Tag Archives: nand

Micron first to market with phase-change memory modules for portable devices (video)

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DNP Micron first to market with phasechange memory modules, NAND asks it to get off its lawn

Look out silicon and magnetic storage, here comes glass. Micron has announced production of the first commercial cellphone phase-change memory (PCM) modules, a type of flash RAM that works by changing a crystal solid to an amorphous state. The 1Gb chips will share a circuit board with 512Mb of standard volatile memory, just enough to go in feature phones for now -- but the company claims it will eventually offer larger modules for smartphone and tablet storage as well. PCM could scale to much faster speeds than conventional NAND flash, since it doesn't require a time-sapping erase before rewriting -- and with read speeds of 400MB/s, it's already into regular flash territory while still just a first generation product. Once the tech gets even quicker, PCM could even replace volatile RAM, allowing more secure storage in case of a power loss and reducing device costs and power usage. That means the glassy new kid could eventually bump silicon-based storage altogether -- ending its 40-year plus reign as king of the memory substrates. To see some of the ways it trumps NAND, check the video after the break.

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Micron first to market with phase-change memory modules for portable devices (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chuo University builds hybrid NAND-ReRAM unit that’s faster than a speeding SSD

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Hubrid SSD

A team from Chuo University in Japan has developed a hybrid SSD that's reportedly 11 times faster than your average solid state unit. Combining NAND Flash with ReRAM, the magical union consumes 93 percent less power and lasts nearly seven times as long as pure-NAND products. Despite the high cost of ReRAM, it enables data centers to save on continuously replacing worn-out SSDs, and could see rapid adoption if worked into a commercial system. Their findings are being shown off at the Hawaii Symposium on VSLI Circuits this week -- after which, the team can reasonably expect to spend some time on the beach.

Chuo University builds hybrid NAND-ReRAM unit that's faster than a speeding SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Storage Products’ THNSNF SSDs tap into 19nm process technology

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Toshiba Storage Products' THNSNF SSDs tap into 19nm process technology32 nanometer process technology feels so... 2009. These days, Toshiba Storage Products is pushing something quite a bit smaller, as the outfit's new THNSNF solid state drives are said to be the world's first to take advantage of 19nm process NAND flash memory. 2012 just so happens to mark the 25th anniversary of Tosh's meddling in NAND, and the new series will be carrying the torch into even more bantam devices. Slates, Ultrabooks and perhaps a phablet or two may end up sporting on of these drives, replete with MLC (multi-level cell) flash. We're told that a trio of sizes will ship: there's a 9.5mm height edition, a 7mm version and an mSATA variant, all of which operate with a SATA 6Gbps interface. Power utilization is pegged at less than 0.1W, and mass production is expected to begin in August; mum's the word on partner companies implementing these into new products, but we're guessing the holiday season will be full of 'em.

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Toshiba Storage Products' THNSNF SSDs tap into 19nm process technology originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 03:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers develop silicon ReRAM chip, send warning shot to Flash memory

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Researchers develop silicon ReRAM chip, send warning shot to Flash memory

Does the word ReRAM ring a bell? No? Well, the key point is that it's much faster than NAND memory, and it's making its way into chips from Elpida, Sharp and Panasonic. Further proof that ReRAM is on the up and up? Researchers at University College London have used this technology to make a chip that operates at 100 times the speed of standard Flash memory. The device is composed completely of silicon oxide, which improves the chip's resistance, and it doesn't require a vacuum to work (which makes it cheaper to produce). But this new chip is more than just a faster alternative to Flash; its ability to move between different states of conductivity means it can be configured as a memristor, or a device that handles both data-processing and storage tasks. In the long term, researchers hope this technology can pave the way for silicon oxide CPUs -- and UCL is already using this design to help develop transparent memory chips for mobile devices. Need to know more? Feast your heart on the gritty details via the link below.

Researchers develop silicon ReRAM chip, send warning shot to Flash memory originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 06:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba sings NAND Flash’s praises, thinks you should too

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Toshiba sings NAND Flash's praises, thinks you should too

Have you taken a moment today to stop and thank NAND Flash for existing? No? Well, Toshiba would like to say tsk, tsk. Today the company launched a full-scale campaign to promote this storage technology -- and by full-scale we mean a dedicated "25 Years of NAND Flash" website, a "NAND Flash Deprivation Experiment" video series, new Facebook and Twitter accounts and a Toshiba Excite 10 giveaway. We must have missed the memo that NAND was dangerously underappreciated, because we're still trying to figure out why it needs a marketing campaign of its own. Toshiba has a slew of laptop refreshes and the Excite 7.7 and 13 tablets just around the corner -- and that interim period between announcement and launch date can be killer -- but somehow talking up NAND Flash doesn't seem the right course of action. Take a look at the campaign's first video below the break and decide for yourself.

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Toshiba sings NAND Flash's praises, thinks you should too originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 02:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fusion-io SDK gives developers native memory access, keys to the NAND realm

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Fusion-io SDK gives developers native memory access, keys to the NAND realm

Thought your SATA SSD chugged along real nice? Think again. Fusion-io has just released an SDK that will allow developers to bypass all the speed draining bottlenecks that rob NAND memory of its true potential (i.e. the kernel block I/O layer,) and tap directly into the memory itself. In fact, Fusion-io is so confident of its products abilities, it prefers to call them ioMemory Application Accelerators, rather than SSDs. The SDK allows developers native access to the ioMemory, meaning applications can benefit from the kind of hardware integration you might get from a proprietary platform. The principle has already been demonstrated earlier this year, when Fusion-io delivered one billion IOPS using this native access. The libraries and APIs are available now to registered members of its developer program, hit the more coverage link to sign up.

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Fusion-io SDK gives developers native memory access, keys to the NAND realm originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel 330 Series SSDs official, prices start at $89

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Intel 330 Series SSDs official, prices start at $89

Been holding off on stuffing solid state storage into your existing machine because of high prices or reliability issues? Bargain hunters, your SSD may have just arrived in the form of Intel's 330 Series SSDs. We got the low down on them weeks ago, but in case you forgot, Intels new 25nm NAND entry utilizes a SATA 6 Gb/s connection to deliver up to 500 MB/s sequential reads and 450 MB/s writes. Such speeds aren't spectacular compared to other SSDs, but combine them with Chipzilla's reputation for crafting quality drives, low prices -- $89 for 60GB, $149 for 120GB, and $234 for 180GB -- and a three year warranty, and the 330 has some serious curb appeal. Want one? All three sizes available now online or at you local retailer (assuming it's still there, of course).

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Intel 330 Series SSDs official, prices start at $89 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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