Communications of the ACM
Researchers Working on Memory to Replace Dram, Nand
Researchers at Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) believe that resistive-random access memory (RRAM) could replace dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash memory. They say RRAM could be ready for the embedded chip market within the next few years.
Previous efforts to find a new type of memory to replace DRAM and NAND have focused on phase-change memory (PRAM), but ITRI researchers say PRAM is difficult to manufacture and they plan to wrap up their limited PRAM-related projects through the end of this year and phase them out.
ITRI's Tsai Ming-jinn says RRAM is fast like DRAM, but can retain data when a device's power is turned off, which DRAM does not. ITRI has already produced 1-Kbit prototype chips and successfully manufactured the chips on 8-inch wafers, but it will take years to create chips with enough storage capacity to make them of interest to the embedded chip market. "We're still in the early stage of development," Ming-jinn says. "Right now we cannot compete with DRAM on reliability."
From IDG News Service
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