The story I published last week about HP Labs' proof of the memristor as a fourth basic circuit element has generated (so far) nearly 600 reader responses, 50 written comments, lots of blog posts – and many, many questions.
I've gone back to the researchers for some answers.
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How does this Memristor technology compare to existing Flash memory, which appears to have similar properties?
Flash and hard disk are non-volatile but very slow. There exists a significant opportunity for a new memory technology that is *both* fast and non-volatile. Memristor technology is an excellent candidate for this role.
I would have liked to see a more in-depth explanation of how a memristor actually works. Also explain more clearly how a memristor emulates human neuronal activity and how the memory state is maintained when the current is shut off to such a device.
The mathematical description of a memristor is explained in some detail within the Nature scientific journal article. A model system of mobile ions and electrons is used to illustrate the simple and more complicated dynamical memristor behavior. References to the original memristor theory work from 1971 are included there as well.
Could have used a bit more info. Does the memristor lend itself to FPGA or PLA-like designs? What are the energy requirements for switching the memristor, and what is the energy required to read it? Fundamental science is always the most interesting information.
A perceptive question -- yes, the memristor is well suited for FPGA designs. Energy requirements for switching the nanoscale memristor compare very favorably with Flash; energy requirements to read it can be even lower. A detailed description of the nanoscale physics leading to memristor action will be published in the near future and include a great deal more experimental evidence. |
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If you've got access to the journal Nature, you'll get a lot more information by reading the paper.
If you don't, there's a free article on the Nature site that describes this work, as well as excellent (free) articles in IEEE Spectrum Online, IEEE Times, ars technica and Wikipedia.
You may also want to check out tech veteran Scott Jordan's thoughtful blog on the background and implications behind the Memristor proof or read a more science-oriented post by Czech scientist Luboš Motl.
My favorite post, however, came from JR Powers in the flux capacity blog, who compares the Memristor to the flux capacitor in the film "Back to the Future." The flux capacitor. as you'll recall, was what made time travel possible.
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