Intel boots out slow PC start times

'Non-volatile memory cache technology' promises faster boot-ups

Intel has unveiled a newly developed technology at its Developer Forum in Taipei that uses Flash memory to dramatically accelerate PC boot-ups, increase system performance and reduce power consumption.

The 'non-volatile memory cache technology', codenamed Robson, is currently a project inside Intel Labs, Agnes Kwan, a spokeswoman for the chip firm, told vnunet.com.

Intel said that it will be a "couple of years" before Robson shows up in laptops, and that it is currently polling manufacturers about incorporating the technology.

Robson uses the same Nand Flash memory found in MP3 players and digital cameras. The system uses the chip to store parts of the operating system as well as frequently accessed data and applications.

Because the memory achieves higher data transfer rates than a hard drive, the cache technology allows for faster boot-ups. It also decreases the need for the hard drive to spin, leading to a reduction in power consumption.

The energy savings will be useful mostly for laptop computers, but desktop systems could benefit from the faster boot times, according to Intel.

Prices of memory chips continue to drop and Intel's research project is one of several under way that seek to use memory chips in new ways.

At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference last April in Seattle, Microsoft together with Samsung, Hitachi and Seagate, unveiled a hard drive with Flash memory attached to the disk.

The chip stores frequently accessed data, which reduces the need for the hard drive to spin. Microsoft claimed that this could result in a 10 per cent reduction in power consumption.

Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system will offer a technology dubbed SuperFetch that will preload commonly used data and applications into unused parts of the system's memory.

This will give users faster access to documents and applications in a similar way to Robson.