ID :
101290
Wed, 01/20/2010 - 10:21
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/101290
The shortlink copeid
Engineers say new NOR chip holds potential for mobile phones
SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- A team of South Korean engineers has made a new advance in a type of memory technology that could vastly improve mobile phone capabilities, a local university said Wednesday.
Seoul National University said the team's new NOR device has overcome many of the
technology's shortfalls. Despite their ability to retrieve data quickly, NOR
chips have been beaten in the market by NAND flash chips because they require
more power and have a limited memory of 1 gigabit.
NAND chips, by comparison, can hold up to 32 gigabits of data. They are used in
devices such as MP3 players, camcorders and USB memory sticks.
NOR chips are typically flat, but the model created by the university's computer
science professor Park Byung-gook and his team is conical -- an important
difference, the team says.
"By shaping the NOR chip into a circular cone shape, we have been able to enhance
the overall electronic and physical qualities of the flash memory device so it
can theoretically do the work of NAND chips," Park said.
While there may be a slight difference in capabilities, advanced NOR chips could
be used like NAND flash memory down the road, enabling new features in electronic
appliances -- especially in mobile phones, he added.
It remains to be seen how new NOR chips will compare to NAND in terms of cost. A
higher pricetag has been another downside for traditional NOR memory.
But using home-grown technology could hold cost benefits for Samsung Electronics
Co. and other South Korean tech giants as they compete in the chip market against
rivals like Intel.
This year's flash memory market, covering both NOR and NAND memory, is estimated
to surpass US$20 billion -- up from around $18 billion in 2009.
The team spent close to four years and around 300 million won (US$267,000) to
make the new NOR device and has also made gains in NAND flash memory as part of a
government-funded research and development effort.
An article about the NOR development has been published in the latest issue of
the U.S-based IEEE Electron Device Letters.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
Seoul National University said the team's new NOR device has overcome many of the
technology's shortfalls. Despite their ability to retrieve data quickly, NOR
chips have been beaten in the market by NAND flash chips because they require
more power and have a limited memory of 1 gigabit.
NAND chips, by comparison, can hold up to 32 gigabits of data. They are used in
devices such as MP3 players, camcorders and USB memory sticks.
NOR chips are typically flat, but the model created by the university's computer
science professor Park Byung-gook and his team is conical -- an important
difference, the team says.
"By shaping the NOR chip into a circular cone shape, we have been able to enhance
the overall electronic and physical qualities of the flash memory device so it
can theoretically do the work of NAND chips," Park said.
While there may be a slight difference in capabilities, advanced NOR chips could
be used like NAND flash memory down the road, enabling new features in electronic
appliances -- especially in mobile phones, he added.
It remains to be seen how new NOR chips will compare to NAND in terms of cost. A
higher pricetag has been another downside for traditional NOR memory.
But using home-grown technology could hold cost benefits for Samsung Electronics
Co. and other South Korean tech giants as they compete in the chip market against
rivals like Intel.
This year's flash memory market, covering both NOR and NAND memory, is estimated
to surpass US$20 billion -- up from around $18 billion in 2009.
The team spent close to four years and around 300 million won (US$267,000) to
make the new NOR device and has also made gains in NAND flash memory as part of a
government-funded research and development effort.
An article about the NOR development has been published in the latest issue of
the U.S-based IEEE Electron Device Letters.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
