HP shows off first hybrid memristor-transistor chip

HP broke some considerable new ground by creating the very first "memristor" earlier this year, but it looks like it didn't rest on its laurels for very long, as it has now also taken the wraps off the first hybrid memristor-transistor chip at (where else?) the inaugural Memristor and Memristor Systems Symposium. According to the researchers at HP Labs, the memristors are able to do the job of the transistors they replace more efficiently, letting you use less of them when space is a priority, or the same amount or, conceivably, more of 'em to get some increased performance, which the researchers say could "give Moore's Law a boost." As if that wasn't enough, the researchers also say that memristors could also allow for faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient flash storage, and allow for field-programmable gate array (or FPGAs) that are not only more efficient, but considerably less expensive as well. Of course, there's plenty more experimenting that needs to be done, but HP says that the first commercial circuits using memristors could arrive within the next three years.

[Via Slashdot]

[Rekit @ Nov 25th 2008 6:32PM]

That'll go swell with my argyle sweater-vest.

[Josh @ Nov 26th 2008 11:54AM]

ha looks like a tiled windows 95 background

[Daniel Malafaia @ Nov 25th 2008 6:34PM]

FPGAs will rule the earth and the gates of heaven

[jw @ Nov 25th 2008 7:56PM]

Umm. FPGAs already do...

[Kevinmc @ Nov 26th 2008 9:36AM]

Of course they do :)

[Spanky @ Nov 25th 2008 6:37PM]

more mediocre than memorizing

[balthazar @ Nov 25th 2008 8:38PM]

funny, i just thought the same thing about your comment.

[J L @ Nov 25th 2008 6:41PM]

I love Symposia!

[ryan @ Nov 25th 2008 6:47PM]

I love Futurama!

[whatishalo? @ Nov 25th 2008 6:43PM]

I thought it was an article about a new Windows background

[phlavor @ Nov 25th 2008 6:52PM]

Sooo bummed that I couldn't score tickets to the Memristor and Memristor Systems Symposium.

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Nov 25th 2008 7:04PM]

I hate having to wait for new technology. I hope these things really do help in future technology.

[broli @ Nov 25th 2008 7:06PM]

In the future we will be able to print any device/part we want/need.

[FlyByWire @ Nov 25th 2008 7:12PM]

But will it blend?

[brandon @ Nov 25th 2008 7:13PM]

No, it won't.

[Shinigami @ Nov 25th 2008 7:14PM]

If this means RAM memory (like DDR of all kinds) becoming energy-independent (so I can turn off/on my PC within a few seconds), or SSDs hitting the same retail price as HDDs per GB, this makes me happy.

But something makes me think I won't be happy with HP's memristors... or their prices.

[Jason @ Nov 26th 2008 7:36AM]

Im pretty sure i read in pcworld that these chips would make ram unnecessary to even have.

[solarpos @ Nov 25th 2008 7:57PM]

Is this the chip Sarah Conner paid 1/2 million for from the Yakuza?

[Kamil @ Nov 25th 2008 8:05PM]

Yes.... yes it is....

[dBs @ Nov 25th 2008 8:01PM]

Hahaha, I wonder how VHDL code will have to change (or in this case already has) in order to accommodate for Memristor logic and simplifications.

[David Rogoff @ Nov 25th 2008 9:19PM]

First, you should be using SystemVerilog, not VHDL. Second, why would a transistor (or, more accurately, memristor) level technology have any effect at the RTL level? It should all be hidden under the technology cell level.

[Ruby @ Nov 26th 2008 2:26AM]

Here's a random thought/ something to do with all those chips:
A new Turing Test: getting (a certain ratio of) "Highly Rated" Engadet comments.
Thoughts?

[Viktor @ Nov 26th 2008 9:50AM]

"(where else?) "...
The next step will be to create the Al Gore's "MenBearPig" that show up on south Park...

Well, may be not, but maybe a transistor that works with Laser ligth instear ot electrons. that would be much faster and will use a lot less power.

[Iridium @ Nov 26th 2008 12:31PM]

Memristors are the most important technological breakthroughs for computing in the past 20 years.

The computers we have right now are essentially just much faster versions of the same exact architecture used since the first integrated circuit.

Memristors can make instant on computing devices that remember everything in memory when there is no power. They also work much faster than flash memory and can be packed in a greater density while also being cheaper to produce.