SST (Silicon Storage Technology), has rolled out its 1.8V low-density flash product portfolio with the announcement of a 16 Mbit Multi-Purpose Flash Plus (MPF+) device
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The SST39WF160x is the first 1.8V product in SST’s MPF+ family. The devices, which are manufactured with SST’s proprietary, high-performance CMOS Superflash technology, complement the MPF+ product family with reduced power consumption, making them ideal for portable applications such as MP3 players and Bluetooth headsets.

In addition to offering significant power savings, SST’s 1.8V MPF+ devices are available in very small packages to address the space constraints faced by leading portable application manufacturers.

‘SST has been a leader in 1.8V low-density flash since introducing the first 4 Mbit device in late 2003′, said Sirak Brook, Senior Business Director, Standard and Special Products Group at SST.

‘From that introduction, leading chipset and OEM manufacturers have embraced the low-power feature of our 1.8V devices, as well as the small form-factor packages’.

‘Our success continued with our 8 Mbit device and we expect the same success with the 16 Mbit device as it incorporates enhancements asked for by leading chipset designers in the portable applications space’.

With this announcement, SST has completed its low-density 1.8V parallel flash portfolio with devices at 4 Mbit, 8 Mbit and 16 Mbit densities.
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All of the devices are available in JEDEC approved pin-out micro packages, allowing customers to seamlessly migrate from the 4 Mbit device up to the 16 Mbit solution.

The SST39WF1601 and SST39WF1602 products offer bottom-boot and top-boot features, respectively, as well as a uniform 2KWord sector for code optimisation.

The devices deliver a fast read access time of 90ns, with a 70ns version scheduled for release in the first half of 2007.

The MPF+ product line delivers high performance, superior reliability, low-power operation and small sector size.

The product family features chip erase operations 1000 times faster than conventional flash, eliminating bottlenecks and costs in the manufacturing process by enabling customers to erase their flash devices in 40 milliseconds instead of the one or more minutes typical with most flash alternatives.

Other MPF+ product line features include: erase suspend/erase resume, which allows an erase operation to be suspended so that more time-critical operations can be performed before the erase operation is resumed; boot block write-protection, which allows the boot block area of the flash to be protected by a write-protect pin; security ID, which offers two 128-bit, one-time programmable registers; and hardware reset, which enables system designers to easily reset the entire flash device.

The 16 Mbit 1.8V MPF+ (SST39WF1601 and SST39WF1602) devices are sampling now, with volume production scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2007.

Pricing starts at USD1.75 each for devices in a TFBGA package in 100K unit quantities.

Rambus XDR memory and FlexIO processor bus interface technologies are featured in the Playstation3 computer entertainment system
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Consumer devices are setting the pace for innovation in digital electronics. Rising consumer demands for richer graphics, stunning visuals and real-world physics require technology at the leading-edge. At Rambus, this type of innovation is a core competence, and now Rambus can reveal that its XDR memory and FlexIO processor bus interface technologies are featured in the Playstation3 (PS3) computer entertainment system.

‘The Rambus XDR memory and FlexIO interfaces are integral to enhancing the overall system performance for PS3′, said Izumi Kawanishi, Corporate Executive of Sony Computer Entertainment ‘Rambus engineers and project managers have given us confidence throughout the development program and enabled us to deliver the most advanced computer entertainment system in the world’.

Designed from the ground up for breakthrough performance, the PS3 computer entertainment system employs four XDR DRAM devices, providing 256Mbyte of memory capacity.

The Rambus XDR memory interface and FlexIO processor bus account for 90% of the Cell Broadband Engine signal pins, enabling an unprecedented aggregate bandwidth of over 65Gbyte/s in PS3.
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The Rambus XDR memory interface connecting to XDR DRAMs achieves datarates of 3.2 to 8.0GHz.

FlexIO processor buses are capable of running up to 8.0GHz datarates, providing bandwidth more than four times faster than best-of-class processor buses available today.

Clock signals to the XDR DRAMs are provided by Rambus XCG clock generators.

‘We are honoured to have worked with Sony Computer Entertainment on this project for the last three years and are excited to see PS3 launch to tremendous acclaim’, said Harold Hughes, President and Chief Executive Officer at Rambus.

‘PS3 is by far the most advanced system on the market today, capable of extremely rich and compelling graphics, bringing us closer to real-life images’.

Toshiba has expanded its embedded Flash microcontroller product line with two new 16bit MCUs and a new 32bit MCU based on SuperFlash technology
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Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) has announced the broadening of its embedded Flash microcontroller (MCU) product line with the addition of two new 16bit MCUs and a new 32bit MCU based on Superflash technology. TMP91FW40FG is Toshiba’s first 16bit SuperFlash-based MCU to incorporate an LCD controller and was designed for electronic metering and similar applications that require 16bit performance to drive an LCD.

