Themes & Channels

Grab our RSS feed !

Stay informed !
Subscribe to our FREE newsletters...
 The Security Newsletter
 The Storage Newsletter

Intel and STM Deliver Phase Change Memory Prototypes

The 128Mb memory device is codenamed Alverstone by joint-venture Numonyx

Intel Corporation and STMicroelectronics reached a key industry milestone today as they began shipping prototype samples of a future product using a new, innovative memory technology called Phase Change Memory (PCM). The prototypes are the first functional silicon to be delivered to customers for evaluation, bringing the technology one step closer to adoption.

The memory device, codenamed Alverstone uses PCM, a promising new memory technology providing very fast read and write speeds at lower power than conventional flash, and allows for bit alterability normally seen in RAM. PCM has long been a topic of discussion for research and development, and with Alverstone, Intel and STMicroelectronics are helping to move the technology into the marketplace.

This is the most significant non-volatile memory advancement in 40 years, said Ed Doller, chief technology officer-designate of Numonyx, the new name for the pending STMicroelectronics and Intel flash memory company. There have been plenty of attempts to find and develop new non-volatile memory technologies, yet of all the concepts, PCM provides the most compelling solution and Intel and STMicroelectronics are delivering PCM into the hands of customers today. This is an important milestone for the industry and for our companies.

In related news, Intel and STMicroelectronics technologists presented a research paper this week at the International Solid States Circuits Conference (ISSCC) describing yet another breakthrough in PCM technology. Together, the companies created the worlds first demonstrable high-density, multi-level cell (MLC) large memory device using PCM technology. The move from single bit per cell to MLC also brings significantly higher density at a lower cost per Mbyte making the combination of MLC and PCM a powerful development.

In 2003, Intel and STMicroelectronics formed a joint development program (JDP) to focus on Phase Change Memory development. Previously the JDP demonstrated 8Mb memory arrays on 180nm at the 2004 VLSI conference and first disclosed the Alverstone 90nm 128Mbit memory device at the 2006 VLSI Symposium. Alverstone and future JDP products will become part of Numonyx, a new independent semiconductor company created through an agreement between STMicroelectronics, Intel and Francisco Partners signed in May 2007. The new company's strategic focus will be on supplying complete memory solutions for a variety of consumer and industrial devices, including cellular phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, computers and other high-tech equipment. The companies are scheduled to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2008.

In 2007, the combined memory market for DRAM, flash, and other memory products such as EEPROM was US$61 billion, according to the industry research firm Web-Feet Research, Inc. Memory technology cost declines have traditionally been driven at the rate of Moores Law, where density doubles every 18 months with each lithography shrink. As RAM and flash technologies run into scaling limitations over the next decade, PCM costs will decline at a faster rate. The advent of multi-level-cell PCM will further accelerate the cost per bit crossover of PCM technology relative to todays technologies. Finally, by combining the bit-alterability of DRAM, the non-volatility of flash, the fast reads of NOR and the fast writes of NAND, PCM has the ability to address the entire memory market and be a key driver for future growth over the next decade.

Alverstone is a 128Mb device built on 90nm and is intended to allow memory customers to evaluate PCM features, allowing cellular and embedded customers to learn more about PCM and how it can be incorporated into their future system designs.


Intel Corporation

STMicroelectronics

Numonyx

News Options >

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

print this news Print this news

Check-out our sister site !
SecurityNewsletter, Your Daily Source of IT Security News

StorageNewsletter.com

logo 

This Web site, with all the daily news on the worldwide storage industry, is already filled each day, but will be officially opened in few weeks. You can subscribe to be aware of the official launch. Stay tune!
_________________________________

storage_expo_uk_1

storage_expo_uk_2

Olympia, London, UK
: October 15-16

_________________________________

snia_academy_100 

Milan: September 16
Warsaw: September 17

SNW Europe 2008: October 27-29
Messe, Frankfurt, Germany

_________________________________

StorageNewsletter on paper

logosn
A monthly newsletter in English published since 1988
- for deeper analysis,
- exclusive interviews from CEOs
- report of biggest storage events
- technology trends
- company's profiles
- market reports
- and more 

A tremendous resource for those involved in product development, planning, marketing and sales of storage devices, subsystems and software, from everything from mainframes to hand-held PCs

To get a free sample or to subscribe:
http://www.StorageNewsletter.info

COMPLETE STORAGE
START-UP DATABASE

StorageNewsletter.com is offering
a storage start-up database.

It contains more than 450 start-ups in the world, listed with the following data:
- company name,
- headquarters,
- web site,
- CEO,
- year founded,
- business activity,
- yearly financial funding since 2003
  and total received.
It is possible to search by activity sectors (software, hardware, security, SSP, connectivity, fundamental technology, Infiniband).

Complete package for US$390
or less than one dollar a company.

To order this unique database
(in Excel format), please contact us
for an invoice by return mail.

COMPLETE DATABASE
OF MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

IN THE WW STORAGE INDUSTRY

More than 600 mergers and acquisitions since 1998 listed, and for each one:
Who bought whom, when, at which price, and the activity of the acquired company.

Complete package for $450.

To order this unique database (in Excel format), please contact us for an invoice by return mail.