You probably haven’t heard of SOM (an acronym for Selector-Only Memory) yet. But this technology, patented by Samsung and SK Hynix, could change a lot of things in the near future. In simple terms, this memory incorporates non-volatile memory functions(NAND Flash) with read and write speeds similar to those of DRAM memory. Are we any closer to realising an antediluvian geek’s fantasy: Windows installed on ‘ram’?
In 2023, Samsung was already presenting a 64GB SOM memory. But the company seems to have gone several steps further in the development of its SOM solution and plans to make several announcements and presentations before the end of this year. Indeed, the International Electronic Device Meeting (IEDM), an annual event bringing together specialists in San Francisco in December, could be the scene of these announcements. For the PC and IT industries in general, the SOM could bring many benefits. For example, it could simplify the design of laptops, PCs and servers, with virtually no loss of performance or capacity.
SOM: the ideal storage solution combining the non-volatility of flash with the speed of DRAM.
Samsung’s progress is largely due to its choice of materials. The very recent use of AI has enabled the company to test a multitude of combinations of materials to finally find the combination that enables it to produce SOM systems that are more compact, faster, stable and energy-efficient. Without the use of these AI-boosted calculation models, the company would have had to considerably lengthen its development phase, while incurring significant costs to test multiple prototypes. With these new tools, the researchers have established criteria for identifying promising combinations of materials without the need for in-depth physical tests.
Obviously, we’re still a long way from this technology arriving in our PCs. However, depending on the announcements we hear in a few weeks’ time, we may be on the way to a real revolution in the way we store our data.