SAN FRANCISCO -- Flash memory vendor Spansion Inc saidWednesday (May 23) it began sampling the first single-level cell (SLC) NANDflash memory devices to emerge from a deal with South Korea's SK Hynix Incannounced last month.
The devices, made by Hynix and tested and packaged bySpansion, are implemented in 4X-nm floating-gate technology and are aimed atdata storage in automotive, consumer and networking applications, Spansion(Sunnyvale, Calif.) said.
Spansion SLC NAND will be offered in densities from 1 Gb to8 Gb in 3.0V and 1.8V families that feature high performance, extendedtemperature range, long-term product support and stringent reliability demands,such as 1-bit error correction code, according to Spansion.
Spansion also unveiled its SLC NAND product roadmap through2017. The company plans to continue producing the 4X-nm SLC devices through2017. It plans to start sampling 3X-nm SLC NAND devices late this year and2X-nm devices in 2014. All will be produced through 2017, according to thecompany's roadmap.
Touhid Raza, director of marketing for NAND at Spansion,said that, unlike commodity NAND, which producers can stop building as soon asthe next generation is available, NAND devices targeting the embedded marketrequire a longer lifespan. Embedded products often have a product design cycletime of 18 months or more, and customers need assurances that vendors willstill be producing the product in volume, he said.
Unlike commodity NAND, which is often multi-level cell (MLC)NAND and thus less reliable, the embedded market require SLC NAND, which boastsbetter performance and durability, Raza said.
According to Raza, Spansion's NAND products will complimentthe firm's flagship NOR flash products for the embedded market. "We aretaking that relationship with embedded customers and developing a product thatmeets their needs," Raza said. "Our ability to supply both types ofdevices gives customers the ability to come to one place for different types offlash memory devices."
Michael Yang, senior principal analyst for memory andstorage at market research firm IHS iSuppli, was quoted in a statement issuedby Spansion saying the introduction of the company's SLC NAND products is apositive development for the embedded market. "SLC NAND has solid growthpotential in embedded, led by the automotive and consumer segments," Yangsaid. "This is especially true for embedded applications requiring productlongevity as we head down the path toward smarter connected homes andautomobiles."
In announcing the deal with SK Hynix (formerly HynixSemiconductor Inc) last month, Spansion said it also would continue developingits charge-trapping NAND technology. Last year, the company entered a deal withJapan's Elpida Memory Inc whereby Elpida would build SLC NAND based onSpansion's MirrorBit charge-trapping technology. Elpida, of course, has sincefiled for bankruptcy.
Spansion said it is sampling 3-volt 1 Gb, 2 Gb, and 4 Gbmonolithic SLC NAND devices now. The company plans to begin sampling 1.8 volt 1Gb, 2 Gb, and 4 Gb chips at the end of 2012, with 8 Gb solutions expected tosample in the second half of this year. Spansion said its SLC NAND devices canwithstand an industrial temperature range of -40C to +85C and offer 100,000cycle endurance. The devices are available in industry-standard 48-pin TSOPpackage via Spansion's universal footprint, the company said.
This story was originally posted by EETimes.
