C-3PO and Lt. Commander Data may be here sooner than you think.
Scientists at UVA's ExSiTE Lab — which focuses on heat transfer at the nanoscale (think measuring atoms) — are developing a whole new class of memory that could become the building block for simulating the way a human brain processes information. Alumnus (MAE '18) and research assistant Kuimars Aryana has recently advanced research about a new type of memory, called phase change memory, and catapulted this possibility forward. He recently published his findings in Nature Communications.
“If we intend to do the type of data processing needed by more advanced artificial intelligence, we need a better way to process and store memory,” Aryana said. “We've maxed out what we can do with our current technology, it's not enough. One of the most promising candidates for next-level data processing is phase change memory, and that's what we're working on. “
Computers use two types of storage memory, ‘working' memory, what we know as RAM, and ‘storage' memory, what we know as SSD or our hard drive,” Aryana said. “Forty percent of the energy needed for the computer is used by the processor going back and forth between working and storage memory. Phase change memory has the potential to combine all of this into a single processing and storage unit, using significantly less energy. In our field, this type of memory design is the Holy Grail because it mimics the way human thinking works.”
Aryana's work is supported by Western Digital, who's aim is to catalyze a major jump in memory technology, not unlike the jump we have already seen between a floppy disk (remember those?) and a thumb drive.
“Kiumars started as a Ph.D. student three years ago but now he's running the entire project and is just giving me updates. Besides making a huge impact in the field, he's published in one of the most prestigious journals in our field as a student, that's pretty awesome,” said Patrick Hopkins, Aryana's advisor, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and ExSiTE lab director.