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back to article Is your gadget using secondhand memory? Predictable senility allows boffins to spot recycled NAND chips

University researchers have developed a new method for rooting out recycled memory chips in industrial control devices. The group from the University of Alabama, Huntsville say their technique could help vendors spot and remove older flash memory chips that would otherwise jeopardize the stability of embedded devices in the …

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  1. Adrian 4

    Bathtub curve

    Perhaps it will also help weed out the chips that haven't been properly tested past their infant mortality phase.

    5 0 Reply
    1. razorfishsl
      Reply Icon

      Re: Bathtub curve

      Don't be silly.

      that is like eating a cake to see if it meets the required standard.

      5 1 Reply
      1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        Coat

        Re: eating a cake to see if it meets the required standard

        I'm on it !

        10 0 Reply
      2. John H Woods Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Bathtub curve

        Surely we've established that you can eat your cake and have it?

        3 0 Reply
      3. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        required standard for what?

        "that is like eating a cake to see if it meets the required standard."

        One might appear to have forgotten why Their Royal Majesties and other such dignitaries used to have Court Food Testers (or Tasters, take your pick).

        2 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Scary to think how much old silicon is out there

    Planes falling from the skies, nuclear power stations melting down...

    4 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Scary to think how much old silicon is out there

      ...dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!

      8 0 Reply
  3. Mark 85

    Skeptical....not the intent but with the manufacturers.

    The group hopes that the techniques could be used by manufacturers to test and weed out the older chips that, in an industrial control device, would cause the entire unit to go down should they fail. In the process,

    Won't this go against the manufacturer's needs to sell product will cutting costs? If the boxen fails, they'll sell another one.

    4 0 Reply
    1. ArrZarr Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Skeptical....not the intent but with the manufacturers.

      Sure, but if a medical implant fails or (one of) a plane's computer(s) fail(s) due to the manufacturer using recycled/substandard silicon then they'll have problems on their hands when the lawyers come knocking.

      6 0 Reply
  4. Speltier

    5000?

    Oh for the days of SLC 100K PE cycles. 5K cheesy consumer MLC... not so attractive.

    7 0 Reply
  5. Frumious Bandersnatch
    Facepalm

    "There is very few works"

    This post must contain a words.

    9 0 Reply
    1. I3N
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Re: "There is very few works"

      And printed with no [sic] ....

      so say the 'suthors' in 'Bama.

      "Preeti Kumari, Bahar Talukder, Sadman Sakib, Biswajit Ray, and Tauhidur Rahman of the University's electrical and computer engineering school."

      2 0 Reply
      1. deadlockvictim
        Reply Icon

        Re: "There is very few works"

        I3N» so say the 'suthors' in 'Bama.

        Play nicely.

        There is a «tips and corrections» link at the bottom of every article for errata.

        2 1 Reply
        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "There is very few works"

          "There is a tips and corrections link at the bottom of every article for errata"

          Unfortunately, unlike every other link in the text, they don't colour it blue so even regular El Reg readers don't notice it. I would mention this inconsistency to them if only I could find the link.

          10 0 Reply
          1. imanidiot Silver badge
            Reply Icon

            Re: "There is very few works"

            Biggest problem is that it uses E-mail and is thus less attractive than a (pseudo)anonymous forum post.

            7 0 Reply
            1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
              Reply Icon
              Unhappy

              Biggest problem is that it uses E-mail

              And if you're in Windows an outlook mail window to boot.

              Which is why I have never used it.

              If El Reg wants me to act as an unpaid proof reader make corrections feed directly to your site.

              6 1 Reply
          2. sbd
            Reply Icon

            Re: "There is very few works"

            Only found it due to this comment...

            1 0 Reply
  6. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Coat

    Quite SMART

    Now why didn't someone think of this earlier?

    2 0 Reply
  7. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    What this article tells me

    is that vendors are selling stuff as new when they stuff it with recycled Flash chips, thus lowering the life span of the product I would be paying full price for.

    Am I actually supposed to believe that they're not doing it on purpose ? Sure. Sell me a bridge while you're at it.

    12 0 Reply
  8. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    I'm suspicious of the age of...

    ...the mercury in my Delay Line memory array.

    8 0 Reply
    1. PeteA
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Re: I'm suspicious of the age of...

      I'd like to help, but my core's gone rusty :(

      4 0 Reply
  9. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Spooky

    On April 1, I posted a spoof article on several forums based on the idea of memory aging and slowing down, and attempts to monitor it, and possibly 'refresh' it.

    2 0 Reply
    1. GIRZiM
      Reply Icon

      Re: Spooky

      What year?

      Because it sounds like Apple read it and thought "That's such a good idea that we'll do it but we won't tell anyone we're doing it."

      0 0 Reply

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