Emerging memories

Which correctly describes how using non-volatile memory for caches and registers is expected to save system power?

  1. AData is not lost when power is turned off during standby, so standby power can be greatly reduced
  2. BThe clock frequency can be raised
  3. CMemory capacity increases
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Answer: A. Data is not lost when power is turned off during standby, so standby power can be greatly reduced

SRAM and DRAM are volatile, so power must stay on to keep data, and they consume power through leakage even in standby. With non-volatile memory, data remains even when power is turned off while unused, so standby power can be cut almost to zero (normally-off computing).

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More Emerging memories questions

  1. Which is a typical application in which FeRAM has been used?
  2. In which process of a logic LSI is the MRAM storage element (MTJ) generally built?
  3. Which phenomenon becomes a problem when phase-change memory is scaled, in which heat from writing reaches a neighboring cell and changes its state?
  4. What design challenge arises from the probabilistic nature of writing in STT-MRAM?
  5. What challenge results from the large variation in resistance of ReRAM cells?