QuickLogic Corporation (QuickLogic), a US-based developer of low power flexible semiconductor platforms, has selected Micron Technology, Inc. (Micron), for its CellularRAM mobile memory technology. QuickLogic has chosen Micron’s CellularRAM technology to serve as the framebuffer in its new ArcticLink II VX4 solution platforms. By using the CellularRAM framebuffer, the ArcticLink II VX family enables designers to use lower cost displays without integrated framebuffers.

The QuickLogic solution refreshes the display directly, allowing the mobile processor to be turned off, resulting in increased battery life.

CellularRAM memory devices are a hybrid of the SRAM and DRAM features, combining low power consumption with high-speed read and write functions. QuickLogic chose Micron’s CellularRAM technology, developed specifically for handset and mobile devices, because of its power efficiency as well as its scalability in terms of cost and density. “We were able to use the appropriate memory density for the application and use case requirements of the fast-growing handheld and mobile device market,” said Brian Faith, QuickLogic’s vice president of worldwide marketing.

For Micron, working with QuickLogic reinforces the company’s commitment to memory innovation for the mobile market. We are excited to be working with QuickLogic to support their innovative application with our CellularRAM technology, said Eric Spanneut, director of mobile memory marketing for Micron. This new use case creates significant opportunities for Micron in a high-growth segment of the mobile device market.

VX4 Family:

QuickLogic developed the VX4 solution platforms in response to growing demand for its Visual Enhancement Engine (VEE) technology among users of Qualcomm’s latest Mobile Station Modem (MSM) MSM7xxx-series and MSM8xxx-series mobile processors, including the recently announced Snapdragon family. The VX family embeds the 2nd generation VEE PSB, a VESA-compatible MDDI PSB and programmable fabric. Micron’s CellularRAM serves as a 24-bit color depth framebuffer ranging from Wide QVGA (400×240) to Wide SVGA (1024×600) resolution.

The VEE PSB improves the user’s viewing experience while extending system battery life by allowing reduction in the energy use of a mobile device’s biggest consumer, the backlight. In addition to the high-performance features of Micron’s CellularRAM, the inherent low-power of the technology further reduces system power. According to Faith, “By moving the framebuffer from either the processor or display to the ArcticLink II VX solution platform, we can conserve processor power consumption when the display is showing static information such as graphical user interfaces, while avoiding costly framebuffer memory in the displays themselves.”

Availability:

The ArcticLink II VX4 solution platforms will begin sampling to early adopters in August 2009, with general samples in September 2009, and are scheduled for production availability in December 2009. QuickLogic expects to be delivering Customer Specific Standard Products (CSSPs) based on the platforms to lead OEMs and ODMs in the same timeframe.

Micron is a US-based provider of semiconductor solutions.