HP and Hynix to develop next-generation memory chip

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has teamed up with South Korean chip maker Hynix Semiconductor to jointly develop a new type of chip called the memristor, short for ''memory resistor.''

The two companies will jointly develop new materials and process integration technology to transfer the memristor technology from research to commercial development the new chip that will be called ReRAM, short for Resistive Random Access Memory.

Hynix will implement the memristor technology in its research and development fab and both companies said that the memristors will be commercially available in about three years.

ReRAM is non-volatile memory with low power consumption that holds the potential to replace Flash memory currently used in mobile phones and MP3 players. It also has the potential to serve as a universal storage medium – that is, memory that can behave as Flash, DRAM or even a hard drive.

Memristors require less energy to operate, are faster than present solid-state storage technologies and can retain information even when power is off.

Earlier in 2008, researchers from HP's central research facility, HP Labs,  had proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering.