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{{Redirect|RAM|other uses|RAM (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Random Access Memories|Random-access machine}}
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[[File:Random Access Memory HyperX.jpg|thumb|8GB [[DDR3]] RAM stick with a white [[heatsink]]]]
'''Random-access memory''' ('''RAM'''; {{IPAc-en|r|æ|m}}) is a form of [[Computer memory|electronic computer memory]] that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working [[Data (computing)|data]] and [[machine code]].<ref>{{cite web |title=RAM |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ram |website=[[Cambridge English Dictionary]] |access-date=11 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=RAM |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/ram_2 |website=[[Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary]] |access-date=11 July 2019}}</ref> A [[random
In
Non-volatile RAM has also been developed<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Gallagher|first=Sean|title=Memory that never forgets: non-volatile DIMMs hit the market|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/04/memory-that-never-forgets-non-volatile-dimms-hit-the-market/|magazine=[[Ars Technica]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708073138/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/04/memory-that-never-forgets-non-volatile-dimms-hit-the-market/|archive-date=July 8, 2017|date=April 4, 2013}}</ref> and other types of [[Non-volatile memory|non-volatile memories]] allow random access for read operations, but either do not allow write operations or have other kinds of limitations. These include most types of [[ROM]] and [[NOR flash memory]].
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[[File:Early SSA accounting operations.jpg|thumb|These IBM [[tabulating machine]]s from the mid-1930s used [[mechanical counter]]s to store information.]]
Early computers used [[relay]]s, [[mechanical counter]]s<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/reference/faq_0000000011.html|title=IBM Archives -- FAQ's for Products and Services|work=ibm.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023184527/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/reference/faq_0000000011.html|archive-date=2012-10-23}}</ref> or [[Delay-line memory|delay lines]] for main memory functions. Ultrasonic delay lines were [[bit-serial architecture|serial devices]] which 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 requires knowledge of the physical layout of the drum to optimize speed. Latches built out of [[triode vacuum tube]]s, and later, out of [[discrete transistor]]s, were used for smaller and faster memories such as [[Hardware register|registers]]. Such registers were relatively large and too costly to use for large amounts of data; generally, only a few dozen or few hundred
The first practical form of random-access memory was the [[Williams tube]]. 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 [[Victoria University of Manchester|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.<ref>{{Citation | last = Napper | first = Brian | title = Computer 50: The University of Manchester Celebrates the Birth of the Modern Computer | url = http://www.computer50.org/ | access-date = 26 May 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120504133240/http://www.computer50.org/ | archive-date = 4 May 2012 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Williams |first1=F. C. |last2=Kilburn |first2=T. |title=Electronic Digital Computers |journal=Nature |volume=162 |pages=487 |date=Sep 1948 |doi=10.1038/162487a0 |issue=4117 |postscript=. |bibcode=1948Natur.162..487W |s2cid=4110351|doi-access=free }} Reprinted in ''The Origins of Digital Computers''.</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Williams |first1=F. C. |last2=Kilburn |first2=T. |last3=Tootill |first3=G. C. |title=Universal High-Speed Digital Computers: A Small-Scale Experimental Machine |url=http://www.computer50.org/kgill/mark1/ssem.html |journal=Proc. IEE |date=Feb 1951 |volume=98 |issue=61 |pages=13–28 |postscript=. |doi=10.1049/pi-2.1951.0004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117101730/http://www.computer50.org/kgill/mark1/ssem.html |archive-date=2013-11-17|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
[[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 [[computer memory]] until displaced by [[semiconductor memory]] in [[integrated circuit]]s (ICs) during the early 1970s.<ref name="computerhistory1970"/>
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===MOS RAM===
In 1957, Frosch and Derick manufactured the first silicon dioxide field-effect transistors at Bell Labs, the first transistors in which drain and source were adjacent at the surface.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Frosch |first1=C. J. |last2=Derick |first2=L |date=1957 |title=Surface Protection and Selective Masking during Diffusion in Silicon |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1.2428650 |journal=Journal of the Electrochemical Society |language=en |volume=104 |issue=9 |pages=547 |doi=10.1149/1.2428650|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Subsequently, in 1960, a team demonstrated a working [[MOSFET]] at Bell Labs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=KAHNG |first=D. |orig-date=1961 |title=Silicon-Silicon Dioxide Surface Device |url=https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |journal=Technical Memorandum of Bell Laboratories |pages=583–596 |doi=10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |isbn=978-981-02-0209-5|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lojek |first=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-34258-8 |___location=Berlin, Heidelberg |page=321}}</ref> This led to the development of [[metal–oxide–semiconductor]] (MOS) memory by John Schmidt at [[Fairchild Semiconductor]] in 1964.<ref name="computerhistory1970" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kG4rAQAAIAAJ&q=John+Schmidt |title=Solid State Design – Vol. 6 |date=1965 |publisher=Horizon House}}</ref> In addition to higher speeds, MOS [[semiconductor memory]] was cheaper and consumed less power than magnetic core memory.<ref name="computerhistory1970"
Integrated bipolar [[static random-access memory]] (SRAM) was invented by Robert H. Norman at [[Fairchild Semiconductor]] in 1963.<ref>{{cite patent
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| inventor = Robert H. Norman
| invent1 = Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation
}}</ref> It was followed by the development of MOS SRAM by John Schmidt at Fairchild in 1964.<ref name="computerhistory1970"/> SRAM became an alternative to magnetic-core memory, but required six MOS transistors for each
[[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 [[Memory refresh|refreshed]] every few milliseconds before the charge could leak away.
[[Toshiba]]'s Toscal BC-1411 [[electronic calculator]], which was introduced in 1965,<ref>[http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/co8406093/toscal-bc-1411-calculator-with-electronic-calculator Toscal BC-1411 calculator]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729145228/http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/co8406093/toscal-bc-1411-calculator-with-electronic-calculator |date=2017-07-29
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0406-022, VEB Carl Zeiss Jena, 1-Megabit-Chip.jpg|thumb|right|CMOS 1-[[megabit]] (Mbit) DRAM chip, one of the last models developed by [[VEB Carl Zeiss Jena]], in 1989]]
In 1966, [[Robert Dennard]],
The earliest DRAMs were often synchronized with the CPU clock
==Types==
In general, the term ''RAM'' refers solely to solid-state memory devices, and more specifically the main memory in most computers. The two widely used forms of modern RAM are [[static RAM]] (SRAM) and [[dynamic RAM]] (DRAM). In SRAM, a
Both static and dynamic RAM are considered ''volatile'', as their state is lost
[[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 bit]]s or [[Error detection and correction#Error-correcting code|error correction codes]].
==Memory cell==
{{main|Memory cell (computing)}}
The memory cell is the fundamental building block of [[computer memory]]. The memory cell is an [[electronic circuit]] that stores one
In SRAM, the memory cell is a type of [[flip-flop (electronics)|flip-flop]] circuit, usually implemented using [[FET]]s. This means that SRAM requires very low power when not being accessed, but it is complex, expensive and has low storage density.
A second type, DRAM, is based around a capacitor. Charging and discharging this capacitor can store a
{| style="text-align:center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|[[File:SRAM Cell (6 Transistors).svg|thumb|class=skin-invert-image|SRAM cell (6 transistors)]]||[[File:DRAM Cell Structure (Model of Single Circuit Cell).PNG|thumb|DRAM cell (1 transistor and one capacitor)]]
|}<!--[[User:Kvng/RTH]]-->
|}▼
==Addressing==
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Usually several memory cells share the same address. For example, a 4 bit "wide" RAM chip has four memory cells for each address. Often the width of the memory and that of the microprocessor are different, for a 32 bit microprocessor, eight 4 bit RAM chips would be needed.
Often more addresses are needed than can be provided by a device. In that case, external multiplexors to the device are used to activate the correct device that is being accessed. RAM is often byte addressable, although it is also possible to make RAM that is word-addressable.<ref>{{cite book |
==Memory hierarchy==
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==Memory wall==
The
Another reason for the disparity is the enormous increase in the size of memory since the start of the PC revolution in the 1980s. Originally, PCs contained less than 1 mebibyte of RAM, which often had a response time of 1 CPU clock cycle, meaning that it required 0 wait states. Larger memory units are inherently slower than smaller ones of the same type, simply because it takes longer for signals to traverse a larger circuit. Constructing a memory unit of many gibibytes with a response time of one clock cycle is difficult or impossible.
