Intel starts volume shipments of 65nm NOR flash multi-level cell products

Intel announced the industry’s first volume shipments of 65-nanometer (nm) NOR flash Multi-Level Cell (MLC) products, including the industry’s first 65nm 1Gigabit (Gb) monolithic part for cell phones. These new products are based on Intel’s StrataFlash Cellular Memory (M18) architecture and are drop-in compatible with Intel’s high-volume, 90nm-based flash chips, ensuring an easy migration path for cellular Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs.)

Targeted for multimedia phones with mega-pixel cameras, video and high-speed data capabilities, the single chip, 1Gb MLC NOR aligns nicely with next-generation phones coming to market.

“The density of our 1Gb product provides nearly double the storage for multimedia files and enables ever-slimmer form factor phones, both key elements for our customers,” said Darin Billerbeck, vice president and general manager, Intel Flash Products Group. Intel also has a 65nm roadmap to support 512Mb, 256Mb and 128Mb densities of the M18 product family in 2007.

The new 65nm NOR MLC parts from Intel offer fast read speeds of up to 133 MHz, improved write speeds of up to 1.0MB/sec for faster response times and storage capabilities for 4 mega-pixel cameras and MPEG-4 video. The write speed improvement on the 65nm version is twice as fast as Intel’s previous product. Battery life is also extended through low power consumption, 1.8-volt operation and a deep power-down mode.

“The Intel StrataFlash Cellular Memory (M18) architecture provided Sony Ericsson with a simple migration path from 90nm to 65nm products, which resulted in faster time-to-market for our next generation of phones,” said Peter Carlsson, vice president and head of sourcing, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communication.

Intel also continues to work closely with a variety of cellular companies to ensure quick adoption of this new family of products. The M18 is validated on the top 10 chipsets in the market and offers third-party software support for added OEM flexibility.

“The 1Gb family of the M18 device will enable Infineon to utilize NOR flash memory for high-end mobile handsets, while allowing us the benefit of retaining the same interface as the 90nm version of the device,” said Clemons Jargon, vice president and head of the feature phones business unit for Infineon Technologies.

This new product family is based on an ongoing cellular memory architecture collaboration between Intel and STMicroelectronics. This collaboration assures cell phone makers of a common architecture with standard memory interfaces and configurations, as well as offers multi-source supply of fast-performing, high-density, low-power chips.