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Recent Press Releases from our
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RAMTRON TO DEMONSTRATE FIRST F-RAM ENHANCED EVENT DATA RECORDER AT EMBEDDED SYSTEMS CONFERENCE
Ramtron also to showcase new high-density serial F-RAM device at booth #2501
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - (March 26, 2008) - Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR), a leading developer and supplier of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (F-RAM) and integrated semiconductor products, today announced that it will exhibit at this year’s Embedded Systems Conference, at booth #2501. The conference will be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, from April 15 to 17. Click to continue … http://www.ramtron.com/doc/News/Release_detail.asp?ID=266
Connect One releases new firmware version for iChip CO2128
San Jose, CA - (March 20, 2008) - Connect One has just released new firmware (version 722) for the latest iChip, CO2128. The newly released version includes numerous new features as well as bug fixes.
New features include:
- iRouter
- Configured to work in iRouter mode, iChip operates as a router of IP packets between two platforms: dial-up/cellular and LAN/WiFi.
- Fast USART support
- High baud rates, up to 3Mbps, can now be reached between host and iChip via one of iChip's USARTs.
- New WiFi capabilities
- New control commands were added to the WiFi module that provide improved control over the radio, power and transmission
- New roaming mode was added where iChip can roam seamlessly among Access Points sharing the same SSID and security configuration without interrupting its IP connectivity.
- New monitoring mechanism that is sensitive to drops in AP signal strength. When iChip detects such a drop, it automatically starts searching for APs in its vicinity that have a stronger signal, while maintaining connection with the current AP.
- Multiple SSID support, which defines an ordered list of SSIDs of Access Points or ad-hoc networks for the iChip use to connect upon power-up.
- iChip Power Save Mode for achieving energy savings.
- Serial over Telnet, RFC2217 support
- This new mode opens a data socket as a TELNET socket, which allows negotiations of TELNET options over the same socket while the host is sending and receiving raw data. The new mode includes support of the RFC2217 standard.
If you have any questions regarding the new CO2128 firmware update or would like more information about Connect One technology, please contact me at Focus at sales@focusdt.com or 440-285-5591.
Ultra Tiny and Energy Efficient: Low VCE(SAT) Transistors in the SOT-953 SMD package
CMNT3904E and CMNT3906E
Hauppauge, NY USA – ( March 18, 2008) - Central Semiconductor announces the release of the FEMTOmini™ CMNT3904E (NPN) and CMNT3906E (PNP) Low VCE(SAT) transistors, packaged in the ultra tiny SOT-953 surface mount package. These new transistors are designed with enhanced specifications including: a maximum Collector-Base Voltage of 60V (Standard PNP devices are 40V max.), a maximum Emitter-Base Voltage of 6.0V (standard PNP devices are 5.0V max.), and a maximum VCE(SAT) of 0.2V at 50mA (standard devices are 0.3V for NPN and 0.4V for PNP).
With these newly enhanced specifications, the CMNT3904E and CMNT3906E are ideal for portable battery powered applications requiring an energy efficient transistor in an ultra small package. Applications include: DC-DC converters, switching and driver circuits, temperature sensing, small signal amplification and switching, and LED backlighting. The SOT-953 has a maximum package profile of 0.5mm and utilizes 33% less board space than the SOT-523 package.
The CMNT3904E and CMNT3906E transistors are available on 7 ” Tape & Reel.
Prices start at $0.08 each for 3,000 pcs on a 7 ” reel.
Sample devices are available upon request.
