|
Hewlett Packard has uncovered a new form of electrical circuit which could allow them to make even smaller memory chips that consume less power than existing chips. The discovery could allow cell phones to run for weeks on a single charge, or give PCs the chance to start-up in an instant. Though the chips would be smaller, they will be able to store information once the power is turned off, similar to the Flash system used in camera memory cards or USB sticks.
The advancement is tied to the way an electrical circuit works. Scientists have always known a circuit involves three basic components: a resistor, a conductor and a capacitor. In digital devices like cell phones or computer processors, these circuits pass through electronic signals which represent either a 1 or a 0; this binary code carries all the information needed for the device to work. However, in 1971 a University of California professor predicted there could be a fourth component, which he dubbed a 'memristor'. This differs from the other three components because its resistance level isn't fixed; instead it changes over time depending on how much current has previously passed through it. That meant that, in theory, somebody building a circuit could use the memristor as a form of memory. However, HP is the first firm to ever discover a working memristor, which they made with a layer of titanium dioxide sandwiched between two metal electrodes. (Source: news.com) It comes at a particularly apt time for the digital industry as developers are struggling to make the commonly-used DRAM chip even smaller. HP says it is going to attempt to develop the memristor commercially as a form of computer memory, but it's too early to say if it will be worth trying to use for other purposes. Eventually, the memristor could mean some even more amazing technology breakthroughs. Because it can 'remember' different levels of resistance, an individual memristor wouldn't be limited to passing on either a 1 or a 0 in the same way existing circuit parts do. This means that it could operate more like a synapse, the chemical 'junctions' in the human body. In theory at least, this would be the key to artificial intelligence such as a computer having some form of vision or recognizing speech. (Source: thetechherald.com)
-- Related newsletter articles:
2005/04/20 WinTuneup Review (memory)
2005/04/30 MemOptimizer Review (memory)
2006/07/10 AMD Price Drop: Battle Heating Up in Processing Chip Arena (chips)
2008/02/11 'Instant Memory Cleaner', and 'Move Later' (memory)
2005/05/20 Why does Windows constantly report 'Virtual Memory Low'? (memory)
2007/06/22 Toshiba's Tactic to Combat Decreasing Revenue (chips)
2007/11/27 New Intel Chips Make PC Hi-Def a Viable Alternative To HDTV (chips)
2006/06/02 Disable Windows Page File? (memory)
2005/08/27 Systweak CacheBoost Review (memory)
2007/10/02 WiMax Chips Earn Intel a Lucrative Deal (chips)
2007/04/17 Vista Sales: Fact or Fiction? (circuit)
2007/08/10 Samsung's Chips Are Down (chips)
2007/09/21 Quad-Core Power from Intel on the Way (chips)
2005/10/12 Protected Mode (memory)
2008/02/27 Popular Encryption Methods May Be Flawed (memory)
2005/09/09 Systweak Memory Zipper Plus Review (memory)
2007/02/06 Sun and Intel to Announce Partnership (chips)
2007/12/13 Microsoft Testing XP on $100 Laptops (memory)
-- Recent articles (from all channels): 2008/05/15 Today in History: for Thursday, May 15, 2008
2008/05/15 [ShellX 20080515]: 'Commercial Games Released As Freeware', and '
2008/05/15 Outside Company Offers Smarter Wikipedia Searches
2008/05/15 Microsoft-Google Battle Goes Galactic
2008/05/15 Find it Over and Over Again in MS Word
2008/05/15 Hackers Find A New Hiding Place for Rootkits
2008/05/14 [ShellX 20080514]: 'Blend', and 'Dexpose2'
2008/05/14 Windows XP Service Pack 3 Gives Boot to HP, AMD Machines
2008/05/14 Stephen Colbert Among 'Webby' Winners
2008/05/14 Irony Strikes At Tech Conference
2008/05/14 Getting Closure in MS Outlook
2008/05/13 [ShellX 20080513]: 'Drive Spacio', and 'Youtube Batch Downloader'
2008/05/13 Congressman Calls For Second Life Ban In Schools
2008/05/13 Trying to Exit MS Excel 2007
2008/05/13 Problems Reported With Windows XP SP3
2008/05/12 [ShellX 20080512]: 'Remote Manager', and 'Cyber Bandwidth ...
2008/05/12 Video Gaming Trade Group Struggling
2008/05/12 T-Mobile Finally Joins 3G Phone Race
2008/05/12 Apple Slammed by Environment Watchdog
2008/05/09 [ShellX 20080509]: 'Advanced Run', and 'Diver Windows Manager'
2008/05/09 Texas Refuses Facebook Friend Request
2008/05/09 Photo-Enforcement Technology Replaces Officers On Patrol
2008/05/09 Cuban Government Says 'Ok Computer'
2008/05/09 Excel Can E-Mail Your Weekly Reports For You!
2008/05/08 [ShellX 20080508]: 'Shell Enhancer', and 'Lansweeper'
2008/05/08 Xobni: MS Outlook Social Networking Technology for your Inbox
2008/05/08 Music Companies Jump on GTA IV Bandwagon
2008/05/08 Fascinating: Memristor to replace Binary
2008/05/08 Adobe Hopes To Make Flash Master Of The (Mobile) Universe
2008/05/08 Spiffy Envelopes and Labels in MS Word
2008/05/07 [ShellX 20080507]: 'Winbin2iso', and 'Loop Typer'
|
