
New memristor better mimics synapses - mangoleaf
https://news.umich.edu/toward-brain-like-computing-new-memristor-better-mimics-synapses/
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SemiTom
At the device level, variability remains a significant issue for all memristor
types. Scaling feature sizes down is likely to make variability worse.
[https://semiengineering.com/integrating-memristors-for-
neuro...](https://semiengineering.com/integrating-memristors-for-neuromorphic-
computing/)

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bradhe
Was the transistor theoretically proposed similar to the memristor was?
Wondering if people had as much hype for the transistor eventually appearing
as we are about memristors.

~~~
TenaciousValor
According to [1], "[b]ecause the production of high-quality semiconductor
materials was still decades away, Lilienfeld's solid-state amplifier ideas
would not have found practical use in the 1920s and 1930s, even if such a
device had been built."

It seems like there are parallels. Chua theorized about the memristor in the
1970s, but the first one wasn't created until the 2000s. A question I don't
have the answer to: a transistor is to a vacuum tube as a memristor is to
what?

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor)

~~~
opwieurposiu
Electroplating baths have a "memory" of how much current has passed through
them. Edison used them as a way of measuring DC power use.

[https://ethw.org/Electric_Meter](https://ethw.org/Electric_Meter)

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gitgud
So the memristor has been physically proven? I thought there was skepticism
over whether it was even possible to make them.

~~~
WorldMaker
HP/HPE has patents on them and has supposedly made a ton in their labs, but
hasn't seemed to get the costs down to make them commercially viable, and may
have gotten trapped into some (interesting, but diverting) rabbit holes in the
process not helping them commercialize the existing work, such as believing
they need to reinvent the computer almost entirely from scratch just because
of the memristor [0].

[0] "The Machine". There's a lot of weird stuff around on it. Official hype
page of the (now cancelled, presumably) project:
[https://www.labs.hpe.com/the-machine](https://www.labs.hpe.com/the-machine)
(Makes some of IBM's Watson marketing almost look sane in comparison, doesn't
it?)

~~~
std_throwawayay
I believe that there are lots of professionally-run science scams.

It starts with an idea that looks good on paper and a bunch of scientists
investigating it. At one point it gets picked up by the management of a
company and commercialization is being started while the technology is not
ready yet. Now you have high-risk development of a new technology in the
framework of commercial management. Failing is no option anymore. During the
development it becomes clear to some insiders that the goals cannot be
achieved. To those are three options. Either they quit, they shut up or they
upsell what they have. Plans become bigger and bigger and the deadline shifts
later and later. The later you are, the more sunk costs you have and the
bigger your plans need to be to recoup the costs and keep your department
alive. This is what I consider the when it becomes a scam. It started with
science but instead of burying the dead horse it is paraded around town and
management applauds while those who know do not talk.

~~~
goldenkey
Being one of the scientists who thought they were doing good by initially
starting the research must be indescribably painful. I despise when good will
is turned on its head. It turns good people into bitter and regretful
pessimists. Rather than fight, they quit, like you mentioned - thinking its
better not to play twisted games. Only later in life do they realize they
should have fought like mad, because no evil should be given quarter, lest it
eat you up for years to come. Let's just say I have experience in this type of
regret :-/

A lesson for all: the bigger man does not quit, does not keep quiet, does not
pacify in the face of evil. Contrary to the truthisms about being the bigger
man - fighting for what is right is almost always the right move.

It is often said one should be mature and not "play the game." But the truth
is, evil affects us all and isn't confined to isolated games. If you don't
stop it locally, it will spread like a poison globally.

Learn from my mistake. Play the game, fight, dont quit.

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mooman219
What are the merits of memristors over solid state NAND and Intel optane
technology?

~~~
TenaciousValor
Solid state non-volatile storage technologies such as NOR and NAND flash
memory use something called floating-gate transistors [1]. Making these
transistors is highly complex, and substantial amounts of research efforts
have gone into R&D to improve NOR and NAND technologies.

A real issue with these memory technologies is wear. There is a finite amount
of times a NOR/NAND gate can be written, and the implementation of wear
leveling prolongs the lifespan of the memory device without solving the root
issue.

Optane memory (originally called 3D XPoint) starts getting closer to the
theoretical ideal of a memristor. According to [2], Optane allows a "memory
cell to be written to or read without requiring a transistor." It's still not
entirely sure what's the enabling technology, but the general consensus is
that Optane is a form of resistive RAM, or ReRAM [3]. Not quite the memristor,
but it's edging toward it.

Why memristors? Imagine you're given a piece of conductive material which
changes its resistivity based on net current flow over time. It's just a chunk
of material, so manufacturing memory cells goes from etching transistors to
material deposition. Also, you can likely make the memristors smaller than
today's transistors, meaning higher storage densities. Additionally, the
memory should be bit-addressable unlike block-addressed NAND. Also, the
memristor is fundamentally an analog device, meaning there's the potential for
interesting innovations in storage technology (analog storage elements?).
Finally, energy consumption should be even lower than transistors.

Takeaways: \- NOR/NAND storage is transistor-based and will eventually be
replaced with neuromorphic technologies such as memristors. \- Optane storage
exhibits expected properties of a memristor, but it's not quite a true
memristor.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory)
[2] [https://www.anandtech.com/show/9541/intel-announces-
optane-s...](https://www.anandtech.com/show/9541/intel-announces-optane-
storage-brand-for-3d-xpoint-products) [3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_XPoint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_XPoint)

~~~
Vogtinator
Flash cells are analog as well - depending on the gate charge the
resistance/current flow is different.

That's used for MLC/TLC.

