Computer Memory Can Be Read With a Flash of Light

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Computer Memory Can Be Read With a Flash of Light

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @05:56AM from the whose-bright-idea-was-this dept.

ananyo writes "A new kind of computer memory can be read 10,000 times faster than flash memory using pulses of light, taking advantage of principles used in solar panel design. Researchers built the prototype device using bismuth ferrite. In conventional computer memory, information is stored in cells that hold different amounts of electric charge, each representing a binary '1' or '0.' Bismuth ferrite, by contrast, and can represent those binary digits, or bits, as one of two polarization states, and, because of its photovoltaic properties, can switch between these states in response to visible light."

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The NSA! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 05:59 · Score: 5, Funny

Is reading my computer memory with their flashlights.
1. Re:The NSA! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:03 · Score: 0
  
  They already redacted something from TFS.
2. Re:The NSA! by The_PHP_Jedi · 2013-06-12 06:11 · Score: 2
  
  So I wasn't the only one who read the headline as "read with a flashlight." :)
3. Re:The NSA! by Sarten-X · 2013-06-12 06:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Depending on the data, some computer memory is read with a Fleshlight.
  
  --
  You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
4. Re:The NSA! by Big+Hairy+Ian · 2013-06-12 21:09 · Score: 1
  
  Brilliant no we just need a BUS thats 10,000 times faster
  
  --
  Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
5. Re:The NSA! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-13 03:52 · Score: 0
  
  With fucktarded omega males like you it would be more like with the fleshlight you purchased to jack off to a photo of Richard Stallman.
  GO AHEAD FUKING FLAME AWAY OR
  WASTE YOUR GODDAMNED MODPOINTS
  FUCKTARDED SHITDOT SHEEPLE!!!!!
Call it "Photonic Memory". by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:00 · Score: 0

I'll buy it just because it sounds cool.
1. Re:Call it "Photonic Memory". by Arkh89 · 2013-06-12 07:23 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  In any case : don't call it Flash Memory... that would be dumb...
first comment! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:01 · Score: 0

I have no comment!
1. Re:first comment! by davester666 · 2013-06-12 06:55 · Score: 1
  
  Sir, we have another dissident here. He replied with 'no comment' when he was supposed to toe the party line.
  
  --
  Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:04 · Score: 0

SRAM, DRAM
1. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by TechyImmigrant · 2013-06-12 06:10 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  No. SRAM and DRAM are not particularly faster than flash for read operations. The bigger impact on flash vs. SRAM is that SRAM is often on chip whereas flash is stuck behind a slow interface.
  Flash is many times slower for erase and write operations.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
2. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by sinij · 2013-06-12 06:11 · Score: 2
  
  Not knowing anything about Bismuth Ferrite' polarization states I assume that this new memory would be non-volatile.
3. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by aicrules · 2013-06-12 06:19 · Score: 1
  
  As long as you keep all your lights off.
4. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by devjoe · 2013-06-12 06:40 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Actually, this is an error in the summary. The article says that it doesn't change state in response to light, but with an applied voltage. It's read with light that doesn't change the polarization state.
5. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by julesh · 2013-06-12 06:51 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  No. SRAM and DRAM are not particularly faster than flash for read operations.
  
  A typical flash chip has a read latency of around 50us (MLC) or 25us (SLC) and can operate one transfer per cycle at about 50-100MHz. A typical DRAM chip has a read latency of around 15ns and can operate two transfers per cycle at about 266-333MHz. A typical SRAM chip has a latency of about 10ns and can operate two transfers per cycle at similar rates to the DRAM.
  Depending on the measure you use, Flash is between 7 and 3,000 times slower at reading than DRAM, and up to 5,000 times slower than SRAM.
6. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by BitZtream · 2013-06-12 07:07 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  ...
  Uhm, Flash is orders of magnitude slower than DRAM, which is orders of magnitude slower then SRAM.
  SRAM is on chip because its expensive and its interface is expensive so you'd waste a lot of money and effort to have a SRAM discreet component on the other side of the mobo. Designing an interconnect to put the L1/L2 cache in an external chip is a REAL PITA by itself for consumer devices.
  Looks like modern SLC NAND goes at roughly 100ns access times.
  DDR3 - 2000 has a 9ns access time.
  That DDR3 is roughly on par with the SRAM cache on my old 486, which was about 10ns. I have no clue what the internal L1 latency is on something like an i7, but considering that the MHZ is a couple orders a few orders of magnitude higher, I can assume its off the scale faster in comparison to NAND.
  NAND is fast compared to a slow spinning platter disk that has to move a head and a platter into the right position to even get started. Its not really fast otherwise unless you do massively parallel reads. NAND has to do parallel (multiple chips) reads just to keep up with current SATA speeds. The interface isn't the issue.
  
