'Magnetic Memory' Chip Unveiled

topcreator · 10-07-2006, 10:13

A microchip which can store information like a hard drive has been unveiled by US company Freescale. The chip, called magnetoresistive random-access memory (Mram), maintains data by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge.

One analyst told the Associated Press news agency that the chip was the most significant development in computer memory for a decade.

Mram chips could find their way into many different electronic devices.

The benefit of Mram chips is that they will hold information after power has been switched off.

Freescale has been producing the four-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, but Freescale is the first company to offer a chip with practical usage for many of today's electronic devices.

"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."

Unlike flash memory, which also can keep data without power, Mram has faster read and write speeds and does not degrade over time.

Ram chips in most electronic devices, such as PCs, lose data when their power is switched off.

Currently flash memory is used in portable devices such as MP3 players and for portable storage in the form of small cards that are used in cameras.

Mram chips could one day be used in PCs to store an operating system, allowing computers to start up faster when switched on.

Bob Merritt, an analyst with Semico Research, said memory chip manufacturers were seeking technology that will be faster, smaller, cheaper and retain data when the power is off.

"The older memory technologies are awkward to work with in a mobile computing environment," Mr Merritt said.

"This is a significant step forward and absolutely critical for moving into the smaller forms that consumers and industry want."

Freescale has been working on the technology for nearly a decade, said Saied Tehrani, who runs the Austin-based company's Mram programme.

He said Freescale already had customers, but he declined to name any.

BBC News

Druchii · 10-07-2006, 18:55

What happens if another magnet is placed nearby?

Goodbye data?

punky · 10-07-2006, 18:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Druchii

What happens if another magnet is placed nearby?

Goodbye data?

I should imagine it would be shielded...

I mean, Hard drives store data magnetically, but the heads are controlled by magnets themselves...

BTW, you can't erase a hard disk with a magnet. Apparently, you'd a magnet powerfully enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells, before it would have any effect.

bob_a_builder · 10-07-2006, 19:08

I wonder if its a development of the original 'bubble' memory which was developed some 30 years ago but never really made it to commercial scale

Quote:

you can't erase a hard disk with a magnet.

You can, with this product, and there are no warnings about keeping body parts clear other than getting them caught in the moving parts, so I think your blood is safe

foreverwar · 10-07-2006, 19:49

Agreed -we used a degausser to zap hard drives before we gave them to "charidee" or to local schools (we would, of course, then reload the oem o/s).

AndrewJ · 11-07-2006, 02:00

Sounds a interesting technology

**Stuart C** · 11-07-2006, 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by punky

BTW, you can't erase a hard disk with a magnet. Apparently, you'd a magnet powerfully enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells, before it would have any effect.

You may not be able to totally erase a hard disk, but as discussed above, you can do an awful lot of damage to the data with a Degaussing wand (basically, a handheld electromagnet, usually used as part of TV repair).