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Semiconductor memory is an electronic data storage device, often used as computer memory, implemented on a semiconductor-based integrated circuit. It is made in many different types and technologies. Semiconductor memory has the property of random access, which means that it takes the same amount of time to access any memory location, so data can be efficiently accessed in any random order. This contrasts with data storage media such as hard disks and CDs which read and write data consecutively and therefore the data can only be accessed in the same sequence it was written. Semiconductor memory also has much faster access times than other types of data storage; a byte of data can be written to or read from semiconductor memory within a few nanoseconds, while access time for rotating storage such as hard disks is in the range of milliseconds. For these reasons it is used for main computer memory (primary storage), to hold data the computer is currently working on, among other uses. Shift registers, processor registers, data buffers and other small digital registers that have no memory address decoding mechanism are not considered as memory although they also store digital data. ==Description== In a semiconductor memory chip, each bit of binary data is stored in a tiny circuit called a ''memory cell'' consisting of one to several transistors. The memory cells are laid out in rectangular arrays on the surface of the chip. The 1-bit memory cells are grouped in small units called ''words'' which are accessed together as a single memory address. Memory is manufactured in word length that is usually a power of two, typically ''N''=1, 2, 4 or 8 bits. Data is accessed by means of a binary number called a memory address applied to the chip's address pins, which specifies which word in the chip is to be accessed. If the memory address consists of ''M'' bits, the number of addresses on the chip is 2''M'', each containing an ''N'' bit word. Consequently, the amount of data stored in each chip is ''N''2''M'' bits.〔 The memory storage capacity for ''M'' number of address lines is given by 2''M'', which is usually in power of two: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 and 512 and measured in kibibits, mebibits, gibibits or tebibits, etc. Currently (2014) the largest semiconductor memory chips hold a few gibibits of data, but higher capacity memory is constantly being developed. By combining several integrated circuits, memory can be arranged into a larger word length and/or address space than what is offered by each chip, often but not necessarily a power of two.〔 The two basic operations performed by a memory chip are "''read''", in which the data contents of a memory word is read out (nondestructively), and "''write''" in which data is stored in a memory word, replacing any data that was previously stored there. To increase data rate, in some of the latest types of memory chips such as DDR SDRAM multiple words are accessed with each read or write operation. In addition to standalone memory chips, blocks of semiconductor memory are integral parts of many computer and data processing integrated circuits. For example, the microprocessor chips that run computers contain cache memory to store instructions awaiting execution. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「semiconductor memory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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