Micron Supports JEDEC e∙MMC 4.4 Standard

Micron Technology, Inc. announced support of the newly ratified JEDEC e∙MMC 4.4 standard with its portfolio of managed NAND solutions. Targeting mobile applications, Micron’s e∙MMC 4.4products now offer increased security options and NAND partition management, allowing handset manufacturers to swiftly and easily transition to the new features offered in NAND. Micron is currently taking sample orders for delivery in July and expects to be production-ready in fall 2009.

By combining the NAND and flash memory controller in one package, Micron’s e∙MMCsolutions simplify the application interface design and alleviate the host processor from low-level flash memory management. The e∙MMC 4.4 standard is backward compatible with previous MMC standards.

“As today’s mobile phones grow in content, features and functionality, there is a movement to ensure that the technology within these devices is flexible enough to evolve with the platforms,” said Eric Spanneut, director of mobile memory marketing for Micron. “Micron is introducing products supporting the e∙MMC 4.4 standard to allow our customers and partners to begin designing around a solution that reduces component count and bolsters system security.”

The NAND partitioning feature of the e∙MMC4.4 standard allows designers to configure partitions of the multi-level cell (MLC) NAND to act as single-level cell (SLC) NAND and securely store and execute handset boot code. Doing this in MLC NAND eliminates the need for an extra SLC chip and reduces the component count, simplifying product integration and freeing up board space.

Also new for the e∙MMC4.4 standard are heightened security features that restrict access to the phone’s critical software, including the boot code and operating system. Specific security features include power-on write protection, permanent write protection and secure memory block. These features ensure that data is unaltered when transferred and stored, as well as during device re-boot and power down.

“We are impressed with the new e∙MMC4.4 standard ratified through JEDEC. As today’s mobile devices grow in sophistication and usage, it’s very critical that the managed NAND storage solution deliver improved security features to keep the program data tightly secured. We’re looking to align e∙MMC4.4 with our future platforms and we look forward to engaging with Micron on their new e∙MMC4.4 product portfolio,” said David Foster, general manager at Microsoft.

Designed using its industry-leading 34-nanometer NAND technology, Micron’s e∙MMC4.4 solutions range in density from 2 gigabytes (GB) to 32GB.

To read Micron’s e-MMC embedded memory part catalog and documentation