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Product category: Memory Devices and Modules
News Release from: Ramtron International | Subject: FM25C160
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 25 December 2006

Ferroelectric RAM makes the automotive
grade

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SPI FRAM device is qualified to AEC-Q100 (Automotive Electronic Council's Stress Test Qualification for Integrated Circuits) standards.

Ramtron International Corp has announced that its FM25C160 - a 16Kbit, 5V, SPI FRAM device - has been qualified to AEC-Q100 (Automotive Electronic Council's Stress Test Qualification for Integrated Circuits) standards The FM25C160 is the third FRAM device to be AEC-Q100-qualified as part of its aggressive automotive qualification programme

Ramtron is also currently developing various FRAM configurations specified for the Grade 1 (-40 to +125C) operating range.

"This achievement demonstrates yet again Ramtron's dedication to meeting the design and sourcing challenges of the automotive market", explains Ramtron vice president Mike Alwais.

"The FM25C160 has already been designed into smart airbags by top automotive system suppliers across the United States, Europe and Asia, including Korea's Hyundai Autonet".

"This device is a popular choice for this application due to its 5V operating power and serial peripheral interface (SPI)".

Today's smart airbags are designed to increase or decrease deployment force based on accident event parameters such as the severity of the crash, the weight of the occupant and the interaction with other safety systems in the car.

The parametric data sent to the car's electronic control unit (ECU) is generated by sensors throughout the cabin, enabling the airbag to deploy "intelligently".

As more sensors are designed into the car, more data needs to be collected.

FRAM NoDelay writes facilitates the collection of more data at higher frequencies, allowing automotive safety systems to act on the timeliest information available.

The FM25C160 is a 16Kbit nonvolatile RAM with an industry-standard SPI that leverages the high-speed write capability of FRAM technology.

A direct hardware replacement for equivalent EEPROMs, yet far superior, the FM25C160 reads and writes at bus speeds up to 20MHz with virtually unlimited endurance (1 trillion writes), 45-year data retention and low power.

It operates at 5V over the industrial temperature range (-40 to +85C) and is available in a "green" 8-pin SOIC package.

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