Big Flash chips boast super-fast programming

Renesas Technology Europe reckons it has developed the world's fastest 4Gbit AG-AND type Flash memories, offering a programming speed of 10Mbyte/s.

Renesas Technology Europe reckons it has developed the world's fastest 4Gbit AG-AND type Flash memories, offering a programming speed of 10Mbyte/s.

This enables a two hour movie to be saved using MPEG-4 in approximately two minutes.

The Flash memories also offer the world's smallest die size among current commercially developed 4Gbit Flash memory devices.

Compared with the current 1Gbit Flash memory device, the total chip area of the new 4Gbit Flash chips is nearly two-thirds smaller per gigabit.

The memory is suitable for the high-speed recording of motion video and music in mobile terminals and digital home appliances, a feature previously limited to digital cameras and PCs.

The second-generation AG-AND type Flash memories are available in x8 and x16 bit configurations, R1FV04G13R and R1FV04G14R, respectively.

They use multilevel cell technology, a hot electron injection programming method and simultaneous four-bank programming operation to achieve a 10Mbyte/s programming speed.

Use of a 90nm process together with a new AG-AND Flash memory source-drain structure provides the world's smallest memory cell compared with any currently mass-produced 90nm process devices.

The R1FV04G13R and R1FV04G14R enable 512Mbyte recording media to be configured with a single chip, providing storage capacity for approximately 160 minutes of MPEG-4 moving picture data, 130 tracks of MP3 music data, or 500 4Mpixel digital camera photographs.

The memories offer a power-on read function that enables up to 2Kbyte of data to be read when the system is powered-on by controlling two control lines (the /CE pin and /RE pin) without command or address input.

Another function is provided to perform cache programming of the next 2Kbyte of data a maximum of two times (4Kbyte) while the device is being programmed.

This makes it easier for the system to allocate bus operation to another task.

A function is also provided that performs one-time input of up to the next 2Kbyte of data while the device is being erased.

The devices are compatible with NAND type Flash memory at the command level, enabling their use in systems currently employing NAND type Flash memory with a minimum of software modification.

The power supply voltage is 3.3V, and the package used is a 48-pin TSOP type-1, the same size as the 1Gbit AG-AND type Flash memory package.

Sample shipments of the Flash memories began in September 2004 in Japan, and will be followed by mass production in December.

A functional description model and C language reference library will be available from October 2004 as support tools for the design of systems using these devices.

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