UltraRAM go! Here’s a glimpse at what the future of memory and storage could look like if this UK startup succeeds
The company behind the exciting UltraRAM technology has earned significant financial backing to bring its component to the market.
Building on its success at the Flash Memory Summit in August 2023, in which the company won the award for most innovative flash memory startup, Quinas Technology has now been awarded a highly coveted grant, according to our sister site Tom’s Hardware.
UltraRAM is a type of universal memory that combines the benefits of flash memory and system memory in one unified component, which can elevate storage in devices to a degree never before seen.
Backing UltraRAM for general availability
The new form of memory has been backed by the British government agency Innovate UK, which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through its ICURe Exploit program, with the grant awarded because Quinas has demonstrated commercial viability and leading-edge science over a six-month program.
With this funding, those behind the technology will test nanometer-scale UltraRAM devices to prove the key claims they’ve made around it, as well as cooperate with investors to move towards production.
Quinas itself is a startup comprising academics who devised the technology as a research project with Lancaster University. The team behind UltraRAM claims the structure and composition of the technology means it can store data for more than 1,000 years without degradation.
System memory, or RAM, can be rewritten many times but requires a constant supply of power. Flash memory, meanwhile, is much slower but retains data once the power supply is cut off. This new form of memory overcomes these limitations and demonstrates the best qualities of both.
The startup also claims UltraRAM has an incredibly high durability of ten million write/erase cycles – with future testing and innovation only set to see this improve.
It also consumes much less energy than traditional types of memory, Quinas claims, while reaching much higher speeds.
The startup now plans to invest in better testing equipment to help with scaling and refinement. It’ll also work with Indian-based Roorkee to model UltraRAM performance in different contexts.
Should UltraRAM one day come to the market, it could lead to a dramatic reduction in power consumption in the best laptops, smartphones and tablets, as well as elevating today’s fastest memory to new speeds.