Memory spot chip
Encyclopedia
The Memory Spot chip is an integrated circuit
currently in development by Hewlett-Packard
. The chip incorporates a central processing unit
, random access memory and a wireless receiver, all bundled together in a device 1.4 or 2 mm².
The research done to design and build the chip was done in Hewlett-Packard's laboratory in Bristol
.
Hewlett-Packard says that the chip is so small that it can be built into almost any object, and have proposed several possible uses. These include, but are not limited to:
HP claim that once the units are in mass-production, they may cost as little as one dollar each.
No batteries are needed because the chips get their power by induction from the devices which read the data.
Current wireless transfer speeds are 10 Mbit/s.
According to magazine Popular Science, the devices "can store and transfer up to four megabytes of data" and should be available on store shelves within two years (Mone 2006).
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
currently in development by Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
. The chip incorporates a central processing unit
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
, random access memory and a wireless receiver, all bundled together in a device 1.4 or 2 mm².
The research done to design and build the chip was done in Hewlett-Packard's laboratory in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
.
Hewlett-Packard says that the chip is so small that it can be built into almost any object, and have proposed several possible uses. These include, but are not limited to:
- Ensuring that drugs have not been counterfeited
- Tagging patients' wristbands in hospitals
- Authenticating prescription-pill bottles
- Adding multimedia to postcards
- Incorporation into books
- Storing image files on printed pictures to print an identical copy
HP claim that once the units are in mass-production, they may cost as little as one dollar each.
No batteries are needed because the chips get their power by induction from the devices which read the data.
Current wireless transfer speeds are 10 Mbit/s.
According to magazine Popular Science, the devices "can store and transfer up to four megabytes of data" and should be available on store shelves within two years (Mone 2006).