RAMTRON INTRODUCES 64-KILOBIT F-RAM ENHANCED PROCESSOR COMPANION WITH EMBEDDED 32 KHZ CRYSTAL
New single-chip solution reduces bill of materials and eliminates fatigue on crystal pins; ideal for meters and other time-stamp applications
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — March 4, 2008 — Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR), a leading developer and supplier of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (F-RAM) and integrated semiconductor products, today launched the FM3135, a 64-kilobit (Kb), 3-volt Processor Companion product that combines the benefits of nonvolatile F-RAM memory with an enhanced real-time clock/calendar (RTC) and integrated 32 kHz watch crystal. Read more at http://www.ramtron.com/doc/News/Release_detail.asp?ID=262
World's First Multi-Message ChipCorder® for Direct Trigger Applications
San Jose, CA — At 2008 IIC-China Shenzhen(Mar.3-4) & Shanghai(Mar. 10-11), Winbond Electronics Corp. introduces a new multi-message ChipCorder® with up to eight direct triggers for the automotive, industrial and consumer markets. The ISD1900 provide high quality voice in a single chip, reducing the BOM cost and shortening time to market. It is the perfect solution for applications with multiple record and playback buttons, with each button triggering a different message.
Current voice solutions providing multiple messages of similar durations often require a microcontroller with significant coding efforts. The ISD1900 eliminates both the need for a microcontroller and code programming. Therefore, engineers can quickly and easily add voice functionality into their applications and have their product ready to launch within a short period of time and at a lower BOM cost.
The ISD1900 is the latest addition to Winbond's award winning ChipCorder® record and playback family. Key features of this series include:
- Wider operating voltage (2.4V to 5.5V)
- Higher sampling frequency (4kHz to 12kHz)
- User-selectable durations from 10.6 seconds to over 2 minutes
- Feed-through control that takes analog signals and feeds it to the speaker outputs for voice broadcasting and monitoring
- Dual operating modes:
- Multiple messages with variable duration triggered by start and end address inputs
- Up to eight messages of similar duration triggered by each individual button
The ISD1900 was also specifically designed for easy migration from older ChipCorder® series such as ISD1400 and ISD2500 which have now been End of Life. Customers can preserve the functionalities of their current designs with minor board changes needed. Details of this migration are available on the website at http://www.winbond.com/ .
"Winbond continues its commitment to provide new Voice on System Chip (VoSC) solutions to enhance its ChipCorder® family and provide engineers greater feature and design flexibility at reduced costs and time to market", said CS Lin, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Winbond Electronics Corporation America. "We are proud to introduce our new ISD1900 because as market pressures continue to increase to provide cost effective products with shorter development time, the ISD1900 will be the solution of choice."
The ISD1900 is available in a 28-pin SOIC lead-free package. Die form is available under the ISD14B00 series. Additional product information for both the ISD1900 and ISD14B00 are available at http://www.winbond.com/. Samples are available now from local Winbond sales offices and its authorized representatives.
About Winbond
Winbond Electronics Corp. was founded in 1987 in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan. The company owns the capabilities of both IC design and manufacturing and provides entire solutions to the customers. Winbond focuses on the development of four main product lines, including μC & μC-based Consumer IC, Computer Logic IC, Mobile RAM, and Flash Memory, and it has built a solid foundation and a strong reputation in the semiconductor industry.
Winbond has five business groups, including Consumer IC Business Group, Computer Logic IC Business Group, DRAM Product Business Group, Flash Memory IC Business Group, and Memory IC Manufacturing Business Group. Each business group operates as a profit center to strengthen the company's operation model and keep the maneuverability and flexibility of the organization to adapt to the ever-changing semiconductor industry.
Winbond has over 4,000 employees worldwide and operates one 150mm wafer fab and one 300mm wafer fab. Winbond owns more than 2,500 patents worldwide and has subsidiaries in the USA, China, Israel, and Japan.
For more information, please visit: http://www.winbond.com
Note: Winbond and ChipCorder are registered trademark of Winbond Electronics Corporation. All other trademarks and copyrights mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Winbond Introduces First Quad Programmable Extended CODEC/SLIC IC Optimized Short-Loop VoIP Applications
Cost-Efficient W684386 Features Four-Channel Design, Industry's Best Idle Channel Noise and Return Loss Performance
SAN JOSE , Calif., USA - (Feburary 27, 2008) Winbond Electronics Corp., a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions to the consumer, computer, communications and electronics products markets, today introduced the industry's first four-channel CODEC optimized for short-loop VoIP applications. The newest member of Winbond's popular Pro-X (PROgrammable Extended) Series of CODEC/SLIC devices, the W684386 is a highly integrated solution to support four FXS telephone line interfaces on a single low-power CMOS device. The W684386 also delivers the industry's best idle channel noise and return loss performance – benchmarks which VoIP-system makers are making a priority to reduce.
