The Memory Spot chip is an

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

currently in development by

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

. The chip incorporates a

central processing unit A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...

random access memory Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working Data (computing), data and machine code. A Random access, random-access memory device allows data items to b ...

and a wireless receiver, all bundled together in a device 1.4 or 2 mm². The research to design and build the chip was done in Hewlett-Packard's laboratory in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. 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).

Awards

* 2006 - Popular Science Best of What's New - General Innovation

References

{{reflist *

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

Tiny wireless memory chip debuts
*

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

Tiny radio chip can stores video clips
*

'
press release
*Mone, G. (2006). "When Photos Talk". ''Popular Science'' 269 (4): 51. Memory spot chip HP storage devices

Awards

See also

References