In the field of technology there is a clear separation between working memory (RAM) and storage memory (ROM) and it does not matter if it is a phone or a computer. One is memory that is volatile, that is – one that is completely cleaned when the device is turned off, and memory that can store data over time, including the operating system of the devices. But the differences between the two are also measured in performance, and there is technology on the way that wants to unite the two worlds.
The British University of Lancaster has announced that they have managed to achieve a kind of breakthrough that significantly brings the creation of this memory, which has already been dubbed UltraRAM, towards possible commercialization. According to a group of researchers from the Department of Physics and Engineering, UltraRAM memory combines the volatility of data storage memory, such as flash memory, with the speed, energy efficiency and endurance of working memory, such as DRAM.
This way manufacturers will be able to determine what size is allocated for working memory and how much for storage memory and it may also be possible to change this retrospectively and even by the user. What’s more, UltraRAM says the researchers are particularly durable, and they noted that data stored on it could last up to 1,000 years. The materials that are supposed to be used to create the memory are the same as those used by semiconductor manufacturers in optoelectronic devices such as photodiodes and phototransistors, a process that can lower production by hundreds of percent and even more.
It is also an architecture that, although it needs to improve production processes, is already very compact, so that in theory manufacturers could contain more memory in each such piece. However it is important to note that similar attempts have been made in the past and today Intel has solutions called Optane that are currently only available for servers.