According to the storage characteristics, the current memory can be divided into volatile and non-volatile memory after the power is turned off. The volatile memory can not be retained after the power is turned off. The cost is high but the speed is fast. Usually used for data temporary storage; Non-volatile The memory access speed is slow, but it can save data for a long time.
Static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) are widely used in computer systems and electronic products as volatile memory for data temporary storage. DRAM is currently used in PC/NB and mobile applications. Mainly, but it will also increase year by year in support of virtualization, drawing and other complex, real-time work applications. DRAM has been manufactured by more than 20 companies worldwide since the 1980s. Currently, there are only Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron and other three oligopoly markets, the application categories from the main PC class and consumer electronics (such as iPod), mobile phones, tablet computers, wearable devices, smart cars, driverless cars demand for DRAM is also growing.
Read-only memory (ROM) or rewritable memory such as traditional mechanical hard disk (HDD), solid-state hard disk (SSD), flash memory (Flash memory), etc. have different read/write characteristics, but they are still after the power is cut off. It can save data for a long time. Flash operation speed is faster than that of general hard disk, so it gradually becomes mainstream.
Flash memory architecture and ROM can be divided into parallel (NOR) and serial (NAND), parallel flash (NOR-Flash) is common in the motherboard BIOS, NAND-Flash (NAND-Flash) is common in consumer electronics, For example, mobile phones, flash drives, SSDs, etc., NAND Flash continues to evolve with process technologies, and the cost per unit of capacity has been declining. It has been widely used in smart phones, embedded devices and industrial control applications. In recent years, it has been applied to the storage of large data data and increasingly The demand for SSDs for multi-notebook computers has increased. SSDs made of NAND-Flash have gradually replaced the trend of general hard drives. The main manufacturers are Samsung, Toshiba and SK Hynix.
DRAM and NAND Flash are complementary in characteristics and cost. The former has large transmission bandwidth per second, high unit cost, and high power consumption; the latter has slow transmission speed, low cost per unit, and low power consumption, so both are The market and function are separated, and it also constitutes two major camps of current memory products. In response to the explosive growth of the Internet of Things, big data and cloud data, memory is independent or embedded and will be a key component of the system architecture. .
Looking into 2020, the global memory market will be US$79.51 billion, of which DRAM accounts for 38.9%, NAND Flash will account for 55.1%, and memory for the next generation will jump to 2.0%.
However, due to the bottleneck and impact of mainstream memory DRAM and NAND on the miniaturization process, finding alternative solutions or changing circuits to meet future data storage needs will be the most important issue in the current memory industry.
The three major metrics for developing the next generation of memory include cost, component performance, scalability and density, etc., where costs include memory particles, modules and control circuits, etc.; component performance includes latency, reliability, and data retention durability. Wait.
The memory of the next generation is now generally oriented towards changing the way the past stored charges were used to access data, and by revising the storage state mechanism to solve the process limitations. In addition, low power consumption is the common goal of the next generation of memory and even components. Taiwan has the world's largest The advanced process and excellent component and circuit R&D talents are in a very advantageous position in the memory R&D. We should grasp the advantages, improve the electronic industry ecological chain, avoid being subject to the monopoly of the foreign market by the memory market, and maintain its position in the global market. The Competitiveness of Taiwan's Industries. (The author is a researcher of the National Institute of Experimental Science and Technology Policy and Information Center)
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