Micron e-MMCs Fuel Embedded Applications for Automotive Market

Micron Technology, Inc. announced embedded multimedia card (e-MMC) solutions for the automotive segment.

Earlier this year Micron announced the expansion of its e-MMC portfolio for a range of industrial applications and other key embedded markets. This announcement of automotive e-MMC 4.41 product line highlights offering tailored to the automotive sector, providing the a reliable and quality memory solution.

"There is explosive growth in infotainment and other content storage for advanced automotive electronics solutions. The right memory products must enable this growth while still meeting the industry’s rigorous needs for quality, reliability and longevity," said Tom Eby, VP of Micron’s Embedded Solutions Group. "Building on decades of experience in the memory business, Micron has established a broad offering of leading products and technologies for the automotive market. Today’s announcement underscores our commitment to the product innovation and longevity that is critical to this industry."

"We have chosen Micron as a strategic partner for memory because of their proven skills in innovation," said Dr. Oliver Frille, Harman‘s senior director and head of procurement Europe. "The automotive electronics industry must deal with long design cycles, and our infotainment solutions have a lifetime which is much longer than the average electronics application. When we start to conceive a new system, we must be able to rely on a partner who can provide the most advanced technologies. This is key to our success in the market."

Micron’s Automotive e-MMC 4.41 Features and Benefits
They provide quality and service; long-term customer support; and commitment to a zero-defect development approach. Micron’s automotive e-MMC product line supports navigation and infotainment applications, such as detailed maps with full 3D and building information, traffic monitoring, meteorological information, car radio and multimedia, satellite radio, E-call and voice recognition.

Micron’s commitment to automotive quality is incorporated throughout the manufacturing, development, and qualification phases of e-MMC memory, ensuring robustness and reliability for automotive needs. e-MMC devices simplify system designs for infotainment manufacturers, replacing the complex management of a stand-alone NAND with an MMC interface governed by an international standard.

Micron’s automotive e-MMC 4.41 product features include:

• Available in 100-ball, 1mm pitch and 153-ball/169-ball, 0.5mm pitch BGA packages that adhere to the JEDEC standard, easing the design and validation process that is critical to the fast pace of product development in the automotive segment
• Provides a range of densities (4GB-64GB), in line with quality and reliability requirements in the automotive marketplace
• Includes an integrated NAND controller that offers robust NAND management and memory optimization compared to discrete NAND devices
• Offers flexible configuration in light of automotive customer requirements such as performance, reliability and data protection

"Electronics play a major role in the advancement of automotive technology, and electronic content in cars has been steadily increasing since the first digital engine control modules were introduced in the 1980s. This trend will accelerate as advances in semiconductor technology continue to bring down the cost of the various electronic modules and subsystems that make up the modern car, enabling advanced safety features, new information and entertainment services, and greater energy efficiency." – Hype Cycle for Automotive Electronics 2012, James F. Hines, Gartner, 4 October 2012.

Micron for Automotive
Micron, with its memory solutions for today’s automotive electronics industry, was highlighting a number of innovations at electronica. For the automotive market, offerings range from DRAM, NOR, NAND and e-MMC devices for infotainment; to NOR and DRAM for driving assistance, advanced safety systems, and efficient and user-friendly dashboard instrumentation; to reliable NOR products for power train and transmission. Micron’s e-MMC portfolio is dedicated and developed for today’s car infotainment and will eventually evolve to include advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) applications. Complete product portfolio enables customers to rely on a single source for all their memory needs. In fiscal year 2012 alone, Micron shipped more than 120 million devices for automotive applications, which is an average of >1.5 chips for each car manufactured in the world.

Availability
Micron’s automotive e-MMC 4.41-compatible devices are ramping up to volume production for strategic automotive OEMs and leading car makers.