4/2 - Ever since the advent of the iPod, when Apple stopped using Seagate one inch hard drives and started using NAND flash memory instead to store music and video on the devices, some financial analysts have predicted the demise of the hard drive industry and it being replaced by NAND flash. This didn't make any sense any time soon. For one, NAND flash hard drives were not on the published roadmaps of core logic chipset manufacturers. The type of interface, the throughput rates, and the number of ports for hard drives all have to have support from the chipset.

The computer industry has since forged ahead with plans to put NAND flash into computer systems in some way or other. So far though, these plans are not either / or propositions, but rather both / and. They don't want to replace hard drives with NAND. They want something to complement hard drive technology.

One way of implementing NAND flash is to put it on the hard drives themselves. Hard drive manufacturers, however, have been slow to respond to the demand for hard drives with flash memory.

Intel, in the meantime, has forged ahead with its own plans for implementing NAND, and it doesn't physically involve the hard drive but rather is directly implemented on the motherboard. Come to think of it, Intel has much larger resources at its disposal for research and development than hard drive manufacturers, so maybe it is fitting that they should incorporate NAND into systems first.

Robson is Intel's codename for the module of NAND flash memory on the motherboard.

Intel's implementation of NAND, by the way, entirely bypasses the chipset issue mentioned above. The module will require a driver. Other than that, it uses PCI Express, which already has support from current chipset technology. "The Robson cache connects to the I/O controller via PCI Express".

Not too long ago, memory maker Micron and Intel joined hands to form a new company that manufactured NAND flash memory—IM Flash Technologies. It turns out that the move is more than just an attempt by Intel to capitalize on the recent popularity of NAND and make lots of money. Well, maybe it's that, too. But it is also a strategic investment. Intel wants to do things with NAND. The general manager of Intel's Mobility Group has gone on record saying that the company is very interested in NAND in mobile devices and "in the use of NAND in computers in general".

Robson Technology appears to be the first tangible result of Intel's newfound interest in NAND.

Flash memory is nonvolatile, meaning that it doesn't lose its data when it's turned off. It's like a hard drive. Your files and folders remain intact, even after you turn your computer off. Flash is not like RAM or system memory, which loses everything once it's off.

Intel also makes NOR memory, another type of flash. The company's recent investment in NAND is in addition to its existing NOR investment.

The stupendous growth of late in the flash market has been driven by NAND, not so much by NOR. NOR is older technology, NAND younger. All Wall Street cares about is growth.

Robson is also a platform technology. It's meant to be part of the next generation Centrino platform, codenamed Santa Rosa, and we hope other platforms as well. The general manager of the Mobility Group demoed Robson at the last Intel Developer Forum to show the impact that nonvolatile memory could have on platforms. "It's just not about simply pouring flash into a notebook".

The benefits of Robson are threefold. Drastically reduced boot-up times, much faster applications, and less power consumption, the last of which translates into longer battery life.

The power-saving aspect of Robson should benefit laptops most of all. Intel's goal is to eventually have a notebook platform that can go a full eight hours on a single battery charge.

Boot times are important because Intel wants devices that come up as fast as cell phones. "The same way you climb off a plane and you immediately get a cell phone signal, we need devices that come into life very fast".

And any platform that has Robson will benefit from faster applications.