hrmpf on November 15th, 2007

Today, nine Apple patent applications concerning Flash memory became available. Instead of Apple being a passive buyer of NAND memory as is generally supposed this shows Apple actively researching Flash memory, memory controllers and circuit boards and their applications. Obviously, the development of Flash memory technology has implications beyond the iPod sphere and will only add fuel to the rumors of the incorporation of Flash memory into future MacBooks and, dare I say it, Apple Sub NoteBooks.

From the Patents:

The patents deal with squeezing more performance and capacity out of Flash memory, decreasing access times and decreasing power usage. The patent application numbers are listed at the bottom of this story.

Are faster startup times and Robson Caching finally on the way?.

Inventors: Michael Cornwell and Christopher Dudte
Assignee Name and Adress: APPLE INC.
Filed: March 30, 2007

About the Inventors:

 

Cornwell and Dudte seem to be a bit of a team and have their names on a number of patent applications together, going back to patents for Quantum Corporation. They seem to have been poached by Apple and are now working on storage and Flash-based memory projects. Michael Cornwell developed the SMART computer program that enables operating system users to foresee and avoid hard drive failures (that’s pretty cool!). Christopher Dudte is currently a Senior Storage Engineer at Apple (moved from the iPod division).

 

The Patent Applications

20070263469	Two Levels of Voltage Regulation Supplied for Logic and Data Programming Voltage of a Memory Device
20070263455	Iterative Memory Cell Charging Based on Reference Cell Value
20070263454	Maintenance Operations for Multi-Level Data Storage Cells
20070263442	Off-Die Charge Pump that Supplies Multiple Flash Devices
20070263441	Analog Interface for a Flash Memory Die
20070263440	Multi-Chip Package for a Flash Memory
20070263439	Dynamic Cell Bit Resolution
20070262890	Use of 8-Bit or Higher A/D for NAND Cell Value