'May' be of interest....

[Luis Commins <L.Commins@xxxxxxxxxx>]

'KEELE' ULTRA HIGH DENSITY MEMORY SYSTEM
A Quantum Jump in Memory Storage and Access

Professor Ted Williams 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: