Adesto: FusionHD NVMs for Next-Gen Consumer and Industrial IoT Edge Devices

Adesto Technologies Corporation introduces FusionHD non-volatile memories (NVMs) designed for next-gen consumer and industrial IoT edge devices.

FusionHD builds on the smart IoT feature set of the company’s Fusion family with more capabilities, patented low-power technology, security features, and increased memory density options.

The FusionHD product line supports the code storage and data logging demands of a range of feature-rich wearables, hearables, sensor edge devices and industrial systems. It delivers low power consumption, fast data transfer and robust, reliability operation. Unlike standard flash devices, it incorporates a ‘Small Page Erase’ and ‘Write Architecture’ that makes saving small packets of data quick and efficient. It also allows large data packets to be saved and accessed using minimal CPU clock cycles, reducing processing time and battery consumption.

“When we first introduced the Fusion family of NVMs, their novel design and ultra-low power operation helped extend battery life in a new generation of products such as Bluetooth LE enabled consumer IoT devices,” said Paul Hill, senior marketing director, Adesto. “Fusion quickly became our fastest-growing NVM family, and we expect FusionHD to achieve even greater success. The product adds powerful new features to address evolving market needs, and provides significant advantages across a wide range of demanding applications.“

FusionHD can bring system-level advantages to long-life industrial IoT devices such as sensors, meters and monitors. The extended battery life and wide operating voltage range offered by FusionHD help to prolong the active lifetime of these devices, which are often in remote or inaccessible locations. Designed and tested, it offers increased robustness over other devices – a benefit when repair and maintenance aren’t possible for extended periods.

“Whether the key design priority is low-power consumption, reliable remote operation, or small form factor, FusionHD can provide significant advantages for your design,” commented Hill.

“As the processing requirements at the IoT edge continue to increase, designers must look for every possible opportunity to optimize their system design for their specific application,” said Rich Wawrzyniak, principal analyst, ASIC and SoC, Semico Research Corp. “There are opportunities to make a difference at the edge by using the right non-volatile memories, such as those with higher densities, lower-power operation, security features, and the ability to perform fast, efficient offline data logging. With its new FusionHD memories, Adesto is delivering these features and more.“

FusionHD includes a suite of supervisory functions including a ‘Battery Health Monitor’ and ‘System Reset Generator’, which reduce the system bill-of-materials, overall system cost and physical footprint.

FusionHD provides features designed for power-conscious IoT edge devices:

• Flexible memory architecture

  • • A flexible R/W SRAM buffer reduces the number of times needed to write to the flash array, dramatically improving endurance while also decreasing CPU clock cycles and reducing power consumption.

    • Small Page Erase and Write Architecture is for writing small amounts of data without having to reprogram an entire page, thereby lending speed, power and endurance to the device.

• Intelligent host interface features that elevate memory device into the ‘smart peripheral’ domain

  • • Active IRQ feature enables the device to issue an interrupt to the MCU after completing an internal program or erase operation, optimizing overall power use and reducing CPU overhead.

    • Read/Modify/Write operation enables easier software driver development and allows the CPU to focus on other tasks.

• Security features include device identification and a User One-Time Programmable (OTP) security register that is usable for system-level key storage.

FusionHD by numbers

• Power consumption is up to 70% lower than the competition, aided by the ‘Small Page Erase’ feature, autonomous smart features as well as an optimized low-power design with ultra-deep power-down mode.

• It enables up to 5x faster system performance vs. the competition, with features like small page erase, read/modify/write, and flexible SRAM buffer; it also achieves 104MHz SPI operation; QSPI with XiP capability allows direct code execution from the host MCU.

• Products extend the Fusion product line up to 32Mb to support the growing memory demands of power-sensitive products.

• Wide operating voltage range of VCC 1.7V to 3.6V allows FusionHD to function with a variety of battery technologies and to operate from an unregulated supply voltage, potentially reducing overall BOM cost.

FusionHD supports the Serial Flash Reset Signaling Protocol (JESD252) and the latest version of the SFDP standard (JESD216D). These standards make it easier for system designers to deliver smarter, more efficient and user-friendly devices.

Samples of FusionHD AT25XE321B are available for order.