Trinary data storage?!?! It's true!

posted by MarineGunrock 1 decade 6 years 2 months 3 weeks ago • 1,172 views
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have created a type of nanowire-based information storage device that is capable of storing three bit values rather than the usual two—that is, "0," "1," and "2" instead of just "0" and "1." This ability could lead to a new generation of high-capacity information storage for electronic devices.

"01001001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101110 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110100 01110010 01100001 01100111 01100101 00100001"

Say data storage units everywhere.

New trinary systems countered merely with "1100220020201010112202022110202"


http://www.physorg.com/news134214217.html

9 Comments

MINK says...

so you get four times the space for the same space?

what happens if you can store 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 or 9?

i am shit at maths.

what are the implications for software? i guess nothing, right? this is just storage...?

dgandhi says...

If nanowire memory becomes the way to go, and is reliably multi-state, then more states is "better". Anything that deviates from base 2 will be a pain in the ass, unless building high-base processors becomes feasible, and has benefits in itself.

Binary systems are simply an abstraction, all memory and processors are actually analog systems which can reliably replicate binary logic by having a large gap of "undefined" values between these states, as you increase the number of states you reduce the amount of undefined space available, and potentially reduce the reliability of the system.

From the link this is physically a 4 state machine, but the difference between states 1 and 2 are undetectable at the moment. If we don't use high-state processors, the high-base memory will create a lot of problems in conversion, even if it has sufficiently distinct states.

Also this is all so pre-alpha, the functional data density is probably many orders of magnitude lower then the HD in my latop, since they probably have less then a meg of the stuff working, and the machine in their lab is probably larger than my fridge.

From a computer tech perspective, it's good to be looking down these roads, but most of them will be dead ends. Don't expect to see anything at this theoretical level ever hit the market.

Send this Article to a Friend



Separate multiple emails with a comma (,); limit 5 recipients






Your email has been sent successfully!

Manage this Video in Your Playlists

New Blog Posts from All Members