Looks like they reinvent the magnetic core memory.
Magnetic-based chips can hold data when PC off Texas' Freescale
is first to market with MRAM
Jul. 10, 2006. 01:00 AM
DAVID KOENIG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS?Achieving a long-sought goal of the $48 billion (U.S.) memory chip industry, Freescale Semiconductor Inc. announced the commercial availability of a chip that combines traditional memory's endurance with a hard drive's ability to keep data while powered down.
The chips, called magneto-resistive random-access memory or MRAM, maintain information by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge. Unlike flash memory, which also can keep data without power, MRAM is fast to read and write bits, and doesn't degrade over time.
Freescale, which was spun off of Motorola Inc. in July 2004, said today it has been producing the 4-megabit MRAM chips at an Arizona factory for two months to build inventory. A number of chip makers have been pursuing the technology for a decade or more, including IBM Corp.
Sometimes referred to as "universal" memory, MRAM could displace a number of chips found in every electronic device, from PCs, cellphones, music players and cameras to the computing components of kitchen appliances, cars and airplanes.
"This is the most significant memory introduction in this decade," said Will Strauss, an analyst with research firm Forward Concepts. "This is radically new technology. People have been dabbling in this for years, but nobody has been able to make it in volume.''
Electronic memory is ubiquitous in today's world, but each flavour of memory-chip technology has different strengths and weaknesses. Often times, a single device has multiple types of memory chips to take advantage of the benefits of a particular technology.
Static and dynamic random access memory chips, used in PCs and elsewhere, are fast but lose data when the power is switched off. Flash memory chips, which are commonly found in music players, cameras and cellphones, retain information but are slower and degrade over time.
Bob Merritt, an analyst with Semico Research, said memory makers are hunting technology that will be faster, smaller, cheaper and retain data when the power is off to help run portable computers and cellphones.
"This is a significant step forward and absolutely critical for moving into the smaller forms that consumers and industry want,'' Merritt said.
Ultimately, the technology could displace the RAM found in PCs, enabling systems that boot up immediately because data don't have to be reloaded into the memory chips.
Text
Magnetic-based chips can hold data when PC off Texas' Freescale
is first to market with MRAM
Jul. 10, 2006. 01:00 AM
DAVID KOENIG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS?Achieving a long-sought goal of the $48 billion (U.S.) memory chip industry, Freescale Semiconductor Inc. announced the commercial availability of a chip that combines traditional memory's endurance with a hard drive's ability to keep data while powered down.
The chips, called magneto-resistive random-access memory or MRAM, maintain information by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge. Unlike flash memory, which also can keep data without power, MRAM is fast to read and write bits, and doesn't degrade over time.
Freescale, which was spun off of Motorola Inc. in July 2004, said today it has been producing the 4-megabit MRAM chips at an Arizona factory for two months to build inventory. A number of chip makers have been pursuing the technology for a decade or more, including IBM Corp.
Sometimes referred to as "universal" memory, MRAM could displace a number of chips found in every electronic device, from PCs, cellphones, music players and cameras to the computing components of kitchen appliances, cars and airplanes.
"This is the most significant memory introduction in this decade," said Will Strauss, an analyst with research firm Forward Concepts. "This is radically new technology. People have been dabbling in this for years, but nobody has been able to make it in volume.''
Electronic memory is ubiquitous in today's world, but each flavour of memory-chip technology has different strengths and weaknesses. Often times, a single device has multiple types of memory chips to take advantage of the benefits of a particular technology.
Static and dynamic random access memory chips, used in PCs and elsewhere, are fast but lose data when the power is switched off. Flash memory chips, which are commonly found in music players, cameras and cellphones, retain information but are slower and degrade over time.
Bob Merritt, an analyst with Semico Research, said memory makers are hunting technology that will be faster, smaller, cheaper and retain data when the power is off to help run portable computers and cellphones.
"This is a significant step forward and absolutely critical for moving into the smaller forms that consumers and industry want,'' Merritt said.
Ultimately, the technology could displace the RAM found in PCs, enabling systems that boot up immediately because data don't have to be reloaded into the memory chips.
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