Thanks for the (MRAM) memories
Steve Scheiber, Contributing Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 9/1/2006 2:00:00 AM
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Choosing onboard memory technologies involves tradeoffs. SRAMs and DRAMs are fast and permit a virtually unlimited number of read/write cycles, but the stored information evaporates when you shut off the power. Permanent(ish) storage means enduring the slow data transfer rates and limited life of Flash memory on a card or stick or the moving parts and high power consumption of a conventional hard drive.
Now, a development in memory technology promises to change the rules. Freescale Semiconductor has begun volume production of magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM). MRAMs store data as magnetic states rather than charges. With this approach, the state doesn't “leak” away. There is no discernible degradation with time, and retaining stored information requires no power. The speed of MRAMs compares favorably with that of SRAMs and other fast devices.
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| The MRAM uses magnetic polarization rather than electric charges to store information. Courtesy of Freescale Semiconductor. |
Freescale's initial offering is a 4-Mbit device on a 44-pin 400-mil thin small-outline package (TSOP). Companies are already looking at the devices to provide instantaneous start-up as well as fast, nonvolatile, but easily updated power-on self-tests (POSTs). MRAMs will also allow more extensive stored test procedures on boards and systems that can be triggered by more conventional test equipment during production or field repair.
The company claims that MRAM technology will usher in an era of electronic products offering advantages in size, cost, power consumption, and product performance. Although their current modest capacity prevents MRAMs from supplanting bulk-storage alternatives for the moment, their nonvolatility and minimum heat dissipation will encourage incorporation into high-volume products, such as new kinds of smart cards, that require high data integrity and permit little tolerance for manufacturing defects. The high volume of such products will tend to favor inspection over more traditional manufacturing test.
The devices' decreased power consumption will reduce heat dissipation at the board level. Ironically, the resulting reduced need for elaborate cooling mechanisms such as heat sinks and fans could actually increase access to portions of the circuit, facilitating some conventional test steps.
As MRAM capacity increases, test equipment manufacturers will incorporate them into the test equipment itself. Their reduced power consumption will permit systems to include more memory, permitting more complex test patterns at both in-circuit and functional test levels. Battery-powered test equipment will become more practical for applications such as field testing, testing on the manufacturing floor, and depot deployment.
“Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory,” Freescale Semiconductor white paper, www.freescale.com/files/memory/doc/white_paper/MRAMWP.pdf.
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