Samsung Electronics will start mass-producing PRAM (Phase change RAM) in June, in an effort to in order to maintain its leadership in the memory market.
PRAM, known as perfect RAM, is the next generation memory chip which features the advantages of NAND and NOR flash memories.
The S. Korean company, unveiled its plans to relase samples of 512MB PRAM chips and begin the mass production in its 200mm manufacturing line in June.
Phase-change Random Access Memory (PRAM) uses a material that turns crystalline when heated. The clrystalline bits represent the logical "1" in the binary system of computers, while amorphous areas (bits) represent logical "0"
PRAM is also more scalable than any other memory architecture being researched and features the fast processing speed of RAM for its operating functions combined with the non-volatile features of flash memory for storage.
A key advantage in PRAM is its extremely fast performance. Because PRAM can rewrite data without having to first erase data previously accumulated, it is effectively 30-times faster than conventional flash memory. PRAM is also expected to have at least 10-times the life span of flash memory.
PRAM is expected to be a highly competitive choice over NOR flash, since it requires fewer process steps to produce than those used in the manufacturing of NOR flash memory.
Adoption of PRAM is expected to be especially popular in the future designs of multi-function handsets and for other mobile applications, where faster speeds translate into immediately noticeable boosts in performance.
Samsung introduced pilot products of 256MB PRAM for the first time in the world in 2005.