Rugged serial flash memory chips designed specifically for the automotive market
26 July 2006
DSP, Micros & Memory
STMicroelectronics' new generation of serial Flash memory chips, with densities from 1 to 4 Mbit, have been designed specifically for demanding automotive applications with high reliability requirements.
The M25P10-A, M25P20 and M25P40 memories - 1 Mbit, 2 Mbit and 4 Mbit, respectively - are thought to be the first serial Flash devices tough enough to be specified and made available for the automotive environment. The products are Automotive Grade certified, and are qualified to the AEC-Q100 standard. In addition, the devices are tested through ST's proprietary High Reliability Certified Flow (HRCF) procedure to guarantee operation over the full -40 to 125°C automotive temperature range, and to meet automotive quality and reliability demands. This testing flow is combined with statistical tools to screen out early failures and achieve total reliability.
The new memories are ideal for use in high performance engine management, transmission control modules and safety applications, as well as in in-car systems such as the dashboard, multimedia displays and audio systems, says ST. Choosing a serial memory device saves space and costs in the application because of the very small package and the 4-wire bus, and further reduces costs by needing only a few I/O pins on the microcontroller or ASIC.
The three devices integrate a standard 4-wire SPI bus with an enhanced data transfer clock speed of 25 MHz. They operate on a 2,7-3,6 V supply, and feature a 1 μA deep power-down consumption. Minimum data retention is 20 years; write endurance is 10 000 cycles by sector over the full automotive temperature range. The memories can be programmed 1 to 256 bytes at a time using the Page Program instruction, and can be erased using Bulk Erase or Sector Erase.
The chips are supplied in the popular S08 Narrow (150 mils) package. Compatibility between the densities is preserved - including pin-to-pin footprint, software protocols and the power consumption performance - to enable later design upgrades.
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