Recent Blogs

Memory Games

August 30, 2010

I think that Cidbarca’s game analogy in the last set of comments is a good overview for the past decade or so while the technology drive was to bring personal computing to a very affordable level. However, there are two fundamental differences to that game analogy when we are dealing with the large memory suppliers.

More on Mobile Handsets

August 27, 2010

In my last post, Cidbarca asked about the stacking technique in PCM packages. I am also interested in what other products are in that package, but I couldn’t find much information on the technique or even the number of die in the package. Looks like we’ll have to wait until more information is available.Cidbarca also gqave an excellent description of several kinds of “good enough” conditions that we can apply to the PCM replacement of NAND in a mobile handset application.

Memory Strategy Wrap-Up

August 25, 2010

There are two topics currently focused on PCM that apply to all the new memory technologies and can also wrap up these previous discussions of memory strategies.

News Spotlight

- The latest happenings in the memory arena

Faster MRAM possible, say Chinese researchers

August 30, 2010

Researchers at Tsinghua University (Beijing) say that the idea is to switch magnetic domains "halfway" rather than completely reverse their magnetic orientation.

Samsung could overtake Intel in IC sales by mid-decade

August 27, 2010

Expansions in Samsung's IC business and capital expenditures could move the company up from No. 2, making it the world's largest semiconductor supplier in the 2014/2015 timeframe, IC Insights reports.

Samsung targets next-generation chips

August 27, 2010

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of memory chips used in computers and other digital products, is energizing its efforts to remain at the forefront in next-generation semiconductors. The Korean technology giant enjoys an undisputed leadership in the market for DRAM memory chips, where it held a 34 percent share at the end of the second quarter.

Perpendicular MRAMs challenge flash

August 24, 2010

Magnetic random access memory (MRAM) stores information magnetically, but has so far achieved relatively low densities compared to charge-based memories like flash. Now researchers claim to have solved MRAM's density problems by crafting a ferroelectric interface that allows perpendicular magnetic domains to be as small as 40 nanometers, potentially achieving higher densities than flash.

NAND flash memory pricing to plummet to $1 per GB

August 19, 2010

After two years of inflated prices, NAND flash memory prices are expected to dip down to a key $1 per gigabyte level, according to a new report by research firm iSuppli. The precipitous drop marks the first time NAND flash pricing has fallen to the $1 per GB threshold since the fourth quarter of 2008, when consumer-class NAND pricing averaged 90 cents per GB.