How are Innovations in Memory Technology Shaping Up?

By Embedded Advisor | Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Superior connectivity and advancing technologies are necessitating enhanced processing and storage capabilities.

FREMONT, CA: An interconnected series of technological developments have resulted in an exponential rise in the amount of data being generated on a daily basis. Besides, businesses today consider data to be equivalent in value to currencies. Thus, there has been a rapid rise in demand for storage technologies with higher capacities and better reliability. According to a report, average individuals are expected to interact with connected devices more than 4800 times in a single day by the year 2025. These interactions will result in an outpouring of data that will be used to train AI, ML, and NLP engines. Together, these factors are today driving the evolution of memory technologies and making faster computation possible.

Some of the key advancements in storage technologies have given rise to non-volatile memory like NAND, magnetic RAM (MRAM), and resistive RAM (RRAM). These storage technologies cater to different data storage and processing requirements. The challenge that innovations in memory technology look to overcome is related to the growing processing speeds. Memory prowess also has to evolve in tandem with processing speeds so that data can be accessed in real-time. Leading technology companies have developed non-volatile memory architecture that support low latency operations and bridge the gaps between existing memory modules. For product developers, capacity, performance, and reliability have become the top factors.

MRAM is expected to support the IoT revolution. Given the rate at which IoT devices are being deployed, one can imagine the amount of memory that will be required in a couple of years. MRAM is not as energy-intensive as some of the current memory technologies. This makes MRAM apt for deployment at the edge. On the other hand, RRAM is being prepared for use in data centers, which are also growing rapidly. The potential of NAND Flash is already on display in many sectors. The newest advancement in NAND involves the adoption of 3D NAND, which consists of stacked memory chips. All of these developments in memory technology will impact processing capabilities and boost the potential of allied technologies.