Technology Advances

Over the next several months we will be taking a closer look at the most significant technology changes that may start to emerge during 2009 and which may go on to significantly change the world of computing.

Memristors

Memristors sound about as exciting as a cold shower on a winter's morning. However, this new type of circuit promises to completely revolutionise the entire field of memory and storage, which in turn form the basis of most forms of computing, from your washing machine to your PC.

For those of you who are somewhat technical you may recall from your school days that electronic circuits comprise 3 types of circuits - Resistors; Inductors and Capacitors. Almost 40 years ago, Leon Chua theorised that one day we would discover a 4th type of circuit that would be able to measure the flow of an electrical circuit - the memory resistor or Memristor.

And at last Hewlett Packard have eventually managed to build one.

Existing Technology

Memory and storage are an essential part of computing and form an integral part of most electronic systems. Existing technologies use RAM (random access memory); Flash memory and Hard Disk Drives.

Memristors could potentially replace all of these technologies. Because Memristors are much cheaper; considerably faster; more reliable and more robust, it means that they could result in significant cost savings and almost unimaginable improvements in processing speeds.

Return of Analog?

The very first computing machine was based on analog technology. Very quickly digital technology replaced analog computing and ever since we have lived in a digital world.

Digital logic is very simple and consists of only two states, sometimes called On and Off. This simplicity is both the benefit and the achilles heel of the digital world. By contrast analog technology consists of On, Off and all the states in between, which means that a multiplicity of conditions can be met simultaneously.

In addition to all their other benefits, Memristors also have the ability to store an almost infinite range of electrical states which means that they could potentially be the building blocks for the return of a whole new breed of analog computers which would in turn be several magnitudes more powerful than anything the digital world could create.

It is possible that the first products using Memristors may find their way to market as early as 2010 with the technology being common place by 2015.

February 2009