TMP91FW60FG/DFG is a 16bit device that offers a combination of 128Kbyte of Flash memory and 8Kbyte of RAM plus 5V compliance, making it ideal for robust industrial and white goods applications.

TMP92FD23FG/AFG is a 32bit MCU that incorporates 512Kbyte of Flash memory and 32Kbyte of RAM, making it well suited for many industrial applications, such as vending machines and industrial control.

Mask ROM versions of these devices are also available.

The low-voltage, low-power consuming TMP91FW40FG 16bit MCU combines 128Kbyte of Flash memory and 4Kbyte of RAM with an anti-hypertensive-type LCD driver that can directly drive from 8 to 40 segments by four commons.

The high-speed MCU is based on Toshiba’s ultra-low-power TLCS-900/L1 processor core and operates with voltages between 2.2 and 3.6V.
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The minimum instruction execution time is only 148ns at 27MHz.

Overall power consumption is further reduced by a dual clock and three standby modes, including a programmable idle option.

It also offers an integrated four-channel 10bit analogue-to-digital convertor (ADC), a four-channel 8bit timer, a three-channel 16bit timer and a real-time clock with a calendar function.

I/O functions include a four-channel SIO/UART and 61 I/O ports.

Packaging is a compact 100-pin LQFP package with dimensions of 14 x 14mm with 0.50mm pitch.

A mask ROM version (TMP91CW40FG) is also available.

The TMP91FW60FG/DFG 16bit MCU combines 128Kbyte of Flash memory and 8Kbyte of RAM.

This low-power MCU is based on Toshiba’s TLCS-900/L1 processor core has operating voltage of 4.5 to 5.5V and a minimum instruction execution time of 200ns at 20MHz.

It also provides an integrated 16-channel 10bit ADC, a sic-channel 8bit timer, a five-channel 16bit timer and a real-time clock with a calendar function.

I/O functions include a three-channel SIO/UART, two-channel I2C/SIO and 83 I/O ports.

As well, it incorporates six banks of program-patch logic.

Packaging options consist of a 100-pin LQFP package with dimensions of 14 x 14mm with 0.50mm pitch (TMP91FW60FG) or a 100-pin QFP package with dimensions of 14 x 20mm with 0.65mm pitch (TMP91FW60DFG).

A mask ROM version (TMP91CW60FG/DFG) is also available.

The TMP92FD23FG/AFG 32bit MCU combines 512Kbyte of Flash memory and 32Kbyte of RAM.

The high-speed, high-performance MCU is based on Toshiba’s TLCS-900/H1 processor core and operates with voltages between 3.0 and 3.6V.

The minimum instruction execution time is only 50ns at 20MHz.

It also offers an integrated 12-channel 10bit ADC, a six-channel 8bit timer, a two-channel 16bit timer and a real-time counter.

I/O functions include a three-channel SIO/UART, a two-channel I2C interface, a three-channel IrDA version 1.0 interface, and 84 I/O ports.

Additional onboard memory includes 4Kbyte of mask ROM for booting; external memory expansion to 16Mbyte is fully supported.

Packaging options consist of a 100-pin P-LQFP package with dimensions of 14 x 14mm with 0.50mm pitch (TMP92FD23FG) or a 100-pin P-QFP package with dimensions of 14 x 20mm with 0.65mm pitch (TMP92FD23AFG).

A mask ROM version (TMP92CY23FG/AFG) is equipped with 256Kbyte of ROM and 16Kbyte of RAM and has a built-in ROM correction function.

Toshiba’s SuperFlash implementation can be programmed much faster than many alternative Flash technologies.

The availability of three distinct programming modes - parallel, serial PROM, and in-system programming (ISP) - provides pre- and post-production programming flexibility.

ISP mode allows upgrades and fixes in the field under control of the user program.

This removes the need to switch off the output to an LCD panel or active output controls.

Samples of all of these devices are available now and they are in volume production.

Integrated Device Technology has revealed it is the main advanced memory buffer (AMB) supplier for the Elpida Memory family of fully buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) products
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Targeting next-generation server and workstation applications, the Elpida family of FB-DIMM devices (512Mbit, 1Gbit, 2Gbit and 4Gbit) is shipping with the IDT AMB device. Integrated on the Elpida FB-DIMMs, the IDT AMB (IDTAMB0480A5R) is responsible for collecting and distributing the data from or to the FB-DIMMs, buffering the data internally on the chip and receiving or forwarding it to the next FB-DIMM or memory controller within the system.

This unique channel structure alleviates electrical loading issues, enabling designers to use a large number of DIMMs within a single system.

To this point, Elpida has succeeded in developing a 4Gbyte FB-DIMM, allowing for a 64Gbyte (16 x 4Gbyte FB-DIMM) server memory architecture, which the IDT AMB can support.

