Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) has developed 32-bit flash memory chips that the company hopes will be used in applications where DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) has previously been found.
Flash memory chips store data that can be rewritten and are able to store this data without power. DRAM loses data when power is cut.
The Am29PL320 32-bit flash chips developed by AMD are designed for applications including automotive navigation systems, set-top boxes, and handheld computers and can transfer data at a rate of 133M bytes per second, said AMD in a statement.
Nevertheless, that falls far short of modern DRAM technology. For example, DDR SDRAM (double-data rate synchronous DRAM) and Rambus DRAM are able to handle data transfers at speeds of 2.1G bytes per second and 1.6G bytes per second respectively. Older memory technologies such as FPM RAM (fast-page mode random access memory), which first emerged in the early 1990s, can handle data transfers at speeds of 200M bytes per second.
AMD based in Sunnyvale, Calif., can be reached by phone at http://www.amd.com/.