CTZonEdit
05-02-2008, 12:10 PM
The new component is called the “memristor” -- a word blend of "memory" and "resistor". The physical working model and the mathematical model of the component were presented side by side in a paper in the journal Nature, yesterday. Four researchers at the lab, led by R. Stanley Williams, presented the device which retains the history of information passed to it.
The device could make for computers that need no boot-up, never forget, use less power, and associate memories much like the human mind. Such possibilities were long considered the realm of science fiction. The realization of the device was 37 years in the making, and many had come to think it would never be created.
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The device could eventually make dynamic random access memory (DRAM) obsolete. In current systems, active computers store data in DRAM, but must shuffle the information to and from a magnetic hard disk or a flash drive, nonvolatile forms of memory. Furthermore, when the computer is turned on, the DRAM must be initially loaded from the magnetic memory. These processes consume both time and energy, slowing computing and raising the energy and heat envelopes of systems.
A memristor would need no boot up as its data would be exactly how it was previously left. Data could theoretically be read and wrote directly to and from memristors, eliminating the need for hard drives, except possibly for backup storage.
...
One key problem to data centers has always been the possibility of a power loss. The memristor essentially would take away the problem, as barring complete circuit destruction; the data would survive a power outage. The type of memory also offers the possibility of continuously learning and adapting systems, similar to the human brain. Such systems could be used in facial recognition technology, as well as in enabling advanced biometric security and privacy features.
Incredible technology here. Amazing. The impact this will have on technology will be revolutionary.
The device could make for computers that need no boot-up, never forget, use less power, and associate memories much like the human mind. Such possibilities were long considered the realm of science fiction. The realization of the device was 37 years in the making, and many had come to think it would never be created.
...
The device could eventually make dynamic random access memory (DRAM) obsolete. In current systems, active computers store data in DRAM, but must shuffle the information to and from a magnetic hard disk or a flash drive, nonvolatile forms of memory. Furthermore, when the computer is turned on, the DRAM must be initially loaded from the magnetic memory. These processes consume both time and energy, slowing computing and raising the energy and heat envelopes of systems.
A memristor would need no boot up as its data would be exactly how it was previously left. Data could theoretically be read and wrote directly to and from memristors, eliminating the need for hard drives, except possibly for backup storage.
...
One key problem to data centers has always been the possibility of a power loss. The memristor essentially would take away the problem, as barring complete circuit destruction; the data would survive a power outage. The type of memory also offers the possibility of continuously learning and adapting systems, similar to the human brain. Such systems could be used in facial recognition technology, as well as in enabling advanced biometric security and privacy features.
Incredible technology here. Amazing. The impact this will have on technology will be revolutionary.