPGA implementation looks like, as I have high hopes for these things (memristors) being useful as 'synapses' in an artificial neural net. I've actually been hoping for something like this for many years, as the switching speed (fast!) might mean I can train nn implementations asynchronously at extremely high speeds... I don't know yet, but like I said, I've got high hopes. :-D

    17. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by corsec67 · · Score: 1

      Unless the resistor can store more than 1 level of resistance.

      --
      If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
    18. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by Xerolooper · · Score: 1

      Oh my sides hurt! Almost makes me glad I had a typo. I meant recession not recension.
      No one (on /.) would dispute the importance of this technology.
      I was just hopping it doesn't become a victim of the current economic situation whatever you want to call it.

      --
      "The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget." -Thomas Szasz
    19. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure 'recession' is just 'two consecutive quarters of negative growth'. Then again, according to Google's definerator, there's a bit of slack in the definition.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    20. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by FlyByPC · · Score: 1

      ...which it can, from the description of resistance as (within limits) a constant times the integral of current through the memristor.

      In other words, the more current that has flowed through the memristor, the higher the resistance. This suggests all sorts of applications, from timing devices (coupled with a cap or two), to the obvious memory application, to who knows what.

      It's as if chemists had discovered another element -- a fourth one, thought to exist but never before seen, where previously there had only been three known.

      --
      Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
    21. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It'll survive so long as DARPA thinks there's the slightest chance it'll add to the efficiency of their long anticipated cyborg killing machine.

    22. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by lenski · · Score: 1

      I agree. However, part of the definition of "recession", and a central part of the definition of "depression" is in particular, There's no savings, no "cushion" to maintain operations during a downturn. Naturally, credit tightens up. (This one reason the Fed loosens the money supply during recessions: Easier credit implies easier borrowing implies business investment in development, equipment, etc.)

      I (developer not economist) have always had a problem with one aspect of the way U.S. capitalism is practiced: Companies with significant liquid assets are hostile takeover targets, due in large part to those assets.

      The hostile bidders usually claim that they could use those assets more productively. In a way, I believe them: Their definition of "productive" differs from mine. (Their definition: "productive for our pockets", my definition: "productive in support of the business". This also fails to take into consideration that a company's liquid assets are banked or invested in ways that are broadly productive anyway.)

      I my opinion, the bottom line is that when recession-trigger events occur, too many companies are unable to do the off-season investing that would prepare them for future growth.

    23. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by lenester · · Score: 1

      A succinct explanation.

    24. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Ah, I see which two most appealed to you out of "accurate, thorough, succinct".

      I'll remember that link, though, for future occasions where I need to be condescending while at the same time mildly informative.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    25. Re:Well that was faster than expected... by lenester · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it was mostly an excuse to use that. Hadn't gotten to yet. :D

  3. size? by jbeaupre · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know what size features the chip was etched at? um? nm? That might give a clue how close it is to being used in other products.

    --
    The world is made by those who show up for the job.
    1. Re:size? by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

      Does anyone know what size features the chip was etched at? um? nm? That might give a clue how close it is to being used in other products.

      m. It could be a while.

    2. Re:size? by The-Pheon · · Score: 5, Informative

      Does anyone know what size features the chip was etched at? um? nm? That might give a clue how close it is to being used in other products.

      The memristors made in April were 50 nm wide

    3. Re:size? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I believe yours says Etch-a-Sketch on the side.

    4. Re:size? by Hal_Porter · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You joke but look at this

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memristor#Titanium_dioxide_memristor

      Although the HP memristor is a major discovery for electrical engineering theory, it has yet to be demonstrated in operation at practical speeds and densities. Graphs in Williams' original report show switching operation at only ~1 Hz. Although the small dimension of the device seem to imply fast operation, the charge carriers move very slowly, with an ion mobility of 10E-10 cm2/(V s). In comparison, the highest known drift ionic mobilities occur in advanced superionic conductors, such as rubidium silver iodide with about 2*10E-4 cm^2/(V s) conducting silver ions at room temperature. Electrons and holes in silicon have a mobility ~1000 cm^2/(V s), a figure which is essential to the performance of transistors. However, a relatively low bias of 1 volt was used, and the plots appear to be generated by a mathematical model rather than a laboratory experiment.[8]

      1Hz? Next!

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    5. Re:size? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      with a Dorito Chip Inside (TM)

    6. Re:size? by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 3, Insightful

      the plots appear to be generated by a mathematical model rather than a laboratory experiment

      This is what I would say "NEXT!" for, but to each their own.

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    7. Re:size? by DoubleReed · · Score: 3, Informative

      1Hz? Next!

