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Toshiba goes perpendicular to solve MRAM's power issues, rethink cache memory
As much of a breakthrough as magnetoresistive RAM might be for its ability to retain data while powered off, its susceptibility to leak currents while turned on has made it impractical as a replacement for cache-oriented memory like SRAM. Toshiba's new approach could almost literally turn the situation on its head. By magnetizing spin torque MRAM (ST-MRAM) in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic layer, Toshiba cuts off the avenues for leaks without sacrificing speed. The switch away from in-plane magnetization is an upside for the memory as a whole -- it shrinks normally large elements to below 30 nanometers and cuts the overall power draw of MRAM by about 90 percent. While there's no timetable for when we'll see such cache in a shipping product, Toshiba expects it to reach mobile processors, where even slight power savings can make a big difference. If our next smartphone or tablet survives that much longer on battery through memory we can't even see, we'll know who to thank.
Everspin throws first ST-MRAM chips down, launches commercial spin-torque memory era
Who says scientific breakthroughs never amount to anything? Everspin has followed up on research developed by IBM, TDK and German researchers years back and released the first commercial spin-torque magnotoresistive RAM (ST-MRAM) onto the market. The technology works by taking advantage of electron "spin" to store data in a magnetic, rather than electronic state, providing non-volatile memory that doesn't wear out. The company said the first chips were about 50 times the cost of flash memory by size, but where a typical NAND module can perform about 800 iOPS, ST-MRAM is capable of 400,000 -- making it ideal for SSD caching and other demanding applications. Everspin has started shipping working samples of the 64Mb DIMMS in a DDR3 form factor, saying that future versions will scale to gigabyte capacities and faster speeds -- keeping Moore's Law hurtling inexorably forward. Check the PR after the break for the company's spin on it.
Computer components may one day recycle their own wasted heat
Imagine a computer that isn't just designed to "deal" with the heat produced by its components, but one that actually uses that wasted energy to power some of its high-tech internals. That's the potential of a new discovery out of the Physical and Technical Institute (PTB) of Braunschweig, Germany. Researchers discovered what they're calling tunnel magneto thermoelectric voltage, essentially that by heating one side of a magnetic tunnel structure (the types of switches found in magnetic RAM and in the heads of hard drives) they can control the flow of electricity across its poles. The switches would still need to be triggered by matching the polarity on either side of the insulator and magnet sandwich, but heating one pole would create an electrical potential and would consume some of the energy that otherwise might get dispersed through a heatsink. We're still years away from seeing this technology in any functioning products and, honestly, we're not entirely sure we understand how exactly it would work, but it sounds like just the sort of potential-packing innovation that our (rather toasty) laps desperately need.
IBM makes racetrack memory breakthrough, which could come in handy someday
If you can't tell your DRAM from your STT-MRAM, you'll need to bear with us for a sec: IBM's figured out the math required to read and write data from the spaces between magnetic fields, racing across a nanowire, at hundreds of miles per hour. IBM's been plugging away at the so-called racetrack memory since 2004, calling it the perfect hybrid of magnetic storage and flash, but until recently scientists didn't know whether the magnetic domain walls (where data will live) had any mass to speak of. As it turns out, they do, and thus have to obey the tiresome laws of physics as they move along the nanowire "track," but also accelerate and decelerate the exact same amount, more or less canceling out the effect. Long story short, IBM can use this knowledge to precisely position those 1s and 0s in their newfound data bank, and someday we'll all reap the benefits of dense, speedy and reliable memory. You know, assuming PRAM, FeRAM, and ReRAM don't eat IBM's lunch. PR after the break.
IBM's prototype STT MRAM device spins your bits right round, baby, right round
If you're a frequent reader you're surely well aware of the potential of spin torque transfer memory, or STT-MRAM, and how spin-polarized magnetic currents (and the electrons they love to caress) might hold the potential to revolutionize storage as we know it. If you can't get your noggin around the concepts, know the potential: a new type of memory that will be cheaper, faster, and more efficient than current RAM, while also having the flash-like ability to retain data without power. IBM, who first floated the idea last year, is now sharing some more details about its prototype device that, while only able to store 4Kb of data (roughly half the text of this post in ASCII), is said to be able to retain that for 10 years. There's still no word on when we might be able to buy some of the stuff for our home computers, or when it'll be able to hold something a little more impressive (like maybe a whole post), but we're guessing it'll be well into the next decade before your Three 6 Mafia MP3 collection starts ridin' spinning electrons that don't stop. [Via MRAM-Info]
New research aims to speed up MRAM in a future you'll never live to see (probably)
A month after German researchers announced their latest breakthrough in MRAM design, physicists at Japan's Tohoku University now say that it is possible to use an electric field to manipulate the magnetic domains in a semiconductor -- eliminating moving magnets from MRAM completely. MRAM designed using the electric field method would be faster -- and would use less energy -- than earlier variations on the technology, thus making our lives easier and generally more awesome. Of course, none of this stuff actually exists yet, and it's still got fierce competition from competing ideas (like IBM's racetrack memory), so for now we'll just have to stay content with the four 128k chips we scraped out of our old XT.[Via MRAM Info]
German researchers devise means for even faster MRAM
We've already heard plenty of claims about how MRAM (or magnetoresistive RAM) would leave traditional memory in the dust, but a group of German researchers are now saying that they've found a way to blow past the MRAM that IBM and others are just now putting the finishing touches on. Their big breakthrough, it seems, is a new spin-torque system that can flip the magnetic field storing the 1s and 0s with only a single "wobble" being allowed to take place. That's as opposed to the magnetic field in current MRAM systems, which requires some time to settle into place each time its flipped. There's apparently still some work to be done before we see any actual MRAM using this new system, however, as the current used by the German device too electrically dense to be supplied by the transistors used in MRAM circuits, although they seem confident that they can overcome that pesky little problem.
