LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Swiss researchers say they've developed shock-proof "racetrack" computer memory 100,000 times faster than current hard drives that will consume less energy.
Like a videocassette, the proposed solution involves data recorded on magnetic media, but in this system the "tape" would be a nickel-iron nanowire, a million times smaller than the classic VHS tape, ScienceDaily.com reported.
Unlike a magnetic videocassette, nothing would move mechanically. The bits of information stored in the wire are simply pushed around inside the "racetrack" using a spin polarized current at a speed of several hundred meters per second.
It's like reading an entire VHS cassette in less than a second, researchers say.
Millions or even billions of nanowires would be embedded in a chip, providing enormous capacity of non-volatile memory on a shock-proof platform, they say.
Racetrack-equipped computers would boot up instantly and would save energy, the researchers said.
It's an important consideration -- computing and electronics currently consume 6 percent of worldwide electricity, a level forecast to increase to 15 percent by 2025.
The researchers say racetrack memory for computers could be on the market in as little as five to seven years.