  --
  Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
7. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by jones_supa · 2013-06-12 07:13 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  You are messing the discussion with facts. Someone call the guards!
8. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  ONFI NAND is a DDR interface with transfer speeds of > 300MT/s. Otherwise spot on. Do not forget that DRAM and SRAM have effectively unlimited write cycles while NAND is in the 10's of thousands.
9. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 09:11 · Score: 0
  
  Correct, 3 volts, low current as opposed to flash ram requiring 15 volts to change, and orders of magnitude longer to change the state.
10. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by TechyImmigrant · 2013-06-12 10:42 · Score: 1
  
  50us? 50-100MHz? 1/50E-6 = 20KHz, not 50MHz.
  http://download.micron.com/pdf/datasheets/flash/nand/2_4_8gb_nand_m49a.pdf -> Sequential READ: 30ns
  I.E. half the speed of 15ns DRAM.
  Parallel read stuff is a bit slower, but not a lot. You can pay more for faster and you can always wire it up in parallel.
  http://download.micron.com/pdf/datasheets/flash/qflash/MT28F640J3.pdf
  SRAM speed depends entirely on the context, of which there are many. The on chip ones I use take less than 1ns to read on a modern silicon process.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
11. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by TechyImmigrant · 2013-06-12 10:44 · Score: 1
  
  See my other response. Those facts are lacking factuality.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
12. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by TechyImmigrant · 2013-06-12 10:49 · Score: 1
  
  Old school flash is the best though.
  http://www.xilinx.com/products/boards/ml410/datasheets/M29F040B.pdf
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
13. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by TechyImmigrant · 2013-06-12 12:42 · Score: 1
  
  You just explained why the interface is a significant issue, then your last sentence was that the interface isn't the issue.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
14. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by TechyImmigrant · 2013-06-12 12:45 · Score: 1
  
  > Flash is orders of magnitude slower than DRAM
  You will find that the datasheets I posted elsewhere in this thread show flash at a semiconductor technology level to be 2-10 times slower than modern DRAM. That is not 'orders of magnitude'.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
15. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 19:58 · Score: 0
  
  ONFI NAND is a DDR interface with transfer speeds of > 300MT/s. Otherwise spot on. Do not forget that DRAM and SRAM have effectively unlimited write cycles while NAND is in the 10's of thousands.
  No, NAND is effectively unlimited too.
  If you buy any of the regular brands they don't implement the heating necessary for this but that is not a flaw of NAND technology.
  Also, DRAM and SRAM doesn't even survive a single 12V erase cycle.
  Unless you get the ones that were designed for 15V-operation.
16. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by QQBoss · 2013-06-12 22:39 · Score: 2
  
  > Flash is orders of magnitude slower than DRAM
  You will find that the datasheets I posted elsewhere in this thread show flash at a semiconductor technology level to be 2-10 times slower than modern DRAM. That is not 'orders of magnitude'.
  It is for powers of 2.
17. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by AgentSmith · 2013-06-13 00:09 · Score: 1
  
  Guards!
18. Re:Know what else is 10,000x faster than flash? by CatBandit · 2013-06-13 01:11 · Score: 1
  
  A simple microcontroler (like Microchip's PIC16xxx) has FLASH memory and has access to it at the same speed as RAM. Running at clocks from 20 to 40MHz.
  Not to mention ARM's and other similar devices who work at much more speed... smarphones maybe ?
  Access to flash may be crippled by interface in the case you mention.
Bismuth memory? by 8086 · 2013-06-12 06:06 · Score: 5, Funny

There's no bismuth like show bismuth
1. Re:Bismuth memory? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:13 · Score: 0
  
  I love a good pun, but that is not even relevant.
2. Re:Bismuth memory? by aicrules · 2013-06-12 06:25 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Element jokes can be good....periodically
3. Re:Bismuth memory? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 07:46 · Score: 0
  
  You are too late, all the good element jokes Argon.
4. Re:Bismuth memory? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 08:46 · Score: 0
  
  Thats simply elementary, my dear AC.
5. Re:Bismuth memory? by sexconker · 2013-06-12 09:23 · Score: 1
  
  There's no bismuth like show bismuth
  New and improved Pepto now treats cache misses!
  Will be hard to work into the "Heartburn, nausea, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!" jingle, though.
6. Re:Bismuth memory? by iggymanz · 2013-06-12 13:18 · Score: 1
  
  I zinc some people just like to throw a tantalum and there's no curium.
10 micrometres wide by TechyImmigrant · 2013-06-12 06:08 · Score: 4, Funny

From the article: "10 micrometres wide"
So move on. There's nothing to be seen here.

--
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
1. Re:10 micrometres wide by Redeye+Carci · 2013-06-12 06:13 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yea! Transistors have never bigger then 10 micrometers.
2. Re:10 micrometres wide by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:15 · Score: 0
  
  Ramesh says that there is no fundamental reason that the memory cells in his device could not be made as small as those in other memory arrays, although it will pose some practical challenges.
3. Re:10 micrometres wide by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:16 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, no kidding. If I could see something ten micrometers wide I'd be working for Intel.
4. Re:10 micrometres wide by AaronLS · 2013-06-12 06:23 · Score: 1
  
  That would be funny. A lab technician standing next to you instead of a microscope(scanning electron... whatever they use) and asking you what you see and you trying to describe it to them in words, or drawing a little picture, lol. Not trying to be mean, just a funny image to me.
5. Re:10 micrometres wide by fahrbot-bot · 2013-06-12 06:33 · Score: 1
  
  That would be funny. A lab technician standing next to you instead of a microscope(scanning electron... whatever they use) and asking you what you see and you trying to describe it to them in words, or drawing a little picture, lol. Not trying to be mean, just a funny image to me.
  Almost... From The Far Side: It's a Mammoth
  
  --
  It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
6. Re:10 micrometres wide by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 07:25 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah, no kidding. If I could see something ten micrometers wide I'd be working for Intel.
  You'd get outdated and replaced by the new young guy able to see something 10 nanometres wide.
7. Re:10 micrometres wide by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 10:14 · Score: 0
  
  I do work for Intel. We use scanning electron microscopes. People are optional.
8. Re:10 micrometres wide by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 14:47 · Score: 0
  
  You know the first transistor was measured in mm.
9. Re:10 micrometres wide by TechyImmigrant · 2013-06-12 16:34 · Score: 1
  
  Right but it was the first and only transistor at the time, so it was competitive.
  However a 100Kbit, quite fast memory that is expensive because it's made on a low volume manufacturing line, without the benefit of the billions of dollars spent developing silicon based manufacturing equipment is hardly going to be competitive in the market and won't be able to generate the cash necessary to build up a manufacturing infrastructure that can compete with cheaper, higher volume memories that are a 1000 times more dense.
  There is a constant stream of 'flash killing' non volatile memories that never made it in the market. This will be one of them.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
It's a conspiracy! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:08 · Score: 0

It's just a way to let the FBI and NSA read the contents of your SSD devices without turning on your machine and using nothing more than a flashlight.
So... CDs? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:09 · Score: 0

Nothing new under the Sun, huh?
1. Re:So... CDs? by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · 2013-06-12 06:45 · Score: 1
  
  More like magnetic cores than CDs, actually.
"Bismuth Ferrite", not "Bismuth Ferret" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:16 · Score: 0

I totally misread that. I was speculating about antimony weasels and lead minks and such.
BUT CAN IT HEAR THE GRAPEVINE ?? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:18 · Score: 0

Can you hear the grapevine ?? Can prism hear the grapevine ?? Can we feed the grapevine garbage to have it spill out garbage ?? YES !! I heard it through the grapevine !!
1. Re:BUT CAN IT HEAR THE GRAPEVINE ?? by AaronLS · 2013-06-12 06:25 · Score: 1
  
