In a live keynote address, Intel and partner, Micron Technology, unveiled their new 3D Xpoint storage chip, which they claim is 1,000 times faster than current flash memory capabilities.
With the announcement, the companies defined a new nonvolatile chip category that works entirely without transistors.
“For decades, the industry has searched for ways to reduce the lag time between the processor and data to allow much faster analysis,” Intel VP Rob Crooke said. “This new class of nonvolatile memory achieves this goal and brings game-changing performance to memory and storage solutions.”
Instead of the transistors, the chips use intricately layered three-dimensional memory cells that researchers claim are 10 times denser than traditional memory chips.
The exact application for the new chips is still unclear, but some experts believe they could play a significant role in big data analytics processes.
“This technology enables ‘edge analytics,’ meaning big data could be done outside of these kinds of data centers, closer to the data,” Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy said. “So instead of doing your processing at an Amazon or Google, you do it in the field.”
Intel sees initial applications for the chip coming in areas such as big data processing for fraud detection and disease tracking.
The two companies have not yet set a price for the new chips, but said they plan to start production in Utah later this year. Initial plans are to start manufacturing a two-layer, 128 gigabit chip and stack more circuitry on later to boost capacity.
