Flash-based SIM cards to range up to 1Gbyte

Spansion has unveiled product roadmaps for its MirrorBit HD-SIM family, its next generation Flash memory-based SIM card solutions.

Spansion has unveiled product roadmaps for its MirrorBit HD-SIM family, its next generation Flash memory-based SIM card solutions.

The Spansion HD-SIM solution is designed to offer increased flexibility, performance and storage capacity to help mobile network operators, content and application vendors create new differentiating services for their customers.

In addition to enabling distribution, storage and access to digital content stored on SIM cards, the Spansion MirrorBit HD-SIM solution provides advanced security and crypto functionality for enhanced digital protection.

The secure MirrorBit HD-SIM family will include both single-chip and dual-chip offerings, featuring capacity from 4Mbyte up to 1Gbyte of storage.

The planned roadmap includes: single-chip 90nm 64Mbyte devices sampling in Q2 and in production at the beginning of Q3; single-chip 90nm 16Mbyte devices sampling in Q3 and in production at the end of Q3; and dual-chip solutions at 64 and 128Mbyte of storage sampling now and will be in production this quarter and will enable easy migration to the single-chip solution.

Spansion also plans to introduce additional HD-SIM solutions at 65 and 45nm ranging from 4Mbyte to 1Gbyte.

The single-chip solution combines Spansion MirrorBit ORNAND Flash memory product with SIM functionality on a single silicon die and provides SIM card manufacturers with design and manufacturing flexibility, increased security and lower costs.

Storing data inside the silicon of a single-chip solution is more secure since hackers can more easily monitor data on the interconnecting lines of dual or tri chip combinations.

In addition, implementing Flash memory and SIM functionality on a single chip lowers assembly, test and packaging costs.

"The SIM card has always been used to store subscriber information".

"The increase of a more mobile society with richer multimedia content available is creating the need for higher levels of security and opening the potential for higher revenue business models with SIM cards", said Jean-Marc Julia, Vice President of the Smart Card Division at Spansion.

"Spansion will deliver added-value solutions to SIM card manufacturers and their customers with MirrorBit HD-SIM solution's higher capacity, more secure and flexible features for SIM card personalisation - the loading of data on SIM cards".

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