Jan 22 2015
Cypress Semiconductor Corp., a leading provider of embedded nonvolatile memory solutions, and United Microelectronics Corporation, a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that UMC licensed Cypress's SONOS (Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) embedded Flash memory intellectual property (IP) for the 40-nanometer process technology node.
Cypress's SONOS delivers an easy-to-integrate nonvolatile memory cell with unmatched scalability for future development. The technology will primarily be used in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, wearables, microcontrollers and logic-dominated products.
This marks the third SONOS technology collaboration in the last three years between the two companies. UMC licensed Cypress's 55-nm SONOS process technology in 2014 and qualified Cypress's 65-nm technology in 2013.
Cypress's 40-nm SONOS embedded nonvolatile memory (NVM) process provides significant advantages over other embedded NVM offerings. SONOS requires fewer additional mask layers to insert it into a standard CMOS process, specifically, five additional masks at the 40-nm node compared with a minimum of twelve additional masks needed for other embedded Flash technologies. In addition, SONOS does not alter standard device characteristics or models when added to baseline CMOS processes, preserving existing design IP. SONOS delivers intrinsically high yields and reliability, 10 years of data retention, 100,000 program/erase endurance cycles, and robust resistance to soft errors. Cypress and UMC have demonstrated the ability to scale SONOS to smaller nodes, expediting future IP development.
"In addition to offering an IoT-specific technology and design platform, UMC offers design kits and IP specialized for our IoT processes to expedite our customers' designs to market," said S.C. Chien, vice president of Specialty Technology Development at UMC. "We are happy to expand our diverse range of eFlash solutions with the addition of Cypress's SONOS on UMC's high-volume and high-demand 40-nm process, providing customers with a high-performance, low power embedded memory option for customer IoT products."
"We are pleased to continue working with UMC to extend the adoption of our SONOS IP as the top choice for embedded nonvolatile memory," said Sam Geha, Vice President of the Technology and Intellectual Property Business Unit at Cypress. "The 40-nm SONOS process is embedded in an ultra-low power process technology and other 40-nm variants. It will benefit a broad range of UMC's customers looking to develop smart, power-efficient products for the Internet of Things and wearable electronics markets. 40-nm SONOS also enables faster processing speeds and lower power consumption for microcontrollers."
Source: http://www.cypress.com/