Simtek Introduces 4Mbit nvSRAM Product Family

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Simtek has announced the first two 4Mbit products in the company's 130nm CMOS SONOS family of nvSRAM IC's. The new 4Mbit devices deliver 40% better access times, 4 to 8 times higher densities and increased system performance over their predecessors, enabling them to leapfrog alternative non-volatile memory technologies in traditional markets while offering key new benefits for emerging solid state drives, hard disk drives and other new system memory architectures that require the speed of SRAM, density of DRAM and non-volatility of flash memory.

Simtek's STK14EC8 (512Kbit x 8) and STK14EC16 (256Kbit x 16) devices deliver fast access SRAM performance at speed grades of 15, 25, and 45ns while offering highly reliable and transparent non-volatile backup on any power disruption. The new 4Mbit devices combine Simtek's expertise in nvSRAM design with Cypress Semiconductor's SONOS fabrication expertise and are the result of a joint development agreement announced in March 2006.

Key Features:
- 15, 25, 45 ns Read Access and R/W Cycle Time;
- Unlimited Read/Write Endurance;
- Automatic Non-Volatile STORE on Power Loss;
- Non-Volatile STORE Under Hardware or Software Control;
- Automatic RECALL to SRAM on Power Up;
- Unlimited RECALL Cycles;
- 200K STORE Cycles Endurance;
- 20-Year Non-Volatile Data Retention;
- Single 3.3V Power Supply.

The unmatched fast access times and unlimited read/write SRAM performance combined with high reliability SONOS non-volatile storage makes nvSRAM the solution of choice in many applications. nvSRAM devices emulate and replace fast SRAM in high-speed processor systems to reduce wait states and optimize performance, while also delivering the added benefit of backup protection for critical state information. Used for decades in military, industrial, medical, automotive, and computer markets, nvSRAM devices now also have migrated to RAID write journals, robotic axis tracking, and medical datalogging, and at 4, 8, and 16Mbit sizes, will also see more general applications as a total system cache memory. The first applications for 4 Mbit products will likely be large industrial control and managed robotic systems where high-volume status and positioning information are tracked and maintained. nvSRAM is also very popular in direct attach RAID servers, where the larger density nvSRAMs will allow expanded use of the technology there as well. Designers have also shown interest in the 4Mbit densities for various data logging functions in medical equipment, security systems, automobiles, etc.

The STK14EC8 is available in both the 44-pin thin small outline package II (TSOPII) and 48-pin ball grid array (BGA) packages. The STK14EC16 is available in the 44 and 54-pin TSOPII, as well as the 48-pin BGA package.

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