      The application they talk about is the programmable transistors in FPGAs.

      You can find FPGAs in all kinds of consumer electronics. Typically, the chip has some onboard flash from which it loads its configuration during power on. These transistors which load from flash during power on are the ones the researchers are talking about replacing with memresistors (memristors?). For this kind of application, a 1Hz write speed is completely reasonable. The write will be done once in the factory.

  4. Spice model by kmahan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is there a spice model available?

    --
    Invalid Checksum. Retrying.
    1. Re:Spice model by TheNecromancer · · Score: 5, Informative

      Who is the idiot modding this as Funny? A SPICE model is an engineering tool used to diagram circuits. It is NOT related to any of the Spice Girls!!! :p

      Where's the link to MetaModerate?? grrr...

      --
      Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! We have assumed control! - Neil Peart
    2. Re:Spice model by Stile+65 · · Score: 1

      FTA:

      Ultimately, the next few years could be very important for memristor research. Right now, "the biggest impediment to getting memristors in the marketplace is having [so few] people who can actually design circuits [using memristors]," Williams says. Still, he predicts that memristors will arrive in commercial circuits within the next three years.

      So probably not yet. From what I've seen just from a quick Google search, it will involve updating not just the models but the core code as well.

      --
      I claim first use of "Error No. 0B" - or "No. 0B error." It'll be the new ID 10T!
    3. Re:Spice model by uberjack · · Score: 1

      Maybe the parent should've capitalized SPICE properly then? Not everyone's an engineer

    4. Re:Spice model by evanbd · · Score: 4, Informative

      I think you could build one from components if you had data about the memristance function. Start with a voltage controlled resistance element (Gxxx) connected to the two exposed terminals. Add a hidden element of a current controlled current source, sensing on the VCR element, injecting current into a hidden capacitor. The voltage on that capacitor is proportional to the total charge that has passed through the memristor device. The exposed VCR element senses voltage on the hidden capacitor, and uses an interpolated table of resistance vs voltage rather than a linear relationship.

      That doesn't capture the hysteretic behavior of the current devices, which stop integrating at the some limiting points, but it's a starting point. You could add such behavior with a few more hidden components (back-to-back ideal zeners across the hidden cap, for example), though getting the right behavior might be a little tricky.

    5. Re:Spice model by vistic · · Score: 1

      I don't know... I didn't get my degree in EE or anything, but I was able to guess what "spice" was from the context.

      So I say it's no excuse.

    6. Re:Spice model by Salgat · · Score: 1

      I thought it was funny, considering it's not even available yet and someones already asking about such a thing :P Don't worry, some of us do know use programs like pspice and think it's funny.

    7. Re:Spice model by TheRealZero · · Score: 2, Funny

      This just in! Slashdot user raises bar for standard knowledge level! Education officials work feverishly to update curriculum!

    8. Re:Spice model by Prune · · Score: 1

      Sorry bud, but SPICE is for simulation, not diagramming (CAD software is for the latter).

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    9. Re:Spice model by Prune · · Score: 1

      What's funny is the GP thought SPICE is for diagramming (it's for simulation).

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    10. Re:Spice model by Prune · · Score: 1

      Why is this modded as funny? BTW, since you seem to know a lot about spice--how to I model thermal modulation of transistor parameters in a simulator that doesn't implement native thermal modeling, such as LTSpice (I'm poor, gotta stick to the free stuff)

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    11. Re:Spice model by Hillgiant · · Score: 1

      He who controls the SPICE, controls the universe!

      --
      -
    12. Re:Spice model by evanbd · · Score: 1

      That, I have no idea. I'm hardly a spice wizard or anything. But, have you looked at Gnucap? It's Free and does a lot of what I need it to do.

    13. Re:Spice model by tyrione · · Score: 1

      Sorry bud, but SPICE is for simulation, not diagramming (CAD software is for the latter).

      You were so confident about that observation that you had to write two comments, I see.

    14. Re:Spice model by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1

      Having Mel B as a spokesmodel would probably gain quite a bit of support for the memristors.

    15. Re:Spice model by AeiwiMaster · · Score: 1

      See the original article for equivalent diagrams.
      http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=1083337

    16. Re:Spice model by evanbd · · Score: 1

      Are there freely available diagrams anywhere?

  5. Unfortunate by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Unfortunately, when Williams unveiled the device no one understood what he'd said and he was forcibly taken to the local emergency room for fear he was having a stroke.

    I get it, its a hybridization of technologies, but that does not require a name which is so ridiculous to pronounce. Say it outload a few times.

    Now, who wants to try their hand at coming up with a better name?

    --
    -=Bang Bang=-
    1. Re:Unfortunate by paul248 · · Score: 1

      "Hybrid memristor-transistor chip" doesn't really sound ridiculous to me. Would you have preferred he created a marketing name to describe a new fundamental technology?

      Current technology contains stuff like "metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors," we just don't call them that very often.

    2. Re:Unfortunate by blueZ3 · · Score: 1

      Hymtric?

      MOSFET is a pretty common "spoken acronym" in the electronics world.

      --
      Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
    3. Re:Unfortunate by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Hybrid, transistor, and chip? No, no problem whatsoever. My problem is with memristor, and memristance. They were made up to describe a resistance "setting" being remembered by a variable resistor. And frankly, the only problem I have is that the word originated for written text, where it is fine. I, however, am a big fan of the spoken language and the flow of a well constructed sentence. For a car analogy, a memristor is like a faulty transmission in the car that is a sentence's flow. It lurches and degrades the overall ride.

      --
      -=Bang Bang=-
    4. Re:Unfortunate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I prefer a MemTran

      Mm, sounds yummy.

    5. Re:Unfortunate by Microlith · · Score: 1

      The same thing strikes me when pedantics here on slashdot start throwing fits over the difference between GB and GiB.

      Gibibyte, Mebibyte, Kibibyte, Tebibyte. Horrible, horrible words that make you sound like you're mumbling, and they look ridiculous in print as well. I think the problem stems from that they go i -> i and e -> i coupled with extra 'b's whereas the SI prefixes go i -> a, e -> a, and i -> o.

    6. Re:Unfortunate by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      How about autopot as in auto potentiometer? Since it is a potentiometer that gets set automatically instead of manually.

    7. Re:Unfortunate by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 4, Funny

      Maybe...so long as it isn't constantly fighting deceptipons.

      Autopots! Transist and roll out!

      --
      -=Bang Bang=-
    8. Re:Unfortunate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about autopot as in auto potentiometer?

      pothead, potato, memento, memracitor, meme, memfoo, sexyistor, sticker, taristor, trapistor

      Nope, I think memristor is a fitting name for this odd duck.
      Just leave it to the designers to come up with a better one for something that uses a memristor (like darlington pair), which eventually becomes synonymous with the memristor itself. (like IC & chip)

      Designers rule!

    9. Re:Unfortunate by chihowa · · Score: 1

      Along the same lines, have you seen the symbol shown in the Wikipedia article. WTF?! Are they trying to make it impossible to freehand draw circuits?

      --
      If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
    10. Re:Unfortunate by memristance · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm standing right here, you insensitive clod!!

    11. Re:Unfortunate by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 3, Funny

      Wow...this is awkward...

      --
      -=Bang Bang=-
    12. Re:Unfortunate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, it's an evil plot by the shadowy EE CAD megacorps.

      Actually, if you can't hand-draw that you fail at hand drawing.

    13. Re:Unfortunate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Memoristor? Memoristance?

    14. Re:Unfortunate by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 1

      For a car analogy, a memristor is like a faulty transmission in the car that is a sentence's flow. It lurches and degrades the overall ride.

      Pronounce it as mem-reh-store. That flows just as easily as trans-zis-store.

    15. Re:Unfortunate by MooUK · · Score: 1

      Mem-riss-tor isn't exactly hard to say either.

    16. Re:Unfortunate by Jesus_666 · · Score: 1

      Perhaps not mumbling would make you sound clearer. I seriously don't see how "Kibibyte" sounds like mumbling unless, well, you mumble it. Likewise I don't see how "memristor" should slow one down. [MISSING1*] doesn't seem too bad - [MISSING2*] certainly is possible in the English language even if it doesn't (commonly?) appear in a single word; I can say things like "damn ring" without pausing.


      * I couldn't properly use the following strings since IPA is filtered out by Slashdot even in HTML entity notation.
      MISSING1: /ˈmɛmɹɪstə/
      MISSING2: /mɹ/

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    17. Re:Unfortunate by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Kibble Bites are what my dog eats. Kilobytes are what my computer eats, and no wikipedia thingus is gonna tell me different.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    18. Re:Unfortunate by fractoid · · Score: 1

      If you *want to* hand draw that more than a few times per circuit sketch, you fail at having something better to do.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    19. Re:Unfortunate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's really no more annoying to hand-draw than the transistor symbol as far as I can see (slightly less IMO). Maybe you don't like that either, granted, but line-with-square-squiggle with rectangle-with-one-wall-thick around it isn't gonna break the, um, drawing complexity bank. The square-squiggle is somewhat unfamiliar, but not hard, and there's a fair bit of leeway in square-squiggle formation accuracy since you're unlikely to mistake even a deformed square-squiggle with a one-thick-wall-box around it for much else I can think of.

