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Discovery of a 'holy grail' with the invention of universal computer memory
[An] electronic memory device -- described in research published in Scientific Reports -- promises to transform daily life with its ultra-low energy consumption. [...] The device is the realisation of the search for a "Universal Memory" which has preoccupied scientists and engineers for decades.
Physics Professor Manus Hayne of Lancaster University said: "Universal Memory, which has robustly stored data that is easily changed, is widely considered to be unfeasible, or even impossible, but this device demonstrates its contradictory properties."
A US patent has been awarded for the electronic memory device with another patent pending, while several companies have expressed an interest or are actively involved in the research.
The inventors of the device used quantum mechanics to solve the dilemma of choosing between stable, long-term data storage and low-energy writing and erasing. The device could replace the $100bn market for Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), which is the 'working memory' of computers, as well as the long-term memory in flash drives.
[...] Professor Hayne said: "The ideal is to combine the advantages of both without their drawbacks, and this is what we have demonstrated. Our device has an intrinsic data storage time that is predicted to exceed the age of the Universe, yet it can record or delete data using 100 times less energy than DRAM."
Room-temperature Operation of Low-voltage, Non-volatile, Compound-semiconductor Memory Cells (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-45370-1) (DX)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday June 20 2019, @09:40PM (1 child)
That's the idea. A universal memory would replace DRAM, NAND/HDD, and maybe SRAM. It would be as fast or faster than DRAM, with the density/capacity of NAND. Booting could be nearly instantaneous, unless you run Windows 11.
If you remember HP's "The Machine" from a few years back, that was a hyped concept that would have used memristors as universal memory. That never materialized.
HP starts a memristor-based space program to launch ... THE MACHINE [theregister.co.uk]
RIP HPE's The Machine product, 2014-2016: We hardly knew ye [theregister.co.uk]
Stop trying to make The Machine happen, HPE. It's not going to happen [theregister.co.uk]
This would also be a great replacement for DRAM in the DARPA 3D SoC concept [darpa.mil]. More info on that expected in the next year or two.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Touché) by istartedi on Thursday June 20 2019, @10:27PM
The PC would finally catch up to the C-64.
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