Optimized for short-loop applications, the W684386 targets the VoIP equipment market, including products such as high-density VoIP gateways, analog telephone adapters, voice-enabled DSL and cable modems, IP-PBX, FTTX systems, and set-top boxes.
"As port densities on VoIP equipment increase dramatically with each generation, system designers are looking for a flexible solution with excellent price and performance benchmarks," said Ike Saeed, Vice President of Marketing of Winbond's Mixed Signal Product Center. "The W684386 fills this need with a robust four-channel design that not only reduces system cost but also improves the clarity of the VoIP signals."
Proprietary Technology Delivers Versatility, Low Overhead, User-Friendliness
The W684386 leverages Winbond's proprietary CODEC/SLIC architecture, combining four programmable CODECs that enable the device to support a comprehensive set of signaling capabilities for telephone line supervision and control, offload processor overhead and offer designers a user-friendly signal-processing environment. The W684386's four-channel SLIC block supports programmable impedance matching and trans-hybrid balancing ensuring that worldwide compliance can be supported from a single hardware configuration.
The W684386 also incorporates programmable DC-to-DC controllers, which allow power consumption optimization on a per channel basis. The device can also support higher-density architectures with external ringing and centralized power options. Winbond's proprietary CODEC/SLIC is protected by U.S. Patent No. 7,260,212 issued August 21 2007.
Availability, Pricing
The W684386 is available now in a 128-QFP package, at $4.50 (10K quantities), with full production scheduled for Q2. Three evaluation boards are available, each featuring a different DC-to-DC architecture option (per-channel inductor-based, single transformer-based or external battery/external ringing architecture). Each evaluation board features Winbond's user-friendly PC-based Graphical User Interface (GUI). Samples and evaluation boards are available now from Focus.
Additional product information on the full Pro-X Series is available at http://www.winbond.com/.
About Winbond
Winbond Electronics Corp. was founded in 1987 in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan. The company owns the capabilities of both IC design and manufacturing and provides entire solutions to the customers. Winbond focuses on the development of four main product lines, including μC & μC-based Consumer IC, Computer Logic IC, Mobile RAM, and Flash Memory, and it has built a solid foundation and a strong reputation in the semiconductor industry.
Winbond has five business groups, including Consumer IC Business Group, Computer Logic IC Business Group, DRAM Product Business Group, Flash Memory IC Business Group, and Memory IC Manufacturing Business Group. Each business group operates as a profit center to strengthen the company's operation model and keep the maneuverability and flexibility of the organization to adapt to the ever-changing semiconductor industry.
Winbond has over 4,000 employees worldwide and operates one 150mm wafer fab and one 300mm wafer fab. Winbond owns more than 2,500 patents worldwide and has subsidiaries in the USA, China, Israel, and Japan.
For more information, please visit: http://www.winbond.com
*Note: Winbond is registered trademarks of Winbond Electronics Corp.. All other trademarks and copyrights mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Central’s new 40V Schottky Diode in a Tiny Leadless Package
Hauppauge, NY USA – (January 23, 2008) – Central Semiconductor Corp. announces the release of the CFSH-4 Schottky Diode in the SOD-882L Tiny Leadless Package (TLP™). The CFSH-4 is a high quality 40 Volt, 200mA Schottky Diode with an extremely fast switching speed of 5ns. Designed for applications where ultra small size with reasonable power dissipation is a prime requirement, the CFSH-4 is ideal for portable battery powered applications such as: DC-DC converters, switching circuits, and LCD backlighting. With its bottom contacts, as opposed to protruding leads, the SOD-882L TLP™ utilizes 58% less board space than the SOD-523 package, and has a maximum package profile of 0.4mm.
