© IEEE SpectrumThe device could replace the $100bn market for Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), which is the ‘working memory’ of computers, as well as the long-term memory in flash drives.
A new type of computer memory which could solve the digital technology energy crisis has been invented and patented by Lancaster scientists.The electronic memory device - described in research published in
Scientific Reports - promises to transform daily life with its ultra-low energy consumption.
In the home, energy savings from efficient lighting and appliances have been completely wiped out by increased use of computers and gadgets, and by 2025 a 'tsunami of data' is expected to consume a fifth of global electricity.
But this new device would immediately reduce peak power consumption in data centres by a fifth.
It would also allow, for example, computers which do not need to boot up and could instantaneously and imperceptibly go into an energy-saving sleep mode - even between key stokes.
The device is the realisation of the search for a "Universal Memory" which has preoccupied scientists and engineers for decades.
Physics Professor Manus Hayne of Lancaster University said: "Universal Memory, which has robustly stored data that is easily changed, is widely considered to be unfeasible, or even impossible, but this device demonstrates its contradictory properties."
A US patent has been awarded for the electronic memory device with another patent pending, while several companies have expressed an interest or are actively involved in the research.
The inventors of the device used quantum mechanics to solve the dilemma of choosing between stable, long-term data storage and low-energy writing and erasing.
The device could replace the $100bn market for Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), which is the 'working memory' of computers, as well as the long-term memory in flash drives.
While writing data to DRAM is fast and low-energy, the data is volatile and must be continuously 'refreshed' to avoid it being lost: this is clearly inconvenient and inefficient. Flash stores data robustly, but writing and erasing is slow, energy intensive and deteriorates it, making it unsuitable for working memory.
Professor Hayne said: "The ideal is to combine the advantages of both without their drawbacks, and this is what we have demonstrated. Our device has an intrinsic data storage time that is predicted to exceed the age of the Universe, yet it can record or delete data using 100 times less energy than DRAM."
The research has been funded by EPSRC through an Impact Acceleration Account and the Future Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Hub (EP/P006973/1), the Joy Welch Educational Charitable Trust, and IQE plc. It has recently gained EC funding from the prestigious ATTRACT project aimed at breakthrough technologies (Grant Agreement 777222).
Reader Comments
To "remember" what? Social media, at its best, spouting out a boat load of nonsense, whoopy-do.
Woodsman , this has little to do with 5G if anything at all. This particular memory project has been in the works since before 3G was even a term people used.
I've worked in IT for about a decade now, and most people don't realize that a single rack of computers uses thousands of dollars in power each month. I worked as a datacenter technician for 5 of the last 10 years. One room in our datacenter held 184 racks. Think about the cost and energy savings of 20% of a single dataroom.
That is, in order to avoid being pulled into the system, being put to sleep, you need to make choices which go against the easy/popular grain. Having the entire computing world shift into a wonderful new memory format will make it difficult to cling to one's abacuses.
"Shoo! Shoo! Into the front end of the mill there, cow! Chase the shiny thing!" You see? 5G is well-advertised as both Wonderful! Amazing! -But also, "Will destroy your body and mind."
It's a devil's bargain, and the choice must be made in earnest by the poor sap selling his or her soul. The contract means nothing if all the small print isn't fully available and has not been read out to the target. New, alluring hardware is just a spoonfull of honey to help with the blue pill.
(And speaking of the computing world, my computer's spell check evidently knew the correct spelling of the plural of "abacus". I am in awe. Wonderful! Amazing!)
With any luck this might mean the end of Microsoft's shitty products. After decades of producing Windows and Office software, the only way to fix the stupid things they do is to reboot your computer.
"...and could instantaneously and imperceptibly go into an energy-saving sleep mode - even between key stokes."
I must already have this advancement in my new laptop, which frequently makes me wait while it decides whether or not it's going to show what I just typed on the screen.
For a number of years now my main thought about technology is that it would be great if it worked reliably.