A few days ago we reminded you of the news about a processor heat sink that promised to be the future, but was never heard from again. Well, today we will talk about another of those technologies, which appear in the news, seem like the discovery of a vaccine, some disease or the philosopher’s stone and disappear over time. What happened to the UK-III-V non-volatile RAM?
First of all we have to clarify that we have had non-volatile RAM memory, or NVRAM, in our PCs for a long time. This is the flash memory of SSD drives, eMMCs, memory cards and the like. Since they store memory, they just don’t lose data when powered off. The two big differences between the two, apart from the fact that one preserves the information and the other does not, is that we can write on the cells of the RAM memory several orders of magnitude more than in those of the non-volatile memory, there is a lower latency and a higher bandwidth, which is essential for the processor. In any case, merging RAM and NAND Flash to create universal memory is undoubtedly a revolution.
Flash and RAM on a single chip? This is the memory of III-V
If you’ve ever wondered if nonvolatile memory can be used like conventional RAM, let us tell you that it can, but the processor that uses it has to have very low latency and bandwidth dependencies. And it’s not uncommon, many of the electronic mechanisms in your PC are small chips with firmware stored in non-volatile memory. Of course, they go at a very low speed, but to work they do not need more. A clear example? The memory that stores your computer’s BIOS/UEFI settings.
Well, a couple of years ago and under the name UK III-V , the University of Lancaster, and this is important to note, presented a new type of memory that, from the perspective of conventional NAND Flash memory, is undoubtedly revolutionary. The reason? Well, two and quite heavy:
- Its cells can be read and written while consuming one hundredth of current Flash and RAM memory.
- It has enough speed to be used as RAM.
In the world of the conventional PC it is not usually talked about, but within high-performance computing the same argument has been repeated for a decade. Which? Doing operations with a processor is cheap and easy, the problem is the energy consumed by the movement of data. Now, was it a project that ended in a simple advertisement? Well, surprisingly not, since in 2021 its creators published a document entitled ULTRARAM: towards the development of a non-volatile random access memory by III-V . Where they define it as universal memory that can function as RAM and Flash memory at the same time.
What happened to the ULTRARAM?
Technically, nothing happened due to the fact that it never existed as a product. It’s all very well having your own development that is revolutionary on paper, but let’s face it. Is the UK a superpower in chip manufacturing? No, indeed, III-V is a semiconductor or chip company equivalent to the corner grocer. Compared to South Korean on-chip memory powerhouses like Samsung and the rest, it’s an ant. What’s more, if its creators have not seen it feasible to manufacture such memory on a large scale, then there is something that prevents it. At the moment there is news about this promising technology on paper.
Will it replace RAM? We think not, but it will be key in devices that now use low-speed non-volatile memory to function. And not only in computers, but in other applications such as car electronics and household appliances. Especially in the first case, where said memory has great potential for car navigation and safety systems.