TOPIC:

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY

Submitted by:
Name: Sourin Saha
ROLL: 16044 NO: 0120
Registration no: 209414
B.COM 6th semester
West Guwahati Commerce College
 INTRODUTION
Random-access memory is a form of computer data
storage that stores data and machine code currently
being used. A random-access memory device allows
data items to be read or written in almost the same
amount of time irrespective of the physical location of
data inside the memory. In contrast, with other direct-
access data storage media such as hard disks, CD-RWs,
DVD-RWs and the older magnetic tapes and drum
memory, the time required to read and write data items
varies significantly depending on their physical
locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical
limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm
movement.
RAM contains multiplexing and demultiplexing
circuitry, to connect the data lines to the addressed
storage for reading or writing the entry. Usually more
than one bit of storage is accessed by the same address,
and RAM devices often have multiple data lines and are
said to be "8-bit" or "16-bit", etc. devices.
In today's technology, random-access memory takes the
form of integrated circuits. RAM is normally associated
with volatile types of memory (such as DRAM
modules), where stored information is lost if power is
removed, although non-volatile RAM has also been
developed. Other types of non-volatile memories exist
that allow random access for read operations, but either
do not allow write operations or have other kinds of
limitations on them. These include most types of ROM
and a type of flash memory called NOR-Flash.
Integrated-circuit RAM chips came into the market in
the early 1970s.