  LOL You don't hear the grapevine! You hear IT THROUGH the grapevine. I.e. if there were a grapevine wall and people talking on the otherside that didn't know you were there. The grapevine itself doesn't talk, it's a freaking plant!
2. Re:BUT CAN IT HEAR THE GRAPEVINE ?? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 09:42 · Score: 0
  
  You two are on to something. Make that, ON something.
3. Re:BUT CAN IT HEAR THE GRAPEVINE ?? by srobert · 2013-06-12 11:37 · Score: 1
  
  ...and I'm just about to loooose my mind, honey, honey yeah.
Bipolar memory? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 06:26 · Score: 5, Funny

Do we really want bipolar memory with its constant cycling between manic and depressive states?
Comparison to PCM by enriquevagu · 2013-06-12 06:30 · Score: 5, Informative

The link to the actual Nature Communications paper is here: Non-volatile memory based on the ferroelectric photovoltaic effect.
This somehow resembles Phase-Change Memory (PCM). PCM devices are composed of a material which, under a high current, there is a thermal fusion and changes to a different material status, from amorphous to crystalline. This changes two properties: light reflectivity (exploited in CDs and DVDs) and electrical resistance (exploited in emerging non-volatile PCM memories). The paper cites PCM and other types of emerging non-volating memories.
In this case, it is the polarization what changes, without requiring a thermal fusion, therefore increasing the endurance of the device, one of the main shortcomings of PCM. The other main shortcoming of PCM is write speed due to the slow thermal process, in the paper they claim something like 10ns. If this can be manufactured with a large scale of integration and low cost, it will probably be a revolution in computer architecture.
1. Re:Comparison to PCM by TheNastyInThePasty · 2013-06-12 06:54 · Score: 3
  
  Had to read through a ton of comments from the uninformed and trolls who think they're funny before finding this one informative comment. Thank you. Where are my mod points?
  
  --
  The best thing about UDP jokes is I don't care if you get them or not
2. Re:Comparison to PCM by Em+Adespoton · 2013-06-12 08:43 · Score: 1
  
  What I find intriguing about the method is that it seems to imply that since the write and read methods are different, you could achieve asynchronous reads and writes -- which could be good or bad, depending on what's happening. Definitely a boost to some custom applications, and a possible revolution in some niche processor architectures. Not sure if it will be viable for generic computation systems.
3. Re:Comparison to PCM by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 10:27 · Score: 0
  
  Err, 8T SRAM has independent write and read select and data lines, and it's been around for quite a while.
It works on light flashes? what do we call it? by bussdriver · 2013-06-12 06:35 · Score: 3, Funny

>Hey, lets use light flashes and solar tech to store memory!
Nah, we can't do that, the name Flash is already taken for memory; try another idea.

--
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
1. Re:It works on light flashes? what do we call it? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 07:31 · Score: 0
  
  >Hey, lets use light flashes and solar tech to store memory!
  Nah, we can't do that, the name Flash is already taken for memory; try another idea.
  And AAA is taken for batteries. They should call it Savior of the Universe
Flash! by d'baba · 2013-06-12 08:55 · Score: 1

...Savior Of The Universe ...
1. Re:Flash! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 12:11 · Score: 0
  
  Is for everyone of us.
Bismuth = Radioactive by lobiusmoop · 2013-06-12 09:10 · Score: 0

Bismuth is very slightly radioactive, not sure I'd trust memory that is generating it's own bit-rot via alpha decay.

--
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
1. Re:Bismuth = Radioactive by martijn+hoekstra · 2013-06-12 10:03 · Score: 1
  
  Bismuth is very slightly radioactive, not sure I'd trust memory that is generating it's own bit-rot via alpha decay.
  For very slight values of radioactive. It's half-life time is ~10^20 years. I think I can we can have enough error correction bits to deal with that.
Bismuth ferrite, by contrast, and can represent by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 10:38 · Score: 0

Huh?
Your Computer Feeling Sluggish and Constipated by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 13:48 · Score: 0

This may be just what it needs, Gives a whole new meaning to memory dump
I suppose we just settled the age old argument by Anonymous Coward · 2013-06-12 14:43 · Score: 0

http://chanarchive.org/4chan/b/452/bismuth-vs-antimony