Integration of functional materials in memory archi-tectures led to emerging concepts with disruptive performances as compared to conventional charge storage technologies. Beside floating gate solutions such as EEPROM and Flash, these alternative devices involve voltage or current-controlled switching mechanisms between two distinct resistance states. The origin of the resistance change straightforwardly depends upon the nature and fundamental physical properties of functional materials integrated in the memory cell. After a general overview of non volatile memories, this paper is focused on prototypical and emerging memory cells and on their ability to withstand a downscaling of their critical dimensions. In addition , despite different maturity levels, a peculiar attention is turned toward common guidelines helpful for designing embedded or distributed resistive switching memory circuits.