[tt] Magnetic memory ready to knock DRAM off pedestal | News | TechRadar UK

[Brian Atkins]

http://www.techradar.com/news/computing-components/storage/magnetic-memory-ready-to-knock-dram-off-pedestal-379172

MRAM to make leap from drawing board to instant-on PCs soon



When we looked at a new kind of memory from IBM called MRAM last August, we had 
no idea anything would come of it less than a year later.

According to Toshiba, its work on magnetoresistive random-access memory is ready 
to bear fruit in the shape of postage stamp-sized 1 gigabit MRAM chips that are 
almost ready to replace the currently common DRAM [subscription link].

Instant boot up

MRAM improves on DRAM by operating more quickly and holding data even when the 
power supply to it is turned off, meaning it uses only around 10 per cent as 
much electricity. Moreover, an MRAM-based computer would be able to boot up 
instantly.

Toshiba’s researchers have been able to overcome the vulnerability of MRAM to 
heat fluctuations by using a technique similar to that of IBM called spin-RAM, 
which manipulates the memory’s magnetic polarity using electric currents.

Considering that DRAM sales in 2006 were worth over £16 billion, the impact of a 
replacement technology is guaranteed to be substantial. Current projections from 
Toshiba see MRAM taking over around 2015.


-- 
Brian Atkins
Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
http://www.singinst.org/