“The
Memory Archives”
(Susan
Campbell’s web page on Memory Technology)
(CS352
– University of Texas at Austin)
There are three primary technologies used in building memory hierarchies. Main memory is implemented from DRAM, dynamic random access memory. Levels closer to the CPU (caches) use SRAM, static random access memory. Finally, magnetic disk is used to implement the largest and slowest levels of memory. This website deals primarily with DRAM in it’s many different variations.
DRAM (in all it’s different
types) has a typical access time of 60-120 nanoseconds and costs about $5-$10
per Megabyte (as of 1997). This places
it in the middle of the three different types of memory technology. It is slower, but less expensive than SRAM
and faster, but more expensive than magnetic disk.
This link provides a very basic introduction to PC
Memory:
Introduction to
PC Memory - RAM, DIMM, SIMM, SRAM and related terminology
This link provides a more in-depth introduction to PC
Memory for those who want to know a little more:
Links
to newsgroups about Memory:
comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.memory
Here
are some links to tutorials about Memory:
HardwareCentral
- Tutorials - Memory Types
This is a very basic tutorial on the differences between
ROM and RAM
This page provides a quick tutorial on ferroelectric
capacitors and their applications for nonvolatile memories
This page compares how embedded DRAM (eDRAM) differs from
conventional memory
http://nd.essortment.com/ramcomputerstu_okw.htm
Tips and tricks for making the best use of your
computer's RAM
http://education.uncc.edu/mbray/pctutorial/ram.htm
A fairly detailed tutorial on RAM from a hardware
perspective
Here
are some links to online collections of information about Memory:
This is a wonderful collection of information about
Memory; from what it is, to how to install it, to how to troubleshoot it
The
PC Technology Guide - System Memory
This page has a great collection of information about
different types of Memory
FANTASTIC Site!!
Do a search on keyword RAM, for TONS of articles about all different
types of RAM. Site available in
serveral different languages
http://www.cs.wits.ac.za/~philip/architecture/rampage.html
A collection of links and information on IRAM
(Intelligent RAM)
http://www.cs.wits.ac.za/~philip/architecture/rampage.html
A collection of links and information about Computational
RAM (C-RAM)
http://peripherals.miningco.com/cs/raminfo/
An incredible collection of links about RAM
Links to Benchmark information and Performance Reviews ( also simulators and other tools):
http://www.realworldtech.com/listing.cfm?section=rwtlabs&subject=tech
A number of great reviews/comparisons on different types
of RAM
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~davidp/cs252_proj.html
Information on an FB-RAM simulator and performance
Resources regarding FeRAM (Ferroelectric RAM, also known
as FRAM):
This is a
company that specializes in FRAM (ferroelectric RAM, also known as FeRAM)
This page
provides a quick tutorial on ferroelectric capacitors and their applications
for nonvolatile memories, also known as
FeRAMs
Here are some links to companies that have technical info:
This is a company that specializes in FRAM (ferroelectric
RAM, also known as FeRAM)
http://www.xtronics.com/index.htm
About 1/2 down the page, under "Resource
Central" are 2 VERY detailed ariticles "How Memory Works" and
"How EPROM works" that will give you everything your ever wanted (and
more) to know about how DRAM and EPROM work.
Here are some University/Corporate research groups working on RAM:
Research at Berkley University into systems that
integrate a processor and DRAM onto a single chip
http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/arch/neural/research/adam/
Research into ADAM (Advanced Distributed Associative
Memory) at the University of York. ADAM
is a RAM-based binary neural network suitable for image interpretation and
knowledge manipulation tasks
http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~ali/ferro.html
The University of Toronto is doing research of FRAM (also
know as FeRAM)
Work at the Department of Computer Science, University of
the Witwatersrand (in South Africa) on the implications of treating what up to
now has been considered L2 (or even possibly L3) cache as the main memory of a
computer system, and treating DRAM
http://archvlsi.csi.forth.gr/html_papers/TR227/TR.html
The Institute of Computer Science (ICS) (In Crete) is
doing research on Using Network RAM as a non-volatile Buffer