What is flash memory?
You’ve got options when it comes to storing digital data. For durability and portability, flash drives offer a useful solution. What Is Flash Memory? Flash memory, also known as solid-state memory, is a specific type of computer memory that can be easily erased and overwritten. Unlike the memory you typically find in computers, flash memory doesn’t require power in order to retain information. This means you can unplug it from a computer and carry it around, and it keeps the data you’ve written on it until you flash it, or erase it, and overwrite it with other data. Other types of memory require electricity to retain data, whereas a flash drive holds the data until you choose to erase it. Many Forms of Flash The most common type of flash memory you’ll encounter is USB thumb drives. USB drives, also known as key drives or thumb drives, are solid-state drives that don’t have moving parts and can easily access and overwrite data. Because there are no moving parts, access times are slightl
Flash memory, or flash ROM, is a non-volatile storage medium. Flash can be read just like normal ROM, at about the same speed with about the same power consumption, but it can also be written to. Writing takes much higher power consumption and is relatively slow, so it is not practical for main system memory. The HP49 has 2MB of flash memory. The first megabyte is used by the system for the ROM (the internal system software). This means that the ROM can be upgraded as bugs are found and fixed. The second megabyte is empty, available to the user for data storage. Although some flash memory is quite limited in how many times it can be erased and rewritten, HP guarantees the HP49G’s flash ROM to 1 million cycles. A cycle is reaches every time a bank is formatted, and it takes 9 seconds to format a bank and write to it again. To reach the limit (eight banks times one million cycles times nine seconds) it would take over 2 years of continuous use (and think of all the batteries wasted). Eve
Flash memory refers to a particular type of EEPROM, or Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. It is a memory chip that maintains stored information without requiring a power source. Flash memory differs from EEPROM in that EEPROM erases its content one byte at a time. This makes it slow to update. Flash memory can erase its data in entire blocks, making it a preferable technology for applications that require frequent updating of large amounts of data as in the case of a memory stick. Inside the flash chip, information is stored in cells. A floating gate protects the data written in each cell. Tunneling electrons pass through a low conductive material to change the electronic charge of the gate in “a flash,” clearing the cell of its contents so that it can be rewritten. This is how flash memory gets its name. Flash memory is very useful in a variety of applications including: • Your computer BIOS • Memory sticks • PCMCIA memory cards • MP3 players • Modems • Video game
Flash memory is a type of highly portable, constantly powered memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. Flash memory has no moving parts and is non-volatile, which means that no outside power is needed to maintain the data stored in the chip. Flash memory gets its name because the manner in which data is erased is in a single action or “flash”.
