PRAM defeats Flash memory chips and hard drives

IBM and its research partners officially launched a new data storage technology called PRAM (Phase Change Memory).

PRAM technology is expected to be a major challenge for dynamic Flash memory chip technology and current hard drives because PRAM has many outstanding advantages.

IBM said PRAM's ability to store all kinds of data is better than Flash memory, and one day it may replace the hard drive.

Smaller, faster

The future of Flash memory chips is also a question mark

In this launch, IBM and its partners also introduced PRAM prototype. Tests show that PRAM data write speed is 500 times higher but only consumes half the amount of energy compared to Flash memory chips.

The circuit on the PRAM prototype is much smaller than the circuit on Flash memory chips. Usually the circuit is only about 20 nanometer in size. Achieving this step is due to the invention of a new material specifically for memory chip manufacturing.

Researchers hope that PRAM will quickly develop and put it into production in 2015.

Looking forward

The evolution of IBM's new technology and research partners is a highly anticipated step in the IT industry, even though it will take many more years before the technology is completed and put into application. reality.

However, PRAM is a technology that brings a lot of promise. This will be a new type of non-changing memory chip with the ability to store data even when the power source has been cut. Flash memory chips are also the same type of memory, but the ability to store the charge of this type of memory is less efficient than PRAM.

Flash memory chips are also facing a blind future especially when today's research is contributing to further reducing the circuit on memory types. This means that new memory chips consume less energy and have greater storage capacity.

The challenge is still there

Although the future is quite bright, PRAM technology also faces many challenges. The first challenge that PRAM faces is how to simplify the production process and minimize production costs.

RAMBUS also faced that challenge but did not overcome but only DRAM was to overcome and survive until today thanks to the backing of Intel. Some manufacturers claim that RAMBUS has a high production cost, making it difficult to put into practical applications.

Hoang Dung