By next year Honeywell will develop a one-megabit MRAM chip specially made for military satellites.
In February Motorola offered a peek at just how far the MRAM quest has come.
Sometime in 2003 or 2004 Motorola and IBM aim to sell their first MRAM chips.
Sometime in 2003 or 2004 Motorola and IBM aim to begin selling their first MRAM chips.
Intel, the top flashmaker, is keeping an eye on MRAM but is betting on a different design.
Honeywell began the MRAM effort in 1984 at the urging of the U. S. Department of Defense.
Toshiba has confirmed the performance of the new STT-MRAM memory element with a highly accurate processor simulator.
ENGADGET: Toshiba goes perpendicular to solve MRAM's power issues, rethink cache memory
The MRAM replaces capacity backed DRAM that is typically used as cache and buffers in storage systems.
Everspin makes a type called MRAM (magnetoresistive random access memory), which uses magnetic properties to store data.
"This totally changes memory, and it changes the performance of electronic systems, " says Saied Tehrani, Motorola's MRAM chief.
This clearly points the way toward the first MRAM with the potential to surpass SRAM in practical operation.
ENGADGET: Toshiba goes perpendicular to solve MRAM's power issues, rethink cache memory
With these major OEMs embracing MRAM it seems likely that others will follow, fueling the broad industry adoption.
On MRAM, data can be written in 35 nanoseconds and there is no evidence yet that MRAM breaks down.
Heat generated in the production process might corrupt the thin films in MRAM.
However, until now MRAM power consumption has exceeded that of SRAM, throwing up a major barrier to practical application.
ENGADGET: Toshiba goes perpendicular to solve MRAM's power issues, rethink cache memory
Heat generated in the production process could corrupt the thin films in MRAM.
It is keeping an eye on MRAM but is betting on a different design (see A Different Memory Lane).
Customers are also realizing the many applications for MRAM, as evidenced by the 250 new design-wins Everspin secured last year.
Tests now under way at Motorola and elsewhere suggest that a one-size-fits-all memory chip is emerging: MRAM (magnetic random access memory).
Engineers believe MRAM eventually will be able to get much denser than DRAM, but it has a long way to go.
If flash falls to magnetic memory, cache will fall with it, because MRAM could replace both kinds of memory in cell phones.
During a recent LSI technology event EverSpin was showcasing its recently announced spin-torque MRAM memory that provides a non-volatile replacement for DRAM.
Its engineers showed off a 256-kilobit MRAM embedded in a standard microprocessor.
If flash falls to magnetic memory, cache will fall right with it because MRAM could replace both kinds of memory in cell phones.
"This totally changes memory as we see it today, and it changes the performance of electronic systems, " says Saied Tehrani , Motorola's MRAM chief.
MRAM, a next-generation memory based on magnetic materials, has emerged as an alternative to SRAM because it is non-volatile, cutting leak current during standby status.
ENGADGET: Toshiba goes perpendicular to solve MRAM's power issues, rethink cache memory
By next year Honeywell (nyse: HON - news - people ) will develop a one-megabit MRAM chip specially made for military satellites.
But MRAM will have more trouble elbowing into that DRAM market.
At Motorola Labs, electrical engineer Mark DeHerrera casually pushes a square white button, sending 1 million electrical pulses to an MRAM sandwich in less than a second.
At Motorola Labs, Mark DeHerrera, an electrical engineer, casually pushes a square white button, sending 1 million electrical pulses to an MRAM sandwich in less than a second.
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