Eliezer writes:
> Okay, I just read a news article (paper, unfortunately - London Times) > that alleges one Ted Williams of Keele University in the UK, inventor of > NMR, claims the following: > > 1. Storing 2,300 gigabytes in a credit card; > [...]
I found some information on this at
http://www.keele.ac.uk/research/cmrkeele.htm:
: Professor Ted Williams, Emeritus Professor of Electronic Engineering
: at Keele University, Staffordshire, England has developed a patented
: solid state memory system with the capacity of 86 Giga Bytes per square
: centimetre of surface area. The system uses a magneto-optical system
: not dissimilar to that of CD-ROM, except that the system is fixed,
: solid state, and has a different operating approach.
:
: The system has applications for computer and processor memory for credit
: cards and smart cards, and for high security bank notes, among many
: other uses.
:
: In computer memory format, the system has a capacity per sq cm in
: excess of 86 Giga Bytes of re-writeable RAM data - this equates to a
: memory capacity of 3400 Giga Bytes(3.4 Tb) within the surface area of a
: credit card! Data access time is around 100 Mb/sec. A single unit with
: this capacity, but using the computer's processor, has a physical size
: of about 3 cm x 3 cm x 1.5 cms (high). An additional advantage over
: existing data storage systems is that only 20% of gross capacity needs
: to be allocated for error correction, which is significantly less than
: the 40% for hard disks and 30% for optical storage. Production costs
: are anticipated to be less than £30 for such a unit.
:
: Patents have been granted for parts of the system, and patent applications
: have been filed for other aspects.
:
: The invention will have a major impact on the computer industry, giving
: even small palmtop computers the capacity of a mainframe! The effect on
: other industries will be equally significant - for example, televisions
: could have built-in solid state video recorders, wristwatches could
: have vastly more power than today's PC Computers. Implications for the
: security of financial instruments credit cards and bank notes - will
: be profound, as the high data-density substrate used can be put onto
: virtually every surface.
:
: All commercial aspects relating to the technology are being handled by
: Mike Downey, Managing Director, Cavendish Management Resources: