Intel is set to launch an industry-wide initiative to encourage the use of NAND Flash in notebook and desktop computers in a bid to boost boot times and deliver improved power savings.
'Robson' is a "NAND Flash-based PC boot booster" or in Intel terminology "NAND Flash-based platform accelerator." Rumours of Robson have come and gone, but this week the chip giant confirmed the technology to be a real one.
Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) initiative :
Intel is putting in place the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) initiative, which will seek to develop a standard method of implementing and using Robson-like system in PCs - and presumably Macs now.
Intel's pitch is that ONFI will do all the hard work, allowing notebook manufacturers to implement the technique easily and cheaply.
How it works :
Robson provides a standard module ready to slot onto a motherboard. Operating system start-up data is loaded onto the on-board Flash chips to reduce boot times - after an initial boot, the only time the system would start up from the hard drive is in circumstances when the start-up code or procedure has changed. And then a new, updated copy would be dumped to Flash for next time.
Windows Vista is expected to support just such an approach to cutting boot times.
Rivals :
Samsung, the world's leading NAND Flash producer, has been banging on about this for some time. Intel sells NAND Flash too, and with demand for the memory technology reaching record levels thanks to the success of a certain computer maker's iconic portable digital music player, NAND makers have become extremely keen on broader applications they can sell their chips into.
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Update
Intel "Snowgrass" -- NAND Flash For Your Motherboard
Solid-state storage finally comes into mass production; although prices are still sky-high
Intel says Robson will have a version for desktop computers called Snowgrass. The technology is currently in the works and is planned to be released after Robson. Motherboard makers will have designs that contain a slot designed to take a Snowgrass NAND module.
This opens the door for users to customize their motherboards with various sizes of modules for whatever purposes they choose, and also allows the ability to upgrade NAND as it gets less and less expensive. Remember when L2 cache used to sit on the motherboard?
Intel's current Snowgrass specification calls for a modular design, but it now appears that motherboard makers have the option of integrating the technology directly on board. There is no word yet on capacities, but for Snowgrass or Robson to really have any value over the purchase of a faster hard drive, we would have to speculate that the cost of such a module cost less than a few gigabytes of system memory.
We would not be surprised if Robson and Snowgrass have similar price points and capacities as USB NAND at the time of launch. Today, 4GB pen drives using NAND flash memory cost approximately $100.
'Robson' is a "NAND Flash-based PC boot booster" or in Intel terminology "NAND Flash-based platform accelerator." Rumours of Robson have come and gone, but this week the chip giant confirmed the technology to be a real one.
Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) initiative :
Intel is putting in place the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) initiative, which will seek to develop a standard method of implementing and using Robson-like system in PCs - and presumably Macs now.
Intel's pitch is that ONFI will do all the hard work, allowing notebook manufacturers to implement the technique easily and cheaply.
How it works :
Robson provides a standard module ready to slot onto a motherboard. Operating system start-up data is loaded onto the on-board Flash chips to reduce boot times - after an initial boot, the only time the system would start up from the hard drive is in circumstances when the start-up code or procedure has changed. And then a new, updated copy would be dumped to Flash for next time.
Windows Vista is expected to support just such an approach to cutting boot times.
Rivals :
Samsung, the world's leading NAND Flash producer, has been banging on about this for some time. Intel sells NAND Flash too, and with demand for the memory technology reaching record levels thanks to the success of a certain computer maker's iconic portable digital music player, NAND makers have become extremely keen on broader applications they can sell their chips into.
_____________________________
Update
Intel "Snowgrass" -- NAND Flash For Your Motherboard
Solid-state storage finally comes into mass production; although prices are still sky-high
Intel says Robson will have a version for desktop computers called Snowgrass. The technology is currently in the works and is planned to be released after Robson. Motherboard makers will have designs that contain a slot designed to take a Snowgrass NAND module.
This opens the door for users to customize their motherboards with various sizes of modules for whatever purposes they choose, and also allows the ability to upgrade NAND as it gets less and less expensive. Remember when L2 cache used to sit on the motherboard?
Intel's current Snowgrass specification calls for a modular design, but it now appears that motherboard makers have the option of integrating the technology directly on board. There is no word yet on capacities, but for Snowgrass or Robson to really have any value over the purchase of a faster hard drive, we would have to speculate that the cost of such a module cost less than a few gigabytes of system memory.
We would not be surprised if Robson and Snowgrass have similar price points and capacities as USB NAND at the time of launch. Today, 4GB pen drives using NAND flash memory cost approximately $100.