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Press release
M-RAM, the live memory of tomorrow | |||
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Paris, February 6, 2003 |
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| M-RAM,
a type of memory developed by IBM 5 years ago, has been given write speed
comparable to that of conventional live memories by a group of researchers
at Université Paris Sud. This discovery was the work of researchers
from two CNRS Departments: STIC (Communication & Information Science
and Technology) and SPM (Physical Sciences and Mathematics). It could hasten
the arrival of M-RAM in our computers, cameras, and cell phones. Imagine a computer that you never need to turn off, a computer that would put itself into a dormant mode and consume no energy at all. This should soon become possible thanks to M-RAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory). Until now, computers and digital cameras have been made to use live memories (SDRAM, DDRAM, etc.) to store information in the form of an electrical charge. Inevitably, the information is erased as soon as the supply of electricity that feeds the live memory is interrupted. Other types of memory make up for this shortcoming, but create other constraints. The most commonly known example is perhaps Flash memory, which is often used in digital cameras to store photographs. To write information onto such a memory requires a substantial amount of energy, without taking into account that such writing is much too slow to even hope to compete with RAM-type memories. M-RAM technology, a concept developed by the IBM Laboratories, should make it possible to reconcile the advantages of different types of memory. An important step in the right direction was taken in France by CNRS researchers. The research teams of Claude Chappert ("Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale," Institute of Fundamental Electronics, Orsay) and Jacques Miltat ("Laboratoire de Physiques des Solides," Laboratory of Solid State Physics, Orsay) have enabled a memory of this type to function faster than a live memory. "On paper, M-RAM has the potential to double all other types of memory," explains Claude Chappert, Research Director at the STIC Department (Communication & Information Science and Technology) of the CNRS. The size of the first prototypes of M-RAM presented remains modest at 4 Mb (Motorola, 2002), but should quickly bypass conventional RAM memories. In concrete terms, M-RAM is a non-volatile memory, which allows a computer to go into a completely dormant state, meaning that all energy-consuming activity ceases (processor, fan, hard disk, etc.), and can instantly resume at precisely the point where it left off, with the same windows and software open on the screen. All of this is made possible thanks to the M-RAM's ability to preserve information without consuming energy, as is true of other types of magnetic recording. The applications of M-RAM do not stop here, as they could also compete with Flash-type memories (often used in digital cameras), which cause bottlenecks due to their relatively slow write speed. It requires more modest sources of energy because the writing of information requires less discharge than Flash memory. Another potential application for M-RAM concerns a very special sector of science: space research. Unlike RAM-type memories, because it operates on the basis of magnetism, M-RAM is not sensitive to radiation. It is thus a candidate for space exploration. Researcher
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