  6. yam isna guna du yun... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When did English become the second choice of language on this site?!?!?!?

    WTF is recension???

    "would remain the the 5-10 year category"

    It's fortunate for you guys I'm proficient in Numbnutsien!!

    1. Re:yam isna guna du yun... by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Recension
      1. A critical revision of a text incorporating the most plausible elements found in varying sources.
      2. A text so revised.

      From answers.com

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
  7. How does it replace multiple transistors by uburoy · · Score: 1

    I am no specialist but I can't figure out how the fact that a memristor "remembers" its resistance makes it replace multiple transistors. And if that is true for only some type of calculations which ones and why ?

    1. Re:How does it replace multiple transistors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At the beginning, we had V=IR. Then we had ... oh I give up.

      Sorry, can't give an answer in under a volume on circuit theory. And that's not even touching the next question.

    2. Re:How does it replace multiple transistors by IceMonkiesForSenate · · Score: 5, Informative

      In general there are two ways to store data (at least in a RAM type memory module). You can either use a capacitor (like DRAM) or a flip flop (SRAM). The problem with a capacitor is that it looses it's charge after a certain amount of time, and has to be refreshed (which is why DRAM is relatively slow). A flip-flop can be used to store one bit, but in order to do that two separate latches are needed. One latch has 2-4 gates each having 2-8 transistors. All of a sudden there are over a dozen transistors used to store one but. A memristior does not actually help any calculations, it just hopefully make storing data much more efficent

    3. Re:How does it replace multiple transistors by Chirs · · Score: 2, Informative

      They can replace SRAM cells, which take multiple transistors. They also retain state without needing power (similar to FeRAM, which can also replace SRAM). However, unlike FeRAM the memristor can also store analog values.

      In the digital realm they're likely useful mostly as memory. However, given the analog properties, they could be useful in creating "fuzzy" neural nets.

    4. Re:How does it replace multiple transistors by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Is there any free circuit simulation software that includes simulated memristors for me to fool about with?

      I still don't get quite how they work.

    5. Re:How does it replace multiple transistors by evanbd · · Score: 3, Informative

      Modern SRAMs usually use fewer transistors than that. 6T SRAMs are common, for example. They use a pair of inverters to store the state (4 transistors) and a pair of transistors to connect the inverters to the data lines (6 total). The write operation then involves a drive signal with more power than the inverters, thus forcing the state change.

    6. Re:How does it replace multiple transistors by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      All resistors "remember their resistance". What the memristor does is something quite different and outside the range of comprehension of the author of the linked article. Go read the Wikipedia article.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    7. Re:How does it replace multiple transistors by thechuckbenz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Careful with your comments there - DRAM is relatively slow because the capacitors used are tiny, so sensing the charge state is slow. The need to refresh is because it's a capacitor with non-zero leakage. Refresh cycles sometimes will delay normal accesses, but are not the reason that DRAM is slower than SRAM. The speed of memresistor memory reads will depend on the speed of sensing the state, and the speed of writes will depend on the speed of changing the flux.

  8. **** SPOILER ALERT **** by spuke4000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Turns out after resistors, capacitors,inductors and memristors the 5th fundamental element is... love?

    --
    This post cannot be rebroadcast without the express written constent of Major League Baseball.
    1. Re:**** SPOILER ALERT **** by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Mmmmmmmm. Milla Jovovich

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    2. Re:**** SPOILER ALERT **** by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was thinking Major Doctor Ghastly singing the Pie Song ("The secret ingredient ...is love") from "Evil Con Carne", the cancelled part of the "grim and evil" show that became "the grim adventures of billy and mandy". I found her strangely attractive, anyway. Then again, I find Buttercup the hottest powerpuff girl, and turns out she's probably a lesbian. Shrug.

      Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Major Doctor Ghastly.

    3. Re:**** SPOILER ALERT **** by Lije+Baley · · Score: 1

      Seen on the marquee of a local theater at the time -- "Is Luke Perry the Fifth Element?"

      --
      Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
    4. Re:**** SPOILER ALERT **** by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cookies need love like everything does.

    5. Re:**** SPOILER ALERT **** by AeiwiMaster · · Score: 1

      No, it is the flux-capacitor.(love is the 7th element)

  9. From the article by KalvinB · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Williams says. Still, he predicts that memristors will arrive in commercial circuits within the next three years."