Both the Elpida FB-DIMMs and IDT AMB support the Intel Dual-Core Xeon Processor Series 5000 and 5100 (formerly codenamed Dempsey and Woodcrest), which are targeted at server and workstation applications.

The IDT AMB device offers a proven technology, having been fully validated through the Intel validation process.

The product also offers a variety of innovative functions, including a thermal sensor necessary for high-capacity FB-DIMMs.

Memory modules are designed to meet the needs of most desktop and laptop personal computer users, as well as high-end servers and gaming products
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Dane-Elec, Europe’s leading DRAM and Flash memory manufacturer, continues to add to its range of DRAM memory module products designed to meet the needs of most desktop and laptop personal computer users, as well as high-end servers and gaming products. With a fast reacting module manufacturing and assembly plant in Ireland, Dane-Elec is ideally placed to satisfy the memory requirements of the European PC industry.

Orders can be taken as late as 1700 GMT for next day delivery.

Dane-Elec’s range includes a comprehensive range of DRAM modules from standard PC modules such as DDR/DDR2, high-end modules such as SODIMM and FBDIMMs and PC100/133 for gaming and legacy system requirements.

The company continues to introduce new DRAM modules based around the latest memory devices which combine higher frequency operation with lower power consumption - two performance factors demanded by today’s computer manufacturers.
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Dane-Elec’s latest DDR2 modules feature capacities from 256Mbyte to 2Gbyte, need just 1.8V for operation.

Unlike their TSOP packaged DDR counterparts, these new modules are housed in the smaller, more efficient BGA (ball grid array) package.

A memory module ‘configurator’ is available to users on Dane-Elec’s website.

Here, customers are able to select the right module for their application by selecting from a very comprehensive list of compatible systems.

Users are able to select by model or part number and are provided with all the information needed to specify the right module or modules for their system.

Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe has announced the availability of a new 256Mbit mobile fast cycle RAM (FCRAM). The mobile FCRAM is a pseudo static RAM (PSRAM) with an SRAM interface on Fujitsu’s unique FCRAM core technology. The device has the advantage of high-speed operation together with low power consumption, making it especially well-suited for portable applications such as mobile phones.

The new mobile FCRAM, the MB82DDS08314A, adopts double datarate (DDR) burst mode operations and is fully compliant with the common specifications for Mobile RAM (COSMORAM) Revision 4.

The device has the following features: DDR synchronous burst mode; multiplexed address/data interface; high-speed data transfer performance of up to 1Gbyte/s; and short initial access time by short latency mode.

‘For the future mobile phone market, there is no doubt that memories featuring large-density, high-speed operation and low power consumption, like this new mobile FCRAM, become necessary components’, said Mark Ellins, Director of the Communications Business Unit at FME.

‘Today, high-end mobile phones require feature-rich functions such as digital still and video cameras, and digital terrestrial broadcasting streaming’.

‘Fujitsu’s FCRAM family will provide high-speed datarate to enhance the mobile phone feature on the existing PSRAM-based platform’.

‘Furthermore, the MB82DDS08314A minimises the device pin-counts by multiplexing address and databus, and smaller pin counts will eliminate the customer’s complicated board design’.

Fujitsu is the pioneer of pseudo SRAM for mobile phone markets and is a major contributor to the establishment and expansion of the market.

In the past, to meet the needs of high-speed memory, Fujitsu introduced the burst mode mobile FCRAM family, 32 and 64Mbit devices in May 2003 and a 128Mbit device in August 2003.

In addition to the new DDR burst mobile FCRAM, 256Mbit single datarate (SDR) mobile FCRAM, the MB82DBS08314A, compliant with the conventional COSMORAM Rev 3, is also offered.

This device is the solution for customers who need large RAM density with an existing SDR PSRAM interface.

Engineering samples will be available in January 2007, and volume production will be available in April 2007.

Both devices are available packaged, as well as in chip and wafer form.

FME continues to offer the best memory solutions to individual customers for their unique applications.

Toshiba Corporation has announced the global launch of the latest addition to its new series of high-capacity SDHC memory cards: the industry’s first 8Gbyte Class 4 memory card. The new card will be introduced in early January 2007, alongside the 4Gbyte products launched in September, and will give Toshiba a larger commercially available lineup in high performance SD memory cards. The SDHC (SD High Capacity) memory card is based on the SD Card Association’s SD Specifications Ver 2.00, which defines high capacity, high performance enhancements to market-leading SD memory cards.

The new card meets the Class 4 standard, a speed standard that requires a data write speed of at least 4Mbyte/s.

Toshiba is the first company in the industry to announce the launch of a Class 4 8Gbyte SDHC memory card.

SDHC memory cards are expected to find widespread application in digital video and still cameras, and Toshiba is enhancing global distribution of its new cards.

