IBM outside the Box

[Merlin]

IBM is pitching the invention as a technology that could provide a cheaper and more flexible way to temporarily upgrade the available memory in computing systems ranging from PDAs to servers. According to the description of the patent, the technology includes three separate parts - a connector, a container to hold RAM as well as a cable that couples the connector to the container.

IBM says that the connector can be inserted into a DRAM slot just like a common memory module, allowing the memory installed in the external box to be addressed by the motherboard as another bank or DRAM. When there is no external RAM module plugged in, no memory is recognized by the motherboard's memory addressing unit, the patent claims.
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32446/135/

Merlin

 

[Rob Williams]

I have absolutely no idea what good this is supposed to do. That, or I am completely overlooking the point of the entire invention. It sounds like they are just adding a riser to the DIMM slot. I can't see how anything is different from plugging in a stick of RAM and hauling it out when you are done.

Who really needs to temporarily upgrade their RAM? Sounds like a pain in the ass overall. If you have the ram, install it.

 

[drewd]

Holy cow, that looks like a signal integrity engineer's worst nightmare. I can only imagine just how hard it would be to get any kind of useful signal from the memory controller to the box and back again! And I wonder how they think that the computer will manage to synchronize the signals if one data bus is 4 inches long and the other is two feet long?

I'm not saying that it can't be done, but I'm glad that I'm not working on it!

 

[Greg King]

Well, I know this... if anyone can pull something like this off, it would be IBM.