    It seems fast because nobody was talking about these things for the last 30 years. It's only because of technological advances in circuit printing and general computing that we can make these things and integrate them without having to develop a lot of additional technology. The transistor is very old but only after developing a lot of supporting tech have we been able to shrink them down to fit billions in a processor. That same tech can already be applied to memristors. We don't need to wait decades before we can shrink a memristor down to practical levels for ICs.

    --
    Work Safe Porn
  10. Re:Feds Deregulating Hybrid Corn for ETHANOL?? by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dude...no more talking. Just puff puff pass...

    --
    -=Bang Bang=-
  11. Historic name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stanley Williams - inventor of SkyNet, destroyer of mankind. If he disappears, we'll know time travel is possible too.

  12. Singularity meter? by Sybert42 · · Score: 1

    So does this move us closer? A few years earlier?

  13. More than 2 states are now possible. by Sanat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Binary was chosen earlier in computer work for it could represent accurately a digit representive such as 1001 equals 9. Also magnetic core memory could hold only the two states.

    With memristors (once they are perfected) can have multi-state such as trinary (base 3) or decinary (base 10) eliminating all of the conversion that is neccessary in the present binary system that require cpu cycles. 123 in the decinary system represents 123 where in binary it would be 1111011 and need to be converted in order to be meaningful.

    For instance I have heard for those studying DNA that using base 12 has certain benefits in directly expressing information. Perhaps this will open a whole new arena of possibility that previously could only be simulated in binary.

    The mind can imagine many new possibilities if the memristor actually is.

    --
    And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make
    1. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by rolfwind · · Score: 3, Informative

      With memristors (once they are perfected) can have multi-state such as trinary (base 3) or decinary (base 10) eliminating all of the conversion that is neccessary in the present binary system that require cpu cycles. 123 in the decinary system represents 123 where in binary it would be 1111011 and need to be converted in order to be meaningful.

      Um, for the most part, the computer only has to convert from binary to decimal when it displays base 10 numbers on the screen (ie using the calculator). It's hardly computer intensive. All the operations (add, subtract, multiply, divide) are going to be in it's native binary, no conversion needed.

      Computers convert data all the time - this text you are reading now is really just a series of binary numbers converted to ascii or unicode or whatever with lots of other conversions needed to throw it on the screen.

      Native base 10 has been done before (basically ignoring bits representing 10-15) and all that was found was that it wasted space as conversion in those scenarios are beyond trivial. Here's a book for you:
      http://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Software/dp/0735611319

    2. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok now, go create a base 10 memristor adder. Go on, I'll wait.

    3. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      e is the most efficient exponent for representing numbers, not 12 or 10 or 42 or whatever random things you're dreaming up. e is appriximately 2.7 which is closer to 3 than to 2, so theoretically using base 3 would be better than using base 2. However in practice the added complexity is not worth the gains. Also, using memristors has nothing to do with changing the base of the numbers we use. All of signaling works that way. Transistors for example don't actually turn voltage all the way off. They just toggle between high and low states. It's not a big project to make them use high medium and low states instead. It's just not worth the bother.

      For memory purposes the individual devices will be used to store as many bits as can be reliably measured back out of the device. This isn't anything new though as it's already being done for current memory devices.

    4. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by frieko · · Score: 1

      The number of cycles needed to convert decimal to binary and back is completely trivial compared to how much easier binary makes all the actual computations.

      I'm sure that they will use 2^n states and consider them as groups of bits.

    5. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Informative

      The grandparent isn't as silly as it sounds. Multi-level flash cells don't store binary data, they work, typically, in base 4. Each cell stores a value from 0-3, meaning you only need 4 cells instead of 8 for a byte. Memristor-based systems can accurately store analogue values, and so can potentially store more than one bit of data in a single element. If you could store an entire byte in a single element then you'd get much higher density, although you'd probably want to translate it back into binary when you loaded it into a register, since binary arithmetic circuits are very easy to build (try doing bitwise or in decimal...).

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    6. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by marcosdumay · · Score: 1

      Well, binary is also way too convenient to implement in CMOS, so don't expect anybody to abandon it soon. Maybe they'll make some non-binary memory, but then there will surely be a conversor from that memory to the binary CPU.

      --
      Rethinking email
    7. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by redxxx · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't an adder just involve writing to two memristors and reading their values in series? If you write to them in what the rest of your hardware considers base 10, that's how they will get interpreted once you are actually dealing with numbers again.

      So long as I don't have to do anything other than add, I don't see where the problem is(other than needless conversions to binary and back).

    8. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would certainly love to see Ternary come to life in computing.

      Ternary is such a beautiful system.

      Specifically, balanced ternary.

    9. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Naturally base 12 is useful to looking at DNA:

      4 base types, 3 bases per peptide encoding; 3x4=12.

      Same reason that we CS people like hexadecimal.

    10. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by thetartanavenger · · Score: 1

      Native base 10 has been done before (basically ignoring bits representing 10-15) and all that was found was that it wasted space as conversion in those scenarios are beyond trivial.

      Please correct and forgive me if I'm wrong but that doesn't sound like native base 10. That sounds like storing data in BCD using a 2 state bit. What the GP is implying is that instead of using a 2-state bit, there's the ability for a 3, 4 or n-state bit to represent numbers. This wouldn't result in wasted space, instead using only the 2-state bit would be wasting the space.

      I can't comment on how well it would perform though, as you are entirely correct that conversion at that level is very trivial.

      --
      Who need's speling and grammar?
    11. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Sanat · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Thanks for the suggestion on the book.

      I can write those books and have in the past. My experience stems from 1962 being a systems Analyst for a computer system. In the old days before IC's and even before transistors were a part of computers the vacuum tube was used.

      In those days the adder section, rather than being a single chip was composed of discrete components. Once an adder problem was a wire wrap on the back panel that was making poor connection causing it not to promote a "carry" from the previous position.

      I really do understand binary but keep in mind that having more than the two states of binary permits a smaller size over all. For instance the 123 I mentioned needs 7 positions in binary but only 3 positions in decinary.

      Watch for it. Eventually this will be the going thing. Binary locked us in and was very restrictive while this invention and others in a similar vein will present opportunities we could not imagine before.

      --
      And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make
    12. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by tpheiska · · Score: 1

      Memristor-based systems can accurately store analogue values...

      So would this mean that hybrid computers could have a comeback? They were used extensively in simulations and they actually have some nice properties.

      --
      "wahts woring iwth my tyoping?"
    13. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Prune · · Score: 1

      Nonsense. Native base ten is still done by mainframes in financial transaction processing, because the rounding errors are different and they have to match decimal ones.

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    14. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Prune · · Score: 1

      I don't see the need for it. The information density limit that physics imposes by the Bekenstein bound remains the same regardless of your base (or even whether you use a digital or analog computer).

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    15. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Prune · · Score: 1

      You cannot store information any more "accurately" in analog form than digital form, in the limit of decreasing size. The maximum information density achievable by either method is the same, and simply specified by the Bekenstein bound (this is analogous to the fact that the ultimate limits of say digital cameras and film-based cameras, in terms of resolution per fixed sensor are, are the same).

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    16. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Computers use binary because it yields more reproducible calculations than analogue. And yes, I just compared binary to analogue. If you want to nitpick, its really that binary is the simplest way to implement a digital computer, and digital computers are easier to implement than analogue computers, and they yield the same result each time the calculation is run.

    17. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by hajus · · Score: 1

      Posting to undo accidental bad mod. Please ignore.

    18. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see a problem here. You forgot to carry the one.

    19. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by tpheiska · · Score: 1

      I don't mean increased accuracy. Integration and other continuous modeling and simulation could be improved by using analog-digital hybrids. This was also their original purpose.

      --
      "wahts woring iwth my tyoping?"
    20. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 1

      Hello, please explain to me how e makes any sense as a numeric base. My plain english definition of 'base' would be 'the number of unique symbols in the number system'. How can you have 'e' symbols in a number system? What does base 'e' even *mean*?

      Also I read that the formula used to determine the 'optimal' base is the one which the formula:

      (# digits in a given number) * (# unique symbols in base)

      has a minimal sum for all numbers.

      Then some calculus tricks are played to compute the minimum using derivatives since the minimal sum cannot be computed for all numbers, which would be an infinite number.

      The resulting formula is solved and the result is e.

      My problem is that the formula is only defined for integers. You cannot have a non-integer '# of digits in a given number' nor '# unique symbols in base'. So it would seem to me that since we're dealing with a non-continuous function, all of the calculus and equation solving that follows, and results in e, is bogus.

      So it doesn't surprise me that the resulting 'optimal base' is e, a nonsensical result.

    21. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except that algorithmically binary is a superior representation than decimal. Many of the fundamental algorithms we use for fast addition/subtraction/division are easiest to formulate in terms of binary numbers. Also, I find it odd that you think we'll suddenly get to see the magical benefits of combining analog with digital... I used to work in a lab where we had a "coprocessor" on an old PDP-11/72 that was actually an analog computer for computing sin/cos, and doing certain simple integrals.

      Same thing, just smaller.

    22. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by rolfwind · · Score: 1

      Well, sorry for that arrogant posting on my part thenXD. Didn't even notice the low /. number I was replying to (not that it means everything).

      I'll read up more on it then.

