IBM announces computer memory breakthrough

[peja81]

IBM Thursday announced a breakthrough in computer memory technology, which may lead to the development of solid-state chips that can store as much data as NAND flash technology but with 100 times the performance and vastly greater lifespan.

Currently, NAND flash memory products, such as SSDs, have write rates as high as 2Gbit/sec.

IBM said it has produced phase-change memory (PCM) chips that can store two bits of data per cell without data corruption problems, something that has plagued PCM development from the start.

Like NAND flash memory, which is used in solid state drives (SSDs) and is embedded in computers like Apple's MacBook Air, PCM is nonvolatile -- meaning it retains data after its power supply is shut down.

Unlike NAND flash, PCM memory does not require that existing data be marked for deletion prior to new data being written to it -- a process known to as an erase-write cycle. Erase-write cycles slow NAND flash performance and, over time, wear it out, giving it a lifespan that ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 write cycles in consumer products and up to 100,000 cycles in enterprise-class products.

PCM can sustain up to 5 million write cycles, according to IBM.

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