Micron has started mass production of Phase Change Memory for so called feature phones, which are compatible with LPDDR2 and JEDEC standards. In the future the company is planning to produce this type of memories with higher capacities for smartphones and tablets.

PCM (Phase Change Memory), also known as PRAM, is a technology that has potential to replace NAND Flash since it is non-volatile, which means it can store data even when there is not current. PCM offers higher performance than NAND since individual bits can be changed to 1 or 0 without rewriting a whole block, and like Memristor it will scale up in capacity to become a potential replacement for NAND.

The lifespan of PCM is substantially better than current solutions, where MLC NAND can only do 3000 writes where PCM can do 100 million. What may not be that relevant for retail applications is that NAND leaks electrons with time, which can result in data loss and corrupt data. PCM is expected to hold a charge of 300 years, at 85 degrees Celsius.

PCM have been demonstrated many times, but it is not until now that the technology is ready for mass markets. The first PCM memories comes from Micron in the form of LPDDR2 for ”feature phones.” With a 45 nanometer mode the capacities are 1 Gb and 512 Mb in multichip packages. Micron is planning to offer higher cpaacities that will work with smartphones and tablets. Since PCM is non-volatile it could work as storage, but before that becomes reality it will have to scale up to capacities on the same level as NAND.

According to Micron its memories offers faster start-ups with better performance, lower energy consumption and highere durability than earlier solutions. The capacities are still very limited, but it is still great news that the technology is ready for mass markets. In the future we hope the technology will scale up in capacity to compete with NAND Flash, and not just be a substitute for DRAM.

Source: Micron

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