HP boffins design Memristor device; could replace DRAM technology one day
01 May, 2008, by Desire AthowTags: HP, Storage
HP Labs engineers led by Stanley Williams have build a prototype that some have already said could one day replace the DRAM technology which currently powers our computers.
It took nearly 40 years for researchers to find this missing link which has been as elusive to the scientific community as the Higgs Boson.
The technology called Memory Resistor or Memristor could bring forth a new generation of computer which would power-on instantly and could be used to process information in a similar fashion as the human brain.
More importantly, it could mean that HP has discovered the ultimate, "unifying" storage technology, which combines DRAM and Magnetic storage properties.
The Memristor is the so called fourth basic circuit device after the capacitor, the resistor and the inductor.
Like the capacitor, the Memristor has a memory; it remembers the amount of charge that goes through it and will change its resistance according to the amount of charge that flowed through it; with the component's properties being inversely proportional to its size.
No timeline has been put forward as to when the first commercial samples could be released.
It took nearly 40 years for researchers to find this missing link which has been as elusive to the scientific community as the Higgs Boson.
The technology called Memory Resistor or Memristor could bring forth a new generation of computer which would power-on instantly and could be used to process information in a similar fashion as the human brain.
More importantly, it could mean that HP has discovered the ultimate, "unifying" storage technology, which combines DRAM and Magnetic storage properties.
The Memristor is the so called fourth basic circuit device after the capacitor, the resistor and the inductor.
Like the capacitor, the Memristor has a memory; it remembers the amount of charge that goes through it and will change its resistance according to the amount of charge that flowed through it; with the component's properties being inversely proportional to its size.
Posted by Desire Athow on 01 May, 2008Désiré Athow is the Content Editor of ITProPortal.com and has been writing technology articles for nearly a decade. You can follow him on Twitter.
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