SoC process gains embedded Flash option

1st Silicon (Malaysia) has completed qualification and begun production shipment of 0.25um embedded Flash technology.

1st Silicon (Malaysia) has completed qualification and begun production shipment of 0.25um embedded Flash technology.

This milestone meets a goal set by the company last summer to have production services ready in the first calendar quarter of this year.

1st Silicon's embedded Flash process features a state-of-the-art bit-cell size with supply voltages of 2.5-3.3V.

Combining 1st Silicon 0.25um logic process with the SST's SuperFlash split-gate Flash cell, 1st Silicon can readily support the embedded microcontrollers used in consumer, communications and computer applications.

"Differentiation through value-based technologies separates 1st Silicon from other foundries", said Dr John Nelson, 1st Silicon Chief Executive Officer.

"Our focus is on excelling in niche markets and offering the best services".

"Embedded Flash matches this overall strategy by offering the industries most popular embedded Flash technology with an industry compatible CMOS process and full design support".

Andrew Brown, 1st Silicon Vice President of Worldwide Sales added: "Embedded Flash memories are crucial for many emerging markets".

"Multiple embedded Flash macros are being tested and several other pieces of embedded Flash specific IP are being prepared to enable our customers to implement their designs in these markets".

"Meeting the delivery timetable promised last summer has been a primary objective for the technology team here", said Dr Steve Yang, 1st Silicon Vice President of Technology.

"We have demonstrated our capability to achieve the reliability specifications as well as functional yield of devices from several customers".

"To this end, close collaboration with our customers and technology partners tops our list of priorities".

Integrating Flash memory helps to simplify memory interface, increases speed and performance, and reduces total system cost compared with other alternative off-chip configurations.

On-chip Flash also offers improved data security, making the technology a popular choice among system manufacturers today.

1st Silicon's embedded Flash can also increase device functionality by further integrating SRAM and mixed-signal functions on the same chip.

The 0.25um embedded Flash technology will be available on the MPW service in the third quarter of 2005.

1st Silicon will provide macros that can be designed to specific densities and configuration, reliability testing, and design quality and reliability assurance.

A comprehensive process design kit includes fully characterised device models and technology files for popular electronic design automation tools.

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