SRAM stands for Static Random Access Memory. It is a form of a semiconductor. It is widely used in microprocessors, general computing applications and electronic devices. The SRAM is volatile in nature that means the data stored in it gets all wiped out once the power supply is cut. SRAM comprised of flip flops. It consist of 4-6 transistors, once the flip flop stores the bit it keep it stored until the opposite bit is stored in it.
History
Engineer John Schmidt invented the SRAM in 1964 at Fairchild Semiconductors. The first SRAM is 64-bit and uses p-channel MOS.
Intel released its first 256-bit Intel 1101 SRAM chip in 1969, five years after its invention. But it uses Schottky TTL (Transistor-Transistor-Logic) architecture for its build.
Early SRAMs were manufactured using ceramic plastic. But nowadays, SRAMs are integrated directly to the CPU for faster and better processing.
Characteristics
- The data is held statically: The data is stored statically in SRAM and it doesn’t need to be refreshed unlike DRAMs.
- It is a type of Random Access Memory: The SRAM is a type of Random Access Memory. Random Access Memories are those from which the data can be accessed (read/write) randomly (means any memory location can be accessed), regardless of the memory location that was accessed earlier.
- It uses flip flop for storing data: It uses flip flops to store bits. Each flip flop is made up of 4-6 transistors.
- It is used as a Cache Memory in CPU: SRAM is used as cache memory for CPUs as they are faster and stores data statically.
Advantages
- It is faster to access and perform operations like read & write.
- The data can be accessed randomly.
- It is used as a cache memory.
- It doesn’t need to be refreshed as it stored data statically.
- It has medium power consumption. It requires less power as compared to DRAM.
Disadvantages
- It is expensive.
- It is volatile in nature i.e., data is lost when the memory is not powered.
- It has a low storage capacity.
- It is not possible to refresh the program.
- It has a more complex design and they are bigger in size as well when compared to DRAM.
- It reduces the memory density.