Intel Corporation and STMicroelectronics reached a key industry milestone today as they began shipping prototype samples of a future product using a new, innovative memory technology called Phase Change Memory (PCM). The prototypes are the first functional silicon to be delivered to customers for evaluation, bringing the technology one step closer to adoption.
The memory device, codenamed "Alverstone" uses PCM, a promising new memory technology providing very fast read and write speeds at lower power than conventional flash, and allows for bit alterability normally seen in RAM. PCM has long been a topic of discussion for research and development, and with "Alverstone," Intel and STMicroelectronics are helping to move the technology into the marketplace.
"This is the most significant non-volatile memory advancement in 40 years," said Ed Doller, chief technology officer-designate of Numonyx, the new name for the pending STMicroelectronics and Intel flash memory company. . . . more
While power consumption is the primary problem for the advancement of high performance electronics, I don't see why Jin keeps putting these stories on the energy blog. The truth about our appetite for computer power/performance is that the power consumed by computers is not going to go down due to technological advancements. We will continue to consume similarly large power budgets, the only thing advancing electronics tech brings, is the level of performance obtained. Because of our continued ability to discover new ways to make computers do more (for a similar amount of power), we will continue to wrest greater performance from them.
Posted by: bigTom | February 07, 2008 at 11:00 PM
bigTom: ...the power consumed by computers is not going to go down...
Yes, as long as consumers can't see how much an appliance costs or reviewers don't show total cost of ownership including electricity. It's a simple fix-- pass a law!
I just measured my cordless phone and see it uses 4W when not in use. The wall wart burns 1W when disconnected. The phone uses $40 in electricity over 10 years-- and might last 20. $2 of electronics can save $80-- if we only knew. [An old phone uses 2W, several 110/220V chargers, 0.]
It's great Jim posted this-- the PCM is really significant for green computers. First it could be used in so-called hybrid disks, using flash to hold recent/frequent data and powering off the disk.
Second, PCM is fast enough that it would allow computers, no matter how powerful, to burn no more power than a cell phone, except when you really need it. In theory, a low-power processor could take over, powering off the main processor(s), but RAM consumes a lot of power. PCM could be used to move data off RAM and power it down, and PCM could still be used directly for a low speed low power processor. In other words, PCM could be used to keep a computer running in low speed idle, but be mostly powered off, or have true instant on from standby.
You could just leave the computer running, though punishing some crapware by letting it run only once in a while would help. (A dozen updaters run in the background constantly sending info about you over the net, just to download new software and provide marketing info on you.)
Posted by: Carl Hage | February 08, 2008 at 06:27 PM
This sounds a lot like Idle/stop tceh used by many hybird cars -- if you can idle/stop you computer we could all save big $ and big energy over the course of time -- keep up the good work, Jim !!!
Posted by: JJ | February 10, 2008 at 10:33 AM
This is the most significant non-volatile memory advancement in 40 years," said Ed Doller, chief technology officer-designate of Numonyx, the new name for the pending STMicroelectronics and Intel flash memory company.
Posted by: wholesale computer parts | February 18, 2011 at 04:23 PM
Good stuff. It is interesting to read comments.
Posted by: donne | July 13, 2011 at 04:22 AM
What does this mean for future plans?
Posted by: Furniture Stores Los Angeles | November 23, 2011 at 06:58 PM
If this is the first phase has it moved onto other phases yet?
Posted by: parking sensors | November 25, 2011 at 05:52 PM
Cool that it can write at lower power than regular flash but still at a good speed.
Posted by: Auto Lease Los Angeles | November 25, 2011 at 06:23 PM
Ooh i want one! Is this out yet and if so where can I get one?
Posted by: Rug Cleaning Los Angeles | November 25, 2011 at 06:37 PM
The new President will have to embrace this exact plan if the United States is to avoid economic catastrophe.
Posted by: Microsoft Office | January 08, 2012 at 09:23 PM