Carnegie-Mellon University Paper highlights • Discusses a new secondary storage technology that could revolutionize computer architecture – Faster than hard drives – Lower entry cost – Lower weight and volume – Lower power consumption • Paper emphasis is on physical description of device DISK DRIVE LIMITATIONS • Disk drive capacities double every year – Better than the 60% per year growth rate of semiconductor memories
• Two major limitations of disk drives are
– Access times decreases have been minimal – Minimum entry cost remains too high for many applications Stating the problem • We need a type of new mass storage that can break both barriers of – Access times – Minimum entry cost
New mass storage should also be significantly
cheaper than non-volatile RAM – $100 now buys 1 GB of flash memory MEMS • Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) use – Same parallel wafer-fabrication process as semiconductor memories • Keeps the prices low – Same mechanical positioning of R/W heads as disk drives • Data can be stored using higher density thin- film technology Main advantages of MEMS (I) • Potential for dramatic decreases in – Entry cost – Access time – Volume – Mass – Power dissipation – Failure rate – Shock sensitivity Main advantages of MEMS (II) • Integrate storage with computation – Complete systems-on-a-chip integrating • Processing unit • RAM • Non-volatile storage – Many many new portable applications THE CMU MEMS PROTOTYPE • Like a disk drive, it has – recording heads – a moving magnetic recording medium • Major departures from disk drive architecture are – MEMS recording heads—probe tips—are fabricated in a parallel wafer-level manufacturing process – Media surface does not rotate How the media surface moves • Media surfaces that rotate require ball bearings • Very small ball bearings have “striction” problems that prevent accurate positioning – Elements would move by sticking and slipping • Best solution is to have media sled moving in X-Y directions – Sled moves in Y-direction for data access – Sled is suspended by springs Conceptual view
Sled suspension is omitted from drawing
Sled with magnetic coating on bottom
Fixed part with tip array
The media sled • Size is 8mm x 8mm x 500 m • Held over the probe tip array by a network of springs • Motion applied through electrostatic actuators – Motion limited to 10% or less of suspension/actuator length – Each probe tip can only sweep 1% of the media sled The probe tip array • Includes a large number of probe tips for – Being able to access whole media sled (in combination with X-Y motions of sled) – Improving data throughput – Increasing system reliability Probe tip positioning (I) • Most MEMS include some form of tip height control because – Media surface is not perfectly flat – Probe tip heights can vary • CMU prototype places each probe tip on a separate cantilever • Cantilever is electrostatically actuated to a fixed distance from the media surface Probe tip positioning (II) • IBM Millipede – Uses a 32 x 32 array of probe tips – Each tip is placed at the end of a flexible cantilever – Cantilever bends when tip touches surface • HP design places media surface and probe tips sufficiently apart – No need to control probe tips Probe tip positioning (III) • CMU solution is most complex of three – Must control individual heights of 6,400 probe tips • Required by recording technology Probe tip fabrication • Major challenge is fabricating read/write probe tips in a way that is compatible with the underlying CMOS circuitry • This includes – thermal compatibility – geometrical compatibility – chemical compatibility – ... Media positioning • System’s current target is to have each probe tip in the middle of a 100 m square – Media actuator must be able to move at least ±50 m in each direction – Can be achieved with an actuation voltage of 120V • Well above CMOS rated voltage Storing, reading and writing bits • CMU prototype uses same magnetic recording technology as current disk drives – Minimum mark size is around 80m x 80m • Other solutions include – Melting pits in a polymer (IBM Millipede): • Raises tip wear issues – Phase change media (HP prototype) • Same technology as CD-ROM PROTOTYPE PERFORMANCE (I) All data were obtained through simulation • Average service time around 0.52 ms – Disk drive service time is 10.1 ms – Key factor for service time is X-seek time • I/O bandwidth depends on – number of simultaneously active tips – per-tip data rate PROTOTYPE PERFORMANCE (II) • Sustainable data rate is not a linear function of access data rate – Track switching time now depends on access velocity: Faster sled means higher turn around time • Maximum sustainable data rate of single tip varies from 1.4 to 1.8 Mb/s – Reached for peak data rate of 2 to 3 MB/s Application performance • PostMark benchmark: – Models file activity in Internet servers – Prototype is 3.4 times faster than current drives • Much faster metadata updates • TPC-D benchmark: – Models transaction processing – Prototype is 3.9 times faster despite extensive caching in competing disk drive POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS • Lighter and less shock sensitive than disk drives – Great for notebook PC’s, PDA’s and video camcorders • Lower cost than disk drives in 1 to 10 GB range – Will open many new applications • High areal densities – Great for storing huge amounts of data • Can combine computing and storage on a single chip MY OVERALL OPINION • Technology has a bright future if and when production kinks get solved • We should remain somewhat skeptical – Not the first “gap-filling” technology to be tried – Bubble memories were “hot” in the 70’s – Lower RAM prices killed them in the early 80’s • Watch prices of non-volatile RAM