In July 2015, Knowm announced a memristor-based learning architecture that EE Times described as a different approach from HP’s oxygen-vacancy devices. But the report did not establish that Knowm outperformed HP or Hynix: it offered no controlled head-to-head benchmarks or verified commercial comparison. What it documented was a proposed design, a reported test package, and an emulator—not a proven performance win.
What Knowm announced in 2015
EE Times reported on July 7, 2015, that startup Knowm Inc. was developing memristor hardware for machine learning and real-time data processing. The company called its learning method AHaH, combining Anti-Hebbian and Hebbian learning rather than relying on only one of those rules.
Knowm CEO Alex Nugent described the processors as using a low-level instruction set that could be recombined into different learning algorithms. That was a description of the proposed programming model, not evidence that the system had demonstrated a particular level of accuracy, speed, or scale.
How the proposed kT-RAM architecture worked
As reported by EE Times, Knowm’s kT-RAM design organized differential-output memristor arrays into cells. An SRAM element switched the arrays onto or off an H-shaped fractal interconnect, which Knowm said could be tiled into larger arrays. The company planned to provide this layer on top of customer CMOS ASICs using a back-end-of-line (BEOL) process. These were design descriptions and business plans reported in 2015.
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The arrangement matters because the proposal was more than a standalone memory component: it paired memristive elements with switching and interconnect circuitry as a substrate for learning operations. The article did not publish comparative measurements showing that this arrangement delivered better performance than competing systems.
How Knowm’s device differed from HP’s
The distinction described in the 2015 article was primarily the switching material and mechanism. Kris Campbell of Boise State University explained that Knowm’s device used an oxidizable metal, typically silver or copper, near an electrode and an amorphous chalcogenide active layer. Applied voltage can oxidize the metal and move ions through that layer; reduction at the other electrode can create a conductive path and lower resistance. Reversing polarity dissolves the path and raises resistance. Campbell summarized it this way: “The device is thus a bipolar device, cycling between high and low resistance values by switching the polarity of the applied potential.”
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By contrast, the article described HP’s memristor as relying on oxygen-vacancy migration. Both mechanisms change resistance, but the report did not show that one was faster, more durable, more energy-efficient, cheaper, or easier to manufacture than the other.
| Comparison | Knowm, as described in the 2015 report | HP, as described in the 2015 report |
|---|---|---|
| Switching mechanism | Metal-ion migration in a chalcogenide active layer | Oxygen-vacancy migration |
| Smallest scale cited | 100 nanometers, reported for Campbell’s device | Eight nanometers, cited by Leon Chua for oxygen-vacancy devices |
| Architecture discussed | kT-RAM cells with differential arrays and an H-shaped interconnect | A crossbar implementation, which the report criticized in discussing the design |
| Comparative performance evidence | No controlled head-to-head benchmark reported | No controlled head-to-head benchmark reported |
The size figures are claims appearing in that 2015 article, not current specifications or independently verified measurements. The report does not provide a corresponding Hynix device specification or a measured comparison with Hynix, so the headline’s reference to Hynix should not be read as proof of a technical victory over it.
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What products and tools the report described
The article said Knowm offered a packaged testing device containing eight memristors in a 16-pin DIP and a Java-based emulator called Sense. It also described semiconductor fabrication services and development systems as planned parts of the business. That is a snapshot from July 2015; it does not establish whether any device, service, or software remains available today, or what it would cost or support.
Chua, then a UC Berkeley professor, saw potential educational value in the reported commercial availability of Campbell’s device, saying it could help professors offer laboratory experiments. That comment speaks to possible teaching use, not to independently established product performance or present-day availability.
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So, did Knowm beat HP and Hynix?
Not on the evidence in the EE Times report. The article presented Knowm’s architecture and material approach, included optimistic analyst commentary, and discussed differences from HP’s design. It did not report controlled tests comparing learning accuracy, throughput, latency, power, endurance, manufacturing yield, cost, or commercial adoption. Nor did it establish a direct technical comparison with Hynix.
Brad Shimmin of Current Analysis argued that Knowm’s approach might help address machine learning’s scaling challenge. That was an analyst’s assessment of potential, not a benchmark result. The careful reading is that Knowm proposed a distinctive memristor-learning design in 2015; the headline’s “beats” language goes beyond what the article demonstrated.
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