Milestones in Solid-State Memory

About this interactive

The Flash lesson walks through how solid-state memory chips developed. PROM, programmable read-only memory, could be programmed once; to change the program you replaced the chip. EPROM could be erased, but only by taking it out and shining ultraviolet light through a window on the chip. EEPROM is erased and rewritten electrically, a byte at a time, with the chip left in place, so firmware could be updated. Flash erases in blocks, which made it dense and cheap enough for USB drives, SD cards and SSDs. Later, multi-level cells stored more than one bit in each cell, and V-NAND stood the cells up in stacked columns. One correction to the video: it says EEPROM erased the whole chip. Most EEPROM can erase and rewrite a single byte at a time; flash erases a larger block at a time, which is what lets it pack far more bits into a cheaper chip. The cards describe each step without its name. Put them in order, oldest first.

What you'll learn

Put the development of solid-state memory chips in order, from a chip programmed once to flash that erases in blocks, multi-level cells and stacked V-NAND, by what each step changed

Key terms

PROM: Programmable Read-Only Memory; an early chip that could be programmed once and could not be erased or reprogrammed.
EPROM: Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory; a chip that stores data and can be erased by exposing it to UV light, then reprogrammed.
EEPROM: Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory; a chip that can be erased and reprogrammed using electrical signals without UV light, enabling firmware updates.
Flash Memory: A type of non-volatile solid-state memory that stores data on chips and retains information without power; it is the storage technology behind SSDs, USB drives, and SD cards.
Multi-Level Cell: A flash memory cell type that stores two bits of data per cell by dividing the voltage range into four distinct levels.
Vertical NAND: A flash memory architecture that stacks cylindrical memory cells vertically in columns rather than horizontally, dramatically increasing storage density on a single chip.

Topics

Flash Memory Rom Solid State Interactive Ordering

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