The CFSH-4 is available on 7” Tape & Reel. Prices start at US$0.10 each for 3000 pieces on 7” Tape & Reel. Sample devices are available upon request.
Central Semiconductor manufactures leading edge discrete semiconductors and is always eager to explore design engineers' requests for special requirements.
Specifications for this new device can be found in the New Products / Latest Updates section of Central’s website at: www.centralsemi.com/product/whatsnew/newprod/
Hi Resolution Graphics available at: www.centralsemi.com/graphics/download
High-Density Nonvolatile F-RAM Memory Eliminates Battery and Reduces Footprint for Cost Effective SRAM Replacement (Article from Future Technology Magazine)
Ramtron 4Mb F-RAM Nonvolatile Memory Being Designed into Advanced Applications
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – (January 02, 2008) - Ramtron’s new high-density F-RAMs are based on a groundbreaking new 130nm F-RAM manufacturing process. Ramtron’s FM2xL16 series of high-density, 3V, parallel F-RAM devices include:
- The FM22L16 - 4Mb parallel nonvolatile F-RAM device
- The FM21L16 - 2Mb parallel F-RAM device
Superior Replacement for Serial Flash and SRAM, Lower Power than MRAM
F-RAM combines the fast access and low-power of RAM, but is nonvolatile. Compared to EEPROM and Flash, F-RAM writes faster and many more times with less power.
F-RAM also consumes much lower power than MRAM and is already commercially proven in demanding applications.
Available in a 44-pin TSOP package, the FM2xL16 is a drop-in replacement for asynchronous SRAMs but does not need a battery to backup data, making it an inherently more reliable device with a smaller footprint.
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FM21L16 Block Diagram
FM22L16 Block Diagram
Three Distinct Factors Account for F-RAM’s Continued Rise in Popularity:
First, it performs write operations at the same speed as read operations. Referred to as writing at bus speed, no delays are needed for the written data to become nonvolatile. This separates F-RAM from other nonvolatile memories that are based on floating gate technology, which causes long write delays. A typical EEPROM write operation takes 10 milliseconds to be effective after the data is written to the input buffer whereas F-RAM writes in nanoseconds. In addition, with F-RAM, there is no erase operation since there is no preferred or default state. As with other RAM technologies such as SRAM, data is written to F-RAM without regard to the previous state.
Second, F-RAM offers virtually unlimited write endurance – it doesn’t wear out like other nonvolatile memory choices. Floating gate devices stop retaining data when they have been erased too many times. This is a hard failure mechanism. A fatigued memory cell can no longer store the programmed state. F-RAM does not exhibit this type of wear out.
Third, F-RAM operates without a charge pump enabling low power consumption. Floating gate technologies use high voltage to program a new state, so write operations require much higher power consumption than read operations. F-RAM writes at the process core voltage, be it 5V, 3V or lower, on more advanced processes.
How F-RAM Works:
Figure 2: F-RAM CMOS and Crystal
When an electric field is applied to a ferroelectric crystal the central atom moves in the direction of the field. As the atom moves within the crystal, it passes through an energy barrier, causing a charge spike. Internal circuits sense the charge spike and set the memory. If the electric field is removed from the crystal, the central atom stays in position, preserving the state of the memory. Therefore, when power fails F-RAM memory retains its data. It’s fast and it doesn’t wear out!
130nm Process:
The FM2xL16 is based on a groundbreaking 130nm F-RAM manufacturing process developed by Texas Instruments in partnership with Ramtron. Produced on a standard CMOS logic process with only two additional mask steps, the process uses 130nm geometries and an advanced capacitor-over-plug process.
Figure 3: TI’s proven 130nm process advances F-RAM technology
Featured Products:
| Part Number | Description | Data Sheet |
App. Notes |
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| FM21L16-60-TG |  |
2Mb Parallel F-RAM with 60ns Access in a 44-pin "Green"/RoHS TSOP-II Package |  |
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| FM22L16-55-TG | 4Mb Parallel F-RAM with 55ns Access in a 44-pin "Green"/RoHS TSOP-II Package | |
This article was featured in Future Technology Magazine