Startup's 'RRAM' Tech Promises 1TB Memory for Mobile DevicesBy Damon Poeter, PC Magazine
August 5, 2013 04:00pm EST
Crossbar RRAMA California startup called Crossbar is working on an alternative to current NAND Flash memory chips like those used in mobile devices and other consumer electronics products. [This new] technology could serve up a terabyte of storage and playback capacity on "an IC smaller than a postage stamp." [e.g. 1TB on 200mm
2, and they can stack chips in 3D to make blocks of them.]
Crossbar, which came out of stealth mode on Monday, calls its "new category of very high capacity and high-performance non-volatile memory" technology "Crossbar Resistive RAM," or RRAM, though several tech sites are dubbing it "ReRAM."
"This new generation of non-volatile memory will be capable of storing up to 1TB of data on a single 200mm2 chip, enabling massive amounts of information, such as 250 hours of HD movies, to be stored and played back from an IC smaller than a postage stamp," Crossbar said in a statement announcing its presence.
The startup also said it has already built a "working Crossbar memory array at a commercial fab, a major milestone in the development of new memory technology, signaling its readiness to begin the first phase of productization."
[Technogarble removed...]
"With our working Crossbar array, we have achieved all the major technical milestones that prove our RRAM technology is easy to manufacture and ready for commercialization. It's a watershed moment for the non-volatile memory industry."
The key benefits users will get from Crossbar's RRAM technology and the capability for "3D-stacking" of multiple chips in a System-on-a-Chip (SoC) package, per the company, are:
* Highest Capacity: Up to 1TB of storage on a single chip; multiple terabytes with 3D stacking
* Lowest Power: Extends Battery Life to Weeks, Months, or Years
* Highest Performance: 20x faster write than NAND [traditional method now in widespread use]
* Easiest SoC Integration: Simple stacking on logic in standard CMOS at most advanced nodes
* Most Reliable: 10x the endurance of NAND, approaching DRAM reliability
[Remainder of article removed.]
Expect earliest commercial availability of an even MORE advanced version in/by 2016. (Volume prices in 2017 at less than half the early prices, and higher densities, etc.)
Expect to see various names for this tech, such as: "
Crossbar Resistive RAM,"
RRAM, and
ReRAM....
1TB flash drives that fit on your fingernail!Yowza!