Extending its leadership in wireless infrastructure design, Integrated Device Technology has unveiled its 10G serial buffer, the industry’s first Serial RapidIO-based memory solution. When coupled with the previously announced IDT pre-processing switch (PPS), this wireless chipset solution offers an optimised interconnection that accelerates DSP performance by up to 20%, thus enabling the cost-effective delivery of advanced DSP-intensive wireless services, such as mobile video, to end consumers. The wireless chipset works in conjunction with digital signal processors (DSPs) and chip-rate processors (CRPs) from various vendors, enabling complete solutions for cellular baseband vendors.

Responding to the high-data throughput requirement facing next-generation cellular basestation designers, the 10G serial buffer delivers 10Gbit/s performance.

Offering 18Mbit of memory, which can be scaled to 90Mbit for optimum functionality, the 10G serial buffer also eliminates severe memory capacity and performance limitations, enabling the real-time execution of large consecutive data sample comparisons in next-generation basestation systems and other DSP-intensive applications.

With only 16 I/Os required, versus up to 100 for parallel processing, the IDT 10G serial buffer dramatically reduces the bill of materials as compared with the alternative approaches - an absolute necessity for the cost-effective delivery of value-added services in 3G and beyond.

The IDT 10G serial buffer provides intelligent monitoring and control circuitry that automatically identifies and compensates for dropped data samples to maintain data synchronicity - replacing a function that would normally need to be custom developed and external to the memory.

This function is vital for the performance and the quality of service essential to the delivery of value-added services that depend on high-datarate communications.

The 10G serial buffer is the most recent offering in the IDT ongoing commitment to provide leading-edge baseband solutions.

In addition to cellular basestations, IDT will target other DSP-intensive applications, such as medical imaging and high-speed communications applications, as well as radar, data-acquisition and sampling.

Ramtron International Corp has begun an AEC-Q100 automotive qualification programme for its FRAM devices. The company is aggressively pursuing plans to qualify its FRAM devices to AEC-Q100 (Automotive Electronic Council’s Stress Test Qualification for Integrated Circuits) standards, and is developing a number of FRAM configurations specified for the Grade 1 (-40 to +125C) operating range. This qualification programme has been developed to support a number of customer design-ins from in-cab applications to the vehicle’s most stringent environments.

Ramtron has already qualified two of its FRAM parts to AEC-Q100.

These are the FM25640 64Kbit serial SPI FRAM and the FM24CL16 16Kbit, 3V serial FRAM.

‘We are committed to meeting the design and sourcing challenges in the automotive industry with this line of AEC-Q100-qualified FRAM parts’, said Ramtron Vice President Mike Alwais.

‘No other nonvolatile memory solution can match FRAM’s fast write speed and high endurance’.

‘These latest developments are taking FRAM beyond in-cab applications into the vehicle’s most stringent environments’.

The AEC-Q100 qualification programme comes in tandem with the growing need for better nonvolatile data storage solutions in automotive subsystems.

Electronic content in vehicles is becoming ’smarter’ with the use of microcontrollers and sensors; FRAM already plays a vital role in high-content applications such as intelligent airbags, occupant sensors, infotainment systems, anti-pinch/trap sunroofs, automatic transmission, adaptive cruise control, steer-by-wire etc because it offers what older memories like EEPROM and Flash cannot: fast writes, high endurance and low power consumption.

Fast writes are beneficial when capturing data from sensors, especially in noisy automotive environments or when power may suddenly fail.

High endurance enables designers to capture information as often as they wish without the risk of wearing out the memory.

Spansion’s MirrorBit SPI FL product family is undergoing AEC Q100 qualification and will provide cost-effective serial Flash memory solutions for in-cabin automotive applications, including audio and infotainment systems. The company expects to complete its AEC-Q100 qualification of the MirrorBit FL family by early 2007. ‘Serial Flash memory features a simple interface that enables automotive OEMs to reduce design cost and complexity’, said Jackson Huang, Director of Strategic Marketing for Spansion.

‘As a leading supplier of Flash memory to all of the top ten automotive manufacturers, Spansion is committed to delivering cost-effective, robust products that can meet the stringent requirements dictated by the AECQ100 standard and our customers’.

The AEC-Q100 standard defines stress tests, test conditions and qualification requirements for components used in automobiles.

SPI devices read information serially, or one bit at a time, requiring fewer connections and thus fewer pins.

This lowers cost, simplifies board layout and reduces the form factor of many embedded designs.

As a result, the technology is already gaining acceptance in a variety of embedded applications like optical and hard disk drives, WLAN and DSL cards and routers, PC BIOS, DVD/CD players and recorders, and other consumer electronics devices.

The Spansion MirrorBit SPI FL family is available today in densities ranging from 4 to 64Mbit.

All devices are based on Spansion’s twobit-per-cell MirrorBit technology and feature read speeds of 50MHz for fast boot times on embedded products.