    23. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by Sanat · · Score: 1

      No apology necessary. I thank you for bringing out the points that you did which caused me to reflect further.

      I don't necessarily see the memristor as an analog device (although it probably could be used as one like a dimmer switch) where it can have infinite positions but rather as a device that would have a discrete amount of static positions such as 3, 10, 12, etc. and would be just as accurate as a 1 or 0 is in binary.

      There are a lot of smart younger individuals like you and others that post here on the board that can see how such a device could streamline computations and aid in unique situations. An example is the comment from the anonymous coward who clarified why the 12 position calculation would be so good for studying and working with the DNA in terms of 4 base types, 3 bases per peptide encoding; 3x4=12.

      I sense that the three state device will be the future for most computing work in the future having states of 1, 0, -1 as an example.

      Thanks again for replying

      --
      And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make
    24. Re:More than 2 states are now possible. by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      My understanding is that binary is used because it makes the circuitry simpler and minimises noise (switching to base-3 cuts the difference between signal voltage/current/whatever in half).

      While we could make circuits that use arbitrary bases now, there is little point because the circuitry would be a pain in the arse to design, more expensive to build, and be less reliable.

  14. Wow by kidde_valind · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Things like these makes you remember that HP isn't just a company that makes crappy consumer products.

    1. Re:Wow by Zordak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Right. Because they are also the world's leading producer of Carly Fiorina, which pretty much cancels out anything good they do.

      --

      Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
    2. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HP sucks. They make defective products, lie about them and treat their customers like shit. Nobody cares if they develop some memristor bullshit because we all know it will be crap too.

    3. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Things like these makes you remember that HP isn't just a company that makes crappy consumer products.

      And very robust business products

    4. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Carly Fiorina hasn't been with HP for a few years now.

    5. Re:Wow by Zordak · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I know. If she were still at HP, she would still be in production. Now that she's used HP as a springboard, she thinks she's going to be a senator or something. So before HP she was just irritating to whomever knew her. Now she gets to irritate the whole world.

      --

      Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
    6. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, she is a product of MIT Sloan School of Management and AT&T. Draw the conclusions at your will.

  15. Neural nets? by jcr · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This memristor technology sounds like it could be an ideal device for implementing neural nets. Anyone working on that, I wonder?

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:Neural nets? by Nyall · · Score: 2, Funny

      huh?

      This Memristor technology sounds like it could be an ideal device for mounting lasers onto sharks. Anyone working on that, I wonder?

      -SNS

      --
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification
  16. Symbol by Wizworm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What I want to know is what is the recognized symbol for this new element? I see the one on Wikipedia, but is this the international standard, sanctioned by the IEEE?

    --
    I always thought of Creationism as the Raving Right's version of the Loony Left's Anthropogenic Global Warming-brightmal
  17. FPGA FUD from TFA by fpgaprogrammer · · Score: 3, Informative

    From TFA: '''In order to be so flexible, however, FPGAs are large and expensive. And once the design is done, engineers generally abandon FPGAs for leaner "application-specific integrated circuits."'''

    This isn't really true. The rising fixed costs of an ASIC is prohibitive for low volume embedded projects where a $1 FPGA will do just fine. High performance FPGA chips are about the same cost as a CPU and they are commonly used as reconfigurable co-processors for supercomputing applications or embedded DSP. And I get way more GigaOps per dollar with FPGAs than with a CPU and for much less power.

  18. In Soviet-Russia resistance remembers YOU! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Soviet-Russia resistance remembers YOU!

  19. Unfortunate:Commitment. by Ostracus · · Score: 1

    "Now, who wants to try their hand at coming up with a better name?"

    Hysterical Electronics:They lose their cool before you do.

    --
    Shai Schticks:"You don't make peace with friends, you make peace with enemies"
  20. 4th? Try 5th fundamental by devinteske · · Score: 0

    Isn't it the 5th 'fundamental element' of integrated circuits? Correct me if I'm wrong, but what about thermistors?

    Thermistors are resistors that vary their resistance based on temperature. Yeah, I can hear you already, saying that if it's a type of resistor, then it's not fundamental. Well, if you're going to argue that, then why is a memristor considered fundamental when it's a type of transistor?

    I'd say that the list looks more like this:

    1. Transistor
    2. Resistor
    3. Capacitor
    4. Thermistor
    5. Memristor

    and, FTGP, where does "inductor" fit in there? Does it? I don't really consider inductors as part of the basic fundamental electrical components that can be used in integrated circuitry.

