Product category:
Memory Devices and Modules
News Release from: Ramtron International | Subject: FM25W256
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 04 October 2004
Serial interface FRAM has automotive
aims
The FM25W256 is a 256Kbit wide-voltage-operation nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) with a serial peripheral interface (SPI).
The FM25W256 is a 256Kbit wide-voltage-operation nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) with a serial peripheral interface (SPI) Ramtron's newest 256Kbit serial FRAM is the highest-performance SPI memory available with 25MHz NoDelay writes and offers an unlimited number of read/write cycles
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 1 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The FM24CL64 is a popular choice for automotive radio applications with its fast writes and high endurance.
The product operates from 2.7 to 5.5V and offers drop-in compatibility with industry-standard serial EEPROMs.
"The automotive electronics market is a large user of the SPI bus and 5V applications are very common", said Mike Alwais, Vice President, FRAM Products.
"The FM25W256 provides the highest speed data collection and storage solution available to the automotive market".
Further reading
Serial F-RAM remembers pressure transmitters
F-RAM device stores configurable parameters such as transmitter ranges, signal types, fluid properties etc, and retains the data when power is removed.
Ferroelectric RAM puts events on the record
Integrated event monitoring device continuously monitors state changes, stores them in FRAM and alerts the host system to the changes.
The FM25W256 is ideally suited to data collection applications in which power levels vary or can be lost suddenly.
Unlike the previously announced FM25L256, its wide operating voltage range allows the memory to serve 5V applications that have fluctuating or rapidly dropping power supply levels.
The 25MHz bus speed allows the fastest serial interface data collection on the market.
The entire memory contents can be written in just over 10ms.
While the FM25W256 is suitable for a wide variety of data collection applications, one important application is the event data recorder (black box) for passenger cars.
NHTSA estimates that in 2004 65 to 90% of US cars will have some form of crash recording.
Newly proposed standards for the US market will greatly expand the recorded data set for cars that have crash recorders.
The FM25W256 provides an ideal memory solution for this application.
The FM25W256 reads and writes at bus speeds comparable to those of a high-speed RAM, but provides nonvolatile storage like a conventional nonvolatile memory.
However, unlike EEPROM or Flash, no write delays are incurred.
Also like high-speed RAM, the FM25W256 supports an unlimited number of read or write cycles, whereas EEPROM wears out after approximately one million cycles.
These benefits allow the FM25W256 to perform the functions of RAM and nonvolatile memory technologies in a single chip.
The FM25W256 is a wide voltage 256Kbit nonvolatile RAM with an industry-standard SPI interface and is pin-compatible with comparable 8-pin EEPROM devices.
The product operates from 2.7-5.5V, using lower operating power.
Reads and writes are performed at bus speeds of up to 25MHz throughout the entire memory.
There are no write delays or maximum write buffer sizes.
The FM25W256 is rated for -40 to +85C operation.
Samples of the FM25W256 are available immediately in 8-pin SOICs, with pricing starting at $3.84 in quantities of 10,000.
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