Monday, April 14, 2008
IBM's Racetrack Memory Uses Nanowires, Seeks 100x Storage Boost
IBM is working on its latest "racetrack" memory, which it promises will bring a 100 fold increase in density -- by storing data in long magnetised nanowires rather than disks. Don't make computers seek out data, make the data move to where it can be used. That's one way to describe "racetrack" memory, which IBM argues could one day lead to memory that could hold 100 times more data than flash memory does today and cost 100 times less
In racetrack memory, information is stored in the domain walls, or boundaries, between magnetic regions on a wire. The domain walls are then shuttled up or down the wire via electrical pulses toward another component that can interpret whether the domain wall represents a "1" or a "0".
In flash memory and hard drives, data lives in a discrete location and a computer (or hard drive head) finds it. Shuttling the bits on a wire opens up the possibility for making 3D memory, and hence more dense memory, because wires could be stacked on top of each other. The time it takes to record or retrieve data could also be reduced. Racetrack chips, potentially, could additionally last far longer because they have no moving parts, unlike hard drives, and won't get progressively worn out by successive read-erase cycles like flash memory.
In the next two to four years, IBM hopes to create a complete, working prototype of a racetrack chip with an integrated device that can read the data shuttling across the wire
More from here
In racetrack memory, information is stored in the domain walls, or boundaries, between magnetic regions on a wire. The domain walls are then shuttled up or down the wire via electrical pulses toward another component that can interpret whether the domain wall represents a "1" or a "0".
In flash memory and hard drives, data lives in a discrete location and a computer (or hard drive head) finds it. Shuttling the bits on a wire opens up the possibility for making 3D memory, and hence more dense memory, because wires could be stacked on top of each other. The time it takes to record or retrieve data could also be reduced. Racetrack chips, potentially, could additionally last far longer because they have no moving parts, unlike hard drives, and won't get progressively worn out by successive read-erase cycles like flash memory.
In the next two to four years, IBM hopes to create a complete, working prototype of a racetrack chip with an integrated device that can read the data shuttling across the wire
More from here
Labels: Computer-Science
PermaLink - IBM's Racetrack Memory Uses Nanowires, Seeks 100x Storage Boost posted by Ecacofonix : 5:40 AM
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