Product category:
Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: STMicroelectronics | Subject: ST21F384
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 08 November 2007
Flash-based microcontroller uses 90nm
technology
STMicroelectronics' ST21F384 is optimised for 2.5G and 3G mobile communications and uses Flash memory in place of mask ROM for its program memory
STMicroelectronics has released a secure microcontroller, (MCU) based on embedded Flash memory, which is the first in the world to be produced using 90nm process technology The ST21F384 is the first secure micro within ST's established ST21 smartcard platform
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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It is optimised for 2.5G and 3G mobile communications and uses Flash memory in place of mask ROM for its program memory, to provide increased flexibility and shorter lead times for manufacturers, coupled with increased cost-efficiency from its 90nm production.
The new ST21F family will enable card manufacturers to react quickly and cost-effectively to the fast changing needs of the mobile market, customising applications late in the production process, at the card personalisation stage and addressing the requirements of multiple mobile network operators (MNOs) with a single product.
Supply chain risk and complexity can be reduced, as the silicon is not linked to a specific operator profile.
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The ST21F384 is based on an enhanced 8/16bit CPU core with 16Mbyte linear addressing range, running typically at 21MHz.
It embeds 7Kbyte of user RAM, plus 384Kbyte of Flash memory, organised as 128byte pages, with an erase capability similar to that of the EEPROM used in earlier devices in the secure family.
Current consumption complies with 2G and 3G specifications to meet the requirements of (U)SIM applications.
The microcontroller includes a hardware DES (data encryption standard) accelerator and a user-accessible CRC (cyclic redundancy code) calculation block.
Card manufacturers using the Flash-based secure MCU will be able to reduce lead times throughout the production process, with less time required to validate the operating system (OS) on the card and to provide samples to operators.
A reduced time-to-volume production will also be achieved due to the ability to stock unprogrammed devices.
The cycle time to implement OS feature updates and new MNO requirements will also be dramatically shorter.
With application code stored in Flash memory, card manufacturers will no longer pay ROM mask costs.
The code itself can be smaller, as it is only necessary to implement the features required for the final customer, rather than creating a general solution.
ST's on-chip Flash loader provides cost-efficient operating system loading.
"The move to 90nm technology for this new ST21 platform device is the breakthrough that adds real cost efficiency to the flexibility and other benefits of the Flash-based smartcard", said Marie-France Florentin, ST's Smartcard ICs Business Director.
ST has the ability to offer smartcard ICs as sawn wafers or in advanced micro-modules combining integration and security.
The ST21F384 is available as sawn or unsawn wafers and in six-contact (D17) and eight-contact (D95) RoHS-compliant modules, with contact assignment compatible with ISO7816-2.
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