Hi, Just to add a little more chaos to the XRAM discussion. I will leave the ((E)(P))ROMs out the discussion, however. Both SRAM as DRAM need power to keep their memory contents as of course to read/write the memory. As far as I know, the only commercial type of memory that keeps its contains, even when the power supply is cut off, is FlashRAM. It is used for instance in chipcards etc. However, besides FlashRAM, there also other designs of non-volatile memory like FRAM and MRAM, which stands for Ferro-Electric RAM and Magneto-Resistance RAM. These last two types use a physical effect, which can have to states (e.g. a "0" and a "1" state) and remains in this state permanently (i.e. after 10M read-cycles) unless a write operation is performed. Besides begin non-valatile these types of memory have also other benefits like being radiation-proof, which is of enormous importance for satelite technology (much higher levels of cosmic radiation). However, they are still in development phase or are only produced in very small quantities. I wonder, if they'll ever be used on a large scale, but perhaps when there is no more stretch in the Si-based type of memories, the FRAMs and MRAMs can go further. The future will tell. [class dismissed] Bye, /\/\ark **** MSX Mailinglist. To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the body (not subject) "unsubscribe msx [EMAIL PROTECTED]" (without the quotes :-) Problems? contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] (www.stack.nl/~wiebe/mailinglist/) ****