    1. Re:4th? Try 5th fundamental by bitrex · · Score: 4, Informative

      I believe what they mean is that the memristor is "fundamental" in that it provides a symmetrical link between electric charge and magnetic flux. A resistor is the link between current and voltage, a capacitor - voltage and charge, an inductor - current and magnetic flux, and a memristor - magnetic flux and charge. I think. I'm sure someone with a better grounding in electromagnetic physics can clarify this a bit.

    2. Re:4th? Try 5th fundamental by x102output · · Score: 1

      All resistors vary their resistance based on temperature. That's why there is "tolerance" levels. A thermistor is essentially the same thing, but made of material that is more affected by temperature change.


      And transistors just aren't passive components, simple as that.

    3. Re:4th? Try 5th fundamental by Falstius · · Score: 3, Informative

      It is the fourth fundamental linear circuit element. Transistors (I = k*V^2) and diodes (I = e^V) are not linear. Resistors V = k*I, capacitors I = k*dV/dt (the derivative is a linear operation), inductors V = k*dI/dt, memristors V=k(t)*I are linear.

      The reason there are four linear circuit elements is clear if you write these equations in terms and flux and charge.

    4. Re:4th? Try 5th fundamental by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you need to calm down sir.

  21. Let me remember, what's a memister again? by itsybitsy · · Score: 1

    My brain is just giving me too much resistance to remember...

  22. Robots !!! by UttBuggly · · Score: 1

    Because of the "features" of a memristor, we might see very 'smart' robots someday.

    I, for one, will welcome our new memristor-powered robot overlords.

    Especially if they look like Gort or Robbie.

    --
    I am my own gestalt.
  23. Unsurprisingly, yes by peter303 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The book The Bottomless Well discusses the concept of "the refined energy pyramid" where each level is smaller and more useful than the one below it. Electricity and computer are two levels medium-high on the pyramid. The books shows how auto technology has been rising up the pyramid with increasing fractions of its energy level at more refined levels. The book says about 15% of a modern auto's energy density (excluding hybrids and plug-ins) is now electrical and increasing. Computing is growing too, replacing items like distributors, etc with more efficent computed actuators and increasing mileage. Memisters will probably more compact implement soem electronic functions the other three are used for now.

    1. Re:Unsurprisingly, yes by SeePage87 · · Score: 3, Funny

      You had me up until "Memisters will probably more compact implement soem electronic functions the other three are used for now."

    2. Re:Unsurprisingly, yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Memisters will probably...

      memristors aren't mass-produced yet but are already widely misspelled.

  24. Not going anywhere for a while? by Guppy · · Score: 1

    m. It could be a while.

    No problem. I got my Snickers bar right here.

  25. BCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Erm. Just about every generic cpu architecture still includes support for BCD (binary coded decimal), whether it's really useful or not.

    In microcontroller space, BCDs are really handy.

  26. Yes by wanax · · Score: 1

    HP has already done some internal research within the same group on using memristor chips with neural network type logic.

    They also have a major collaborative grant proposal underway for studying the use of memristor chips as the basis for neural networks, but it hasn't been finalized.

    1. Re:Yes by jcr · · Score: 1

      Very interesting, thanks.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  27. Promises Promises by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1

    Promises promises that this is going to make everything better (faster, cheaper, smaller). I'd settle for even one of those benefits if it were significant, but wonder if I'll ever see any of them.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
    1. Re:Promises Promises by maugle · · Score: 1

      Erm, perhaps you haven't been paying attention, but things have been getting faster, cheaper, and smaller for quite a while now. Memristors just promise to ensure the trend continues.

    2. Re:Promises Promises by the_other_chewey · · Score: 1

      Promises promises that this is going to make everything better (faster, cheaper, smaller). I'd settle
      for even one of those benefits if it were significant, but wonder if I'll ever see any of them.

      You very likely are sitting near the perfact example for "all three". Compare the cumputer you are using now to the
      one 10-15 years ago.

  28. Mother Ship by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    Wow I got all excited and throught it said Hybrid Mother Ship and was about to say I for one welcome our new Talon/Human overlords.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
  29. Flux Capacitor by scjohnno · · Score: 1

    More power efficient? So it doesn't require 1.21 gigawatts? I've been lied to all my childhood.

  30. Typo? by woolio · · Score: 1

    Yes, the U.S. Constitution.

    Thank you! I'll be here all week!

    I think you have a typo there. You really meant "Communist Manifesto".

  31. memristor symbol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What kind of screwed up symbol is this for the memristor?

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Memristor-Symbol.svg

  32. AI... by lindlec · · Score: 1

    Isn't this quite analogous to the state of neurons in the brain? Weighted rather than on or off? Would this benefit modelling the brain in any way? A cluster of memristors? Just a thought...