Toshiba says its 1GB MRAM chips are "almost ready," we're ready now
It wasn't long ago that IBM promised to unleash its racetrack MRAM (magnetoresistive RAM) on a power and speed-hungry computing public, but now Toshiba says its 1GB MRAM chips are "almost ready". The chips use Spin-RAM (STT-RAM) and Toshiba fully expects them to take over where DRAM left off by 2015. They say their new chips use about 10 percent the energy used by DRAM and, like MRAM is supposed to do, retain memory even after the power supply has been cut off. So what does this mean? Instant boot-up, fast access times, and super-low power consumption. While MRAM has been announced by others, capacities and speeds promised by this 1GB jobby from Toshiba will certainly make things worthwhile.[Via MRAM-info]
IBM's racetrack memory dashing towards commercialization
So, how do you go about impressing the world after busting out a few systems based around the "fastest chip on Earth?" By getting us all worked up for a little thing called racetrack memory, that's how. Far from being the first memory technology that runs laps around the DIMMs we're relying on today, IBM researchers are suggesting that this iteration could enable users to store substantially more data at a lower cost and be available in around a decade. Put simply, the gurus working the project have discovered a way to overcome the prohibitively expensive process of manipulating domain walls in magnetic storage, essentially making a long-standing approach entirely more viable. If you're totally in nerd heaven right now, we assure you, checking out the explanatory video waiting after the jump is a must-do.[Via BBC]
Philips self-destructing MRAM on the way
Joining the ranks of quintessential kit that any spy (or CuteCircuit-equipped individual) should have on hand is Philips' self-destructing MRAM (magnetoresistive RAM). While securing data typically deals with some sort of password protection or biometrics, Philips' creation takes a page from the Mission: Impossible book by relying on magnetic loops remaining in flux to keep data accessible. Its MRAM chips are wrapped in two layers of soft, metallic foil -- one which is magnetized, and one that acts as a "keeper" by gathering flux from a permanent magnet and maintaining a closed loop surrounding the precious bytes. If a crazed data thief manages to crack open the enclosure and rip into the first layer of foil, all flux breaks loose and magnetic forces immediately raze any top secret files you may have been toting. If you just can't afford to spill those oh-so-privatized digital beans (or you simply enjoy that double agent lifestyle), keep an eye out for the presumably hush-hush release -- assuming, that is, this invention makes it from the patent stage into actual hardware.[Via New Scientist Tech]
Freescale sells out for $17.6 billion, wants more
While cellphone giant Motorola has been busy selling endless iterations of the RAZR and other oddly-named phones, their semiconductor spin-off Freescale has been doing quite well for itself, and is on the verge of being purchased for quite a few billion dollars. Freescale just got a $17.6 billion offer from some private-equity types led by Blackstone, which values Freescale stock at $40 a share -- quite an improvement from the $13 a share Freescale went public with in 2004. Freescale has accepted the offer, on the condition that they can accept a better offer within 50 days, with a break-up fee to be paid to the Blackstone types if they do. We just looked between all the couch cushions, but we're still coming up a few billion short, so if you've got $18 bil or so burning a hole in your pocket, now's your chance to break into the hip and happenin' world of UWB, MRAM and other fancy microchips.[Via El Reg]
Freescale first to market with MRAM chips
Remember those new MRAM (magnetoresistive RAM) chips the industry's been working on for the last decade or so? Well Freescale stepped away from all that UWB bidness long enough to develop what they're calling the world's first commercially available MRAM chips to combine RAM's endurance with the hard disk's ability to keep data while powered down. What about Flash memory you ask? Kicked to the curb son, since MRAM (or universal memory) is faster than flash and doesn't degrade over time. Only don't expect these new chips to hit your price sensitive consumer electonics just yet. The first markets for MRAM will most likely be automotive or industrial settings where durability is critical. So hold tight and let the invisible hand work some magic, mkay?
