Samsung 30 nm process promises 128 GB memory cards

10.24.2007 :: 8:23AM EST
  • highlandcynic

    128GB on a flash card sounds very nice indeed. However scaling to a terabyte and beyond, I’m thinking that would be for video, not just music?

    For music CDs, assuming that we record raw images of CDs, 2GB equals 3 bit for bit copies of music CDs. So 128GB equals 192 CDs stored bit for bit. That’s a lot of CDs. If the CDs are in MP3 format, even at a good bitrate, a CD will compress down to about 128MB so that 128GB stick becomes 1000 CDs.

    Now for some fun with numbers. Scaling to a terabyte yields 1536 CDs copied bit for bit or about 8000 CDs in MP3 format. I have a lot of CDs, but how many people have that many?

  • ee92

    The reason flash memory leads the way with smaller geometries is that a flash cell is basically a specially made single FET. It’s made with an extra layer of metal called a “floating gate” which stores the charge in a non-volatile way. Kind of a cross between a logic FET and a capacitor.

    Because an array of identical FET’s can be packed very tightly compared to the more random spacing between logic FET’s, the spacing is also smaller then for a typical CMOS process. So if 65nm is state of the art for a CMOS process, flash can usually be made smaller, 52nm I think is the current flavor.

    So I’m not surprised that with Intel and a few others migrating to 45nm CMOS this year and next that there is a flash process that uses 30nm. That scales with the current technology.

    Cool stuff for sure, but not significantly different then the current flash:logic ratio. That is also why they can make it with existing semiconductor tooling, another bonus.

  • fdc

    My understanding is that logic is also becoming more regular, for lithography reasons (regular is easier to deal with as resolution tightens). But the use of strained silicon for higher performance prevents the pitch from shrinking as fast as memory. But as ee pointed out, using same tooling to get smaller, always welcome.

    128 GB = 16*64 Gb chips stacked, I presume.

  • guast

    128 GB in a bootable flash drive with Linux live configured with your applications means that you could carry your own PC in a pocket. When you want to use it you have just to borrow an empty machine

  • james braselton