CPU speed improvements slowed significantly partly due to major physical barriers and partly because
<blockquote>First of all, as chip geometries shrink and clock frequencies rise, the transistor [[leakage current]] increases, leading to excess power consumption and heat... Secondly, the advantages of higher clock speeds are in part negated by memory latency, since memory access times have not been able to keep pace with increasing clock frequencies. Third, for certain applications, traditional serial architectures are becoming less efficient as processors get faster (due to the so-called [[von Neumann bottleneck]]), further undercutting any gains that frequency increases might otherwise buy. In addition, partly due to limitations in the means of producing inductance within solid state devices, [[RC time constant#Delay|resistance-capacitance]] (RC) delays in signal transmission are growing as feature sizes shrink, imposing an additional bottleneck that frequency increases don't address.</blockquote>
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|{{?}}
|{{n/a}}
|<ref>{{cite book |title=IBM first in IC memory |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102770626 |
|-
|{{?}}
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|12,000 [[Nanometre|nm]]
|PMOS
|<ref name="Intel-Product-Timeline"/><ref name="shmj-1970s-sram">{{cite web |title=1970s: SRAM evolution |url=http://www.shmj.or.jp/english/pdf/ic/exhibi724E.pdf |website=Semiconductor History Museum of Japan |access-date=27 June 2019}}</ref><ref name="Pimbley">{{cite book |last1=Pimbley |first1=J. |title=Advanced CMOS Process Technology |date=2012 |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |isbn=9780323156806 |page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8EUWHSqevQoC&pg=PA7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.intel-vintage.info/intelmemory.htm|title=Intel Memory|website=Intel Vintage|access-date=2019-07-06|ref=intel-memory|archive-date=2022-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319073833/https://www.intel-vintage.info/intelmemory.htm|url-status=
|-
|1972
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|rowspan="2" | {{?}}
|rowspan="2" | CMOS
|rowspan="2" | <ref name="
|-
|64 kbit
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|2,500 nm
|NMOS
|<ref name="
|-
|{{dts|1981|10}}
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|[[1.5 μm process|1,500 nm]]
|NMOS (HMOS)
|<ref name="
|-
|{{dts|1983|2}}
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|1,200 nm
|CMOS
|<ref name="
|-
|1987
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|{{?}}
|CMOS
|<ref name="
|-
|{{dts|1987|12}}
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|{{?}}
|rowspan="2" | CMOS
|rowspan="2" | <ref name="
|-
|1992
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|PMOS
|10 mm<sup>2</sup>
|<ref name="Intel2003">{{cite web |title=Intel: 35 Years of Innovation (1968–2003) |url=https://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/General/35yrs.pdf |publisher=Intel |year=2003 |access-date=26 June 2019}}</ref><ref name="HC">[http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/dram.html ''The DRAM memory of Robert Dennard''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801004808/https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/dram.html |date=2020-08-01 }} history-computer.com</ref><ref name="Lojek-1103">{{cite book |last1=Lojek |first1=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9783540342588 |pages=362–363 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cu1Oh_COv8C&pg=PA362 |quote=The i1103 was manufactured on a 6-mask silicon-gate P-MOS process with 8 μm minimum features. The resulting product had a 2,400 μm<sup>2</sup> memory cell size, a die size just under 10 mm<sup>2</sup>, and sold for around $21.}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" |1971
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|CMOS
|{{?}}
| rowspan="2" |<ref name="
|-
|1993
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|CMOS
|{{?}}
|rowspan="2" |<ref name="HB19950109">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140827092848/http://business.highbeam.com/3591/article-1G1-16482653/breaking-gigabit-barrier-drams-isscc-portend-major ''Breaking the gigabit barrier, DRAMs at ISSCC portend major system-design impact. (dynamic random access memory; International Solid-State Circuits Conference; Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp. research and development)'']}}, January 9, 1995</ref><ref name="smithsonian-japan"/>
|-
|Hitachi
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|CMOS
|{{?}}
|<ref name="
|-
|1998
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|{{?}}
|<ref name="hynix90s-skhynix.com"/>
|{{sort|2001|February 2001}}▼
|{{?}}▼
|4 Gbit▼
|DRAM▼
|Samsung▼
|[[100 nm]]▼
|CMOS▼
|{{?}}▼
|<ref name="
|-
|{{sort|2001|June 2001}}
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|{{?}}
|<ref>{{cite news |title=Toshiba's new 32 Mb Pseudo-SRAM is no fake |url=https://www.theengineer.co.uk/toshibas-new-32-mb-pseudo-sram-is-no-fake/ |access-date=29 June 2019 |work=The Engineer |date=24 June 2001 |language=en-UK |archive-date=29 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629232051/https://www.theengineer.co.uk/toshibas-new-32-mb-pseudo-sram-is-no-fake/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
▲|{{sort|2001|February 2001}}
▲|{{?}}
▲|4 Gbit
▲|DRAM
▲|Samsung
▲|[[100 nm]]
▲|CMOS
▲|{{?}}
▲|<ref name="stol"/><ref>{{cite web |title=A Study of the DRAM industry |url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/59138/659514510-MIT.pdf |publisher=[[MIT]] |date=8 June 2010 |access-date=29 June 2019}}</ref>
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