Example of writable volatile random-access memory

 HISTORY OF RAM
Early computers used relays, mechanical counters or
delay lines for main memory functions. Ultrasonic
delay lines could only reproduce data in the order it was
written. Drum memory could be expanded at relatively
low cost but efficient retrieval of memory items
required knowledge of the physical layout of the drum
to optimize speed. Latches built out of vacuum tube
triodes, and later, out of discrete transistors, were used
for smaller and faster memories such as registers. Such
registers were relatively large and too costly to use for
large amounts of data; generally only a few dozen or
few hundred bits of such memory could be provided.
The first practical form of random-access memory was
the Williams tube starting in 1947. It stored data as
electrically charged spots on the face of a cathode ray
tube. Since the electron beam of the CRT could read
and write the spots on the tube in any order, memory
was random access. The capacity of the Williams tube
was a few hundred to around a thousand bits, but it was
much smaller, faster, and more power-efficient than
using individual vacuum tube latches. Developed at the
University of Manchester in England, the Williams tube
provided the medium on which the first electronically
stored program was implemented in the Manchester
Baby computer, which first successfully ran a program
on 21 June 1948. In fact, rather than the Williams tube
memory being designed for the Baby, the Baby was a
testbed to demonstrate the reliability of the memory.
Magnetic-core memory was invented in 1947 and
developed up until the mid-1970s. It became a
widespread form of random-access memory, relying on
an array of magnetized rings. By changing the sense of
each ring's magnetization, data could be stored with one
bit stored per ring. Since every ring had a combination
of address wires to select and read or write it, access to
any memory location in any sequence was possible.
Magnetic core memory was the standard form of
memory system until displaced by solid-state memory
in integrated circuits, starting in the early 1970s.
Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) allowed
replacement of a 4 or 6-transistor latch circuit by a
single transistor for each memory bit, greatly increasing
memory density at the cost of volatility. Data was
stored in the tiny capacitance of each transistor, and had
to be periodically refreshed every few milliseconds
before the charge could leak away. The Toshiba Toscal
BC-1411 electronic calculator, which was introduced in
1965, used a form of DRAM built from discrete
components. DRAM was then developed by Robert H.
Dennard in 1968.
 TYPES OF RAM
The two widely used forms of modern RAM are :-
1. static RAM (SRAM) 2. dynamic RAM
(DRAM).
In SRAM, a bit of data is stored using the state of a six
transistor memory cell. This form of RAM is more
expensive to produce, but is generally faster and
requires less dynamic power than DRAM. In modern
computers, SRAM is often used as cache memory for
the CPU. DRAM stores a bit of data using a transistor
and capacitor pair, which together comprise a DRAM
cell. The capacitor holds a high or low charge (1 or 0,
respectively), and the transistor acts as a switch that lets
the control circuitry on the chip read the capacitor's
state of charge or change it. As this form of memory is
less expensive to produce than static RAM, it is the
predominant form of computer memory used in modern
computers.
Both static and dynamic RAM are considered volatile,
as their state is lost or reset when power is removed
from the system. By contrast, read-only memory
(ROM) stores data by permanently enabling or
disabling selected transistors, such that the memory
cannot be altered. Writeable variants of ROM (such as
EEPROM and flash memory) share properties of both
ROM and RAM, enabling data to persist without power
and to be updated without requiring special equipment.
These persistent forms of semiconductor ROM include
USB flash drives, memory cards for cameras and
portable devices, and solid-state drives. ECC memory
(which can be either SRAM or DRAM) includes special
circuitry to detect and/or correct random faults
(memory errors) in the stored data, using parity bits or
error correction codes.
In general, the term RAM refers solely to solid-state
memory devices (either DRAM or SRAM), and more
specifically the main memory in most computers. In
optical storage, the term DVD-RAM is somewhat of a
misnomer since, unlike CD-RW or DVD-RW it does
not need to be erased before reuse. Nevertheless, a
DVD-RAM behaves much like a hard disc drive if
somewhat slower.
Types of DRAM
There are mainly 5 types of DRAM:
1. Asynchronous DRAM (ADRAM): The DRAM
described above is the asynchronous type DRAM.
The timing of the memory device is controlled
asynchronously. A specialized memory controller
circuit generates the necessary control signals to
control the timing. The CPU must take into account
the delay in the response of the memory.
2. Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM): These RAM
chips’ access speed is directly synchronized with
the CPU’s clock. For this, the memory chips
 remain ready for operation when the CPU expects
them to be ready. These memories operate at the
CPU-memory bus without imposing wait states.
SDRAM is commercially available as modules
incorporating multiple SDRAM chips and forming
the required capacity for the modules.
3. Double-Data-Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM):
This faster version of SDRAM performs its
operations on both edges of the clock signal;
whereas a standard SDRAM performs its
operations on the rising edge of the clock signal.
Since they transfer data on both edges of the clock,
the data transfer rate is doubled. To access the data
at high rate, the memory cells are organized into
two groups. Each group is accessed separately.
4. Rambus DRAM (RDRAM): The RDRAM
provides a very high data transfer rate over a
narrow CPU-memory bus. It uses various speedup
mechanisms, like synchronous memory interface,
caching inside the DRAM chips and very fast
signal timing. The Rambus data bus width is 8 or 9
bits.
5. Cache DRAM (CDRAM): This memory is a
special type DRAM memory with an on-chip cache
memory (SRAM) that acts as a high-speed buffer
for the main DRAM.
 RECENT DEVELOPMENT
Conventional memory chips—called DRAM—store
ones and zeros using a electrical charge in each memory
cell, but Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) uses a
magnetic charge. Resistive RAM (RRAM) is based on a
sandwich made from two materials, with the center
layer having a different resistance to the material that
makes up the outer layers.
Conventional memory chips—called DRAM—store
ones and zeros using a electrical charge in each memory
cell, but Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) uses a
magnetic charge. Resistive RAM (RRAM) is based on a
sandwich made from two materials, with the center
layer having a different resistance to the material that
makes up the outer layers. RRAM will eventually
deliver 20 times faster write performance, 20 times less
power consumption and 10 times more durability than
NAND flash memory. G.Skill Introduces 'World's
Fastest' 128GB, 64GB DDR4 RAM Kits. Memory
manufacturer G.Skill announced today what it says is
the world's fastest 128GB and 64GB DDR4 memory
kits.