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Intellectual Property Cores
News Release from: Cavendish Kinetics | Subject: Nanomech
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 10 June 2004
Novel approach to embedded nonvolatile
memory
Cavendish Kinetics has developed a major new technology claimed to offer the lowest power and entry-cost embedded nonvolatile memory in the industry.
Cavendish Kinetics, a company born out of Cambridge University, has developed a major new technology claimed to offer the lowest power and entry-cost embedded nonvolatile memory in the industry The company's Nanomech technology is capable of simple incorporation into standard CMOS and other processes and will offer semiconductor companies and foundries a lower power, higher speed alternative to embedded fuse, Flash and EEPROM
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 18 Oct 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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The company, which employs 25 people, has its headquarters in the Netherlands and already has functional silicon.
The company's research is based at the Cavendish Laboratories in the UK, and process development is undertaken at facilities in Stuttgart, Germany.
It intends to announce its first IP (intellectual property) product, aimed at the lucrative e-fuse market, in the third quarter of 2004.
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The following year will see the introduction of embedded one-time programmable (eOTP) and embedded many-times programmable (eMTP) versions.
Founded in 1994, Cavendish Kinetics has received funding of $6.5 million from several sources including Canadian Venture Capitalist, Celtic House, and European entrepreneur and cofounder Hermann Hauser.
The patented Nanomech technology is the subject of over 10 years of research at Cavendish Kinetics and based on moveable structures.
Each submicron structure represents one bit of memory and requires only 25pJ to program it, thereby giving rise to the exceptionally low write/erase power requirements.
The technology is process scaleable and can be used with process nodes to below 45nm.
Embedded memory structures based on Nanomech technology can withstand operating temperatures up to +200C - well in excess of the +125C normally associated with semiconductor products.
Similarly, the radiation tolerance specifications exceed those of the underlying silicon.
Furthermore, because of the negligible mass of the structures, a force of over 100 million times the force of gravity would be required to make a memory cell change state.
In addition to its suitability for a vast array of embedded uses, these attributes alone make the technology ideal for automotive, medical, aerospace, military, industrial and many other applications.
Mike Beunder, Cavendish Kinetic's CEO, commented: "Apart from offering the lowest cost entry barrier for any embedded NVM technology, those involved in design and process integration will be immensely attracted by how easily it can be incorporated onto any standard CMOS, or even GaAs or SiGe process".
"We are confident that Nanomech will be a winner".
The complexity of the additional Nanomech elements used in an embedded circuit is low, and because they are freely located within the existing interconnect process; no requalification of process or design is necessary.
Furthermore, the addition of the Nanomech technology does not involve investment in new processing equipment on the part of the fabrication facility.
Marlene Bourne, Senior Analyst at In-Stat/MDR (a division of Reed Business Information), commented: "Licensing embedded IP frequently requires capital expense and re-qualification of designs or processes".
"Cavendish Kinetics' technology offers the possibility to both save cost and reduce time to market".
Paul Hedges, Cavendish Kinetics' Strategic Marketing Director, commented: "We believe our ultra-low-power flexible and cost-effective NVM technology will make big inroads in many volume applications ranging from automotive controllers through to smart cards and RFID chips".
Rich Wawrzyniak, Senior Analyst, ASIC - SoC, at Semico Research Corp commented: "With the trend towards increasing numbers of CPU and DSP cores, the demand for embedded memory is going to do nothing but grow".
"The major hurdle is to find memory technologies that can be applied to popular processes and if these technologies don't require exotic materials and are in themselves relatively low cost, and if they give the memory densities at the right speeds, then the growth potential for this technology is very high".
The company will initially target the e-fuse market in embedded applications including trimming and feature selection for analogue and mixed signal, redundancy, small user-programmable ROM arrays (UPROMs) as well as chip ID.
Once the OTP and MTP products are announced in 2005, the company will broaden its customer base while building on the relationships already in place with high-growth high-volume applications in the portable product, smart card and automotive sectors.
As a supplier of IP, Cavendish Kinetics will work with its customers from product concept through to final production.
The company has an impressive management team and strong board-level representation.
These includes founder, Charles Smith, reader in Nano Electronic Devices at Cambridge University, Mike Beunder, who held senior positions in Phillips Semiconductor and with startup companies in California, and Paul Hedges who has many years global experience in both the semiconductor and telecomms industries.
Other board members include David Brand, a veteran of the semiconductor industry and previously the head of AMD in the UK.
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