WishX Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 AMD Announces New Flash Memory Technology By Lisa Gill NewsFactor Network July 31, 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18831.html AMD announced Wednesday that it would begin development of a 4-bit flash memory chip to be used for storing data in wireless devices, such as mobile phones , personal digital assistants and handheld gaming devices. The chipmaker said the 4-bit chip would build on the company's MirrorBit technology, announced earlier this year, and would be on the market some time in 2004. "I have not seen anything on paper or talked about in laboratories that is this aggressive," Kevin Plouse, vice president of marketing and business development for AMD's memory group, told NewsFactor. Traditional flash chips have typically been able to store only a single bit of data in each of two cells. AMD's technology, however, enables storage of two bits in each cell. Smaller Cells According to AMD, MirrorBit technology will make each cell a third smaller than those in average chips. In addition to increased storage, according to AMD, the chip also can be manufactured more easily that traditional flash chips. AMD Claims that MirrorBit chips can be manufactured three times faster than traditional single-bit chips. AMD's Plouse said that the company, along with partner Fujitsu, will be working with Israel-based Saifun Semiconductors to develop the 4-bit chip, adding that a 2-bit chip will be the first offering. AMD and Fujitsu said Wednesday that the companies will settle pending litigation with Saifun, and agreed to cross-license patents and technology so the companies could jointly develop the memory technology. Ending Patent Suit The agreement will end a patent suit brought against AMD and Fujitsu in February by Saifun regarding AMD's MirrorBit chip designs. Bertrand Cambou, vice president of AMD's memory group, said the companies will now be able to focus on developing storage solutions together. AMD and Fujitsu also agreed to take an equity stake in the Israeli company. Although financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, industry reports place AMD's investment in Saifun as high as US$50 million. The trio will focus on developing flash memory chips -- also called nonvolatile or persistent memory -- to be used in communications technologies. "AMD and Fujitsu will now be able not only to license Saifun's NROM technology but also to leverage its world class engineering resources," said Cambou. Number One in Flash "It's going to give us a kick-start toward what we think is the fastest and most important subsegment of the flash memory market, being wireless data," Plouse said of the Saifun collaboration. Plouse told NewsFactor that AMD believes the ability to send text messages, surf the Internet, download music or movies on a mobile phone or other wireless device is the direction in which the industry is headed. "That's all going to be stored somewhere and it's not going to be DRAM, because [with volatile memory] you turn the power off and [the data is] all gone," said Plouse. "We stated during our MirrorBit release two months ago that we had -- for the first time ever -- decided we were going to be number one in flash," said Plouse. "That is serious to us." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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