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Crossbar RRAM: 20 Times Faster, 20 Times More Energy Efficient Crossbar, a start-up company pioneering a new category of very high capacity and high-performance non-volatile memory, unveiled its Crossbar resistive RAM (RRAM) technology. This new non-volatile memory will be capable of storing up to 1TB of data on a single 200mm2 chip, enabling massive amounts of data to be stored on an IC smaller than a postage stamp. Crossbar also said it has developed a working Crossbar memory array at a commercial fab.“Non-volatile memory is ubiquitous today, as the storage technology at the heart of the over a trillion dollar...

Hardware makers often sing the praises of their latest and greatest flash memory, but the folks at Crossbar are ready to show them up with resistive RAM (RRAM) that they've been quietly working on. Compared to NAND, RRAM comes in at half the size and boasts 20 times faster write speeds (140MB/s), reads data at 17MB per second, guzzles 20 times less power and has 10 times more endurance. Since RRAM is non-volatile memory, it can keep data even when it's powered off, á la NAND. As if that weren't enough, 3D stacking construction allows for several terabytes of storage,...

"During AIS, LSI gave an interesting talk about the trends in shrinking flash memory, and the problems it creates." You may be familiar with some of the problems with flash, the most common one is write endurance. If you think of each flash cell as a tiny capacitor, shrinking it gives you less space to hold electrons, the layers holding in the electrons get thinner, and the space between cells lessens. That means with each write, the degradation, as a percentage, is higher so write lifetimes decrease as well.LSI says that the flash cells of 2004 held about 1000 electrons,...

SanDisk has rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from hardware maker Samsung Electronics, saying that it undervalues the Milpitas, California, maker of flash storage cards. The two companies had been in takeover talks for about four months, but Samsung went public with its offer Tuesday, apparently after discussions had broken down. "Our offer insulates your shareholders from the risk of market conditions that have severely deteriorated and are expected to remain challenging," Samsung Vice Chairman and CEO Yoon-Woo Lee wrote in a letter to SanDisk executives that Samsung released Tuesday. SanDisk Chairman and CEO Eli Harari responded quickly, saying in a...

Samsung power cut may trigger flash crisis Samsung may face a major supply issue with flash memory in the wake of an accidental power cut, the company told the press on Friday. An interruption in power near one of the company's Seoul, Korea plants has forced the company to halt production at six of the factories that produce the NAND flash used by cellphones, portable media players, and other devices. The company estimates that its losses could tally over $54 million, while the immediate (non-contract) price of a standard chip has already climbed 9 percent as a result of the...

Excerpt - SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of computer memory chips, said Sunday it has begun mass producing 16-gigabit NAND flash memory chips using an ultra-dense 51-nanometer technology for the first time in the world. The full-scale production came after Samsung begun producing 8-gigabit NAND flash memory chips using 60-nanometer technology in August 2006, memory chips that have half the memory size and slower read and write speed than 16-gigabit ones. NAND flash memory refers to the chips used mostly in digital cameras, USB flash drives, cell phones and music players such as...

A prototype memory card technology 500 times faster than Flash cards has been unveiled by IBM to meet the exploding demand for portable music, video and photo storage. Developed in conjunction with partners Macronix and Qimonda, the technology is a form of phase-change memory (PCM), which promises faster read and write times than Flash, greater endurance and the ability to write to individual memory addresses. It only requires half the power of a Flash memory card. The technology utilises a new semiconductor alloy - a combination of germanium, antimony and tellurium - that can be scaled smaller than Flash technology....

An industry-wide shortage of a key flash memory chips will hit the availability of some models of MP3 player during the upcoming holiday shopping period, the head of Creative Technology Ltd.’s U.S. unit said Wednesday. He partly blames Apple for the shortfall, which he says will impact other MP3 makers. “One of the key challenges we face in our MP3 business is an industry-wide shortage of 1GB flash memory,” said Craig McHugh, president of Creative Labs Inc., in a conference call with financial analysts. “Industry demand for high-capacity flash memory currently outstrips supply and this will impact availability of our...

South Korea’s anti-trust regulator reportedly said on Friday that questions about Apple Computer and Samsung engaging in unfair trading practices could be investigated by his organization. Fair Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Kang Chul-kyu reportedly stated on a radio show that he might investigate the companies after reports that Samsung sold its NAND flash memory chips to Apple Computer Inc. at below-market prices, according to a report by Yonhap News. Samsung is said to have sold a significant amount of its production to Apple at a discounted rate for the launch of the iPod nano. Apple representatives were not immediately available...

Samsung Elec unveils powerful new flash memory chip Sun Sep 11,11:28 PM ET Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said on Monday it would start producing next year the world's highest-density flash memory chip, capable of boosting storage in hot-selling devices such as music players and digital cameras. Samsung (005930.KS), which already controls nearly 60 percent of the world's NAND flash market, said in statement commercial production of the new chip would start in late 2006. The global flash memory market is expected to be worth $10.14 billion this year, up from $7.01 billion last year, according to Dataquest. The 16-gigabit NAND...