News: Computer Hardware for Small Business

New Memory Could Affect All Digital Processing: MRAM

Motorola Spin-Off First to Market with New Technology

by Keith R. Wheeler

7/14/2006

A new type of memory which holds promise for changing the way digital devices process and store information has become commercially available for the first time this week. Freescale Semiconductor, spun off by Motorola two years ago, has announced that it is selling magnetoresistive random access memory, MRAM, in 4 megabit chips. MRAM provides the best aspects of two popular types of memory. First, flash memory which is used to store relatively small amounts of information in a non-volatile state is commonly found in digital cameras, cell phones, Palm and PocketPC devices and USB thumb drives. Non-volatile means that the device will not lose the contents of the data stored when power is no longer available. However, flash memory is too slow to replace the memory which is used to actually assist in the processing of the computers information. Dynamic random access memory, DRAM, is used to provide the high-speed transfer rates used with high-speed microprocessors. DRAM is very fast, but is considered volatile storage since DRAM loses all memory contents upon power loss. MRAM uses a magnetic field system to maintain the binary state to be stored in the memory system. This system has been shown to be extremely fast as well as non-volatile. In addition, it uses less power than flash memory. For the small business computing community, expect to see notebook and desktop computers which can be instantly brought in and out of hibernation. Also, imaging systems will be affected by MRAM in its ability to maintain non-volatile storage while accepting image information in higher resolution with less latency. Since MRAM seems like the ultimate memory chip solution, what’s holding it back from wide-spread adoption? Simply, it’s a little expensive. The current price for a 4 megabit MRAM chip from Freescale is $25 wholesale. Comparatively, DRAM is available on the street for less than $40 for a 4 gigabit (512 MB) chip. It may take some time before MRAM is widely available in both computer systems and handheld devices, but it has the opportunity to permanently change the digital storage market.