Scale economies are an essential component to the success of a memory manufacturer, yet The Memory Guy finds that very few executives in the industry truly understand them. This mechanism may be the single most important issue in introducing a new memory technology to the market.
In this post I will Continue reading “Understanding the Economies of Scale”
The Memory Guy was recently contacted by a researcher at imec, the Belgian research consortium, about the rebirth of an old idea. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s semiconductor makers had considered using charge-coupled devices (CCDs) for computer main memories. Probably few readers will even recognize either the name or the abbreviation. The CCD memory was a good idea that was completely overshadowed by another good idea — DRAM — that ended up taking the Continue reading “Are CCD Memories Coming Back?”
I recently received a request for comment on an article in Tom’s Hardware titled Samsung touts 96% lower-power NAND design – researchers investigate design based on ferroelectric transistors. It sounded pretty compelling, so I did a little investigating.
The Tom’s Hardware piece was based on a Nov 26 Nature article titled Continue reading “Is a 96% Lower-Power NAND Coming?”
Every so often an investor will ask The Memory Guy: “Why does MRAM only sell into niche markets?”
These questions aren’t only about MRAM — some ask about ReRAM, FRAM, or PCM as well. It’s the same question for all of them. The answer is pretty simple: They’re expensive. All of these technologies command prices per gigabyte that are Continue reading “Why Do Emerging Memories Only Sell into Niches?”
Last week’s FMS conference, originally the Flash Memory Summit, but now the Future of Memory and Storage, saw a strong return of the show’s original excitement and attendance, with numerous presentations on key new technologies, largely AI and CXL, and crowds similar to those before the pandemic. FMS is held in early August every year in Santa Clara, California.
The new name is meant to match the show’s content better than Continue reading “FMS – New Focus and a Heavy AI and CXL presence”
At long last a chip has been embodied to simplify the use of virtual memory, a computing architecture that has been in use since the 1960s. The Memory Guy was given a sneak peek at this new approach by no other than Olly Mugwump, a highly-respected computer architect and longstanding member and fellow of several important technical societies. The new design promises to accelerate memory accesses while Continue reading “Finally! A Real Virtual Memory Chip”
There’s a surge of interest these days in Processing in Memory or PIM. Some call it “Compute in Memory.” Either way, it often involves adding small amounts of logic to a memory chip to allow it to offload tasks from the CPU.
There are various reasons to do this. The most important is that PIM frees the CPU to do other chores. PIM also can reduce Continue reading “Processing-In-Memory, 1960s-Style”
In the world of startups it’s unusual to see one that disciplines itself to a steady cadence of consistent execution. Countless times The Memory Guy blog has profiled companies that perform some important feat, and then fail to repeat that success. With that background it’s refreshing to see a company that methodically moves in a straight line towards its goal.
The company I am talking about today is Continue reading “Weebit Moves Ahead Step-By-Step”
Ron Neale joins us to look at a new World Record for Oxide-ReRAMs. Here he explores the possibility that, rather than an analogue-like device with a continuum of conduction states, the resolution limit of conductance stems from discrete building blocks or nano-filaments that define the changes between those states. A dichotomy of views on oxide ReRAM operation is part of the mix.
For Oxide ReRAM watchers, one of the highlights of the first half of 2023 was Continue reading “World Record ReRAM and More”
Today Gordon Moore, a figurehead in the semiconductor industry, passed away at 94 years of age. He will be sorely missed by the semiconductor industry.
Moore, the namesake of Moore’s Law, cofounded both Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel Corporation. He was an unassuming genius and visionary who, as a part of Intel’s leadership triumvirate in the company’s main growth phase, provided Continue reading “In Memoriam: Gordon Moore”
