The small devices complement industry trends toward smaller and more advanced designs, and are ideal for a wide range of portable and consumer-electronic applications.

Smaller form factors have forced engineers to consider smaller packages to meet the needs of their applications. With Microchip’s tiny new serial EEPROMs, designers can replace larger packages with these smaller, less-expensive packages without sacrificing performance. One of the newest and most innovative packages on the market, Microchip’s die-sized WLCSP has an extremely low profile, making it appropriate for not only space but height-constrained applications. The low pin count of the ultra-small 2 mm x 2 mm SC-70 and 3 mm x 3 mm SOT-23 packages requires fewer I/O connectors, which helps to minimize overall design size and cost; and provides further cost advantages over other popular package types such as the SOIC.

“By introducing our very tiny EEPROMs, Microchip continues to expand its serial EEPROM presence in the portable and consumer-electronic market segments,” said Randy Drwinga, vice president of Microchip’s Memory Products Division. “With the WLCSP, Microchip now offers an entire family of I2C EEPROMs in packages the size of the die, itself—several are smaller than 1 mm x 1 mm. These devices further enhance our commitment to satisfying customers’ needs with innovative, low-cost and small packages.”

In addition to the devices being announced today, Microchip expects to announce a family of 128 Kbit devices in a 2 mm x 3 mm TDFN package; a family of 512 Kbit devices in a TSSOP; and a series of 512 Kbit and 1 Mbit devices in a 150-mil SOIC package in the coming months.

The new EEPROMs are ideal for numerous portable and consumer-electronic applications, such as Bluetooth headsets, cell phones, digital cameras, laptop computers, PDAs, LCD modules and watches. The devices are also appropriate for applications in the industrial market such as security cameras, as well as in medical applications such as glucose meters and hearing aids.

Development Tool Support:

Microchip’s new small-package serial EEPROM devices are supported by the MPLAB Starter Kit for Serial Memory Products. The kit includes a serial memory interface board, a serial EEPROM starter pack, a USB cable, and a CD containing the MPLAB IDE, Total Endurance software model and a serial EEPROM interface tool.

Microchip is a US-based provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors.