Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Samsung Electronics) has started utilizing 40-nanometer (nm) process technology to produce eight-gigabit (Gb) Flex-OneNAND fusion memory chip. The Flex-OneNAND is a new memory device that offers both SLC and MLC NAND in a single cost-efficient chip. The new chip is designed for applications that need high speed and high reliability in processing both the code and data content.
Applications utilizing the new Flex-OneNAND are anticipated to expand from the high-performance smart phones, to the full HDTVs, IPTVs and other high-end applications by the end of 2009.
“Forty nanometer Flex-OneNAND is a tremendous advancement for the memory industry, one which offers a uniquely cost-effective approach to memory selection, while permitting designers the flexibility of adjusting designs up to the final design stage,” stated Jim Elliott, memory vice president, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.
By adopting the advanced 40nm class technology, the company attains an increase in productivity of up to 180% increase in productivity over the first Flex-OneNAND, a four Gb device that is designed on 60nm-class technology.
The Flex-OneNAND, which is developed in 2007, includes SLC and MLC NAND on a single piece of the silicon, enabling application designers to choose portion of SLC and MLC NAND storage to be utilized in any specific design via a simple adjustment to the accompanying software. This maximizes the performance and efficiency of embedded flash chip.
Samsung has incorporated the software to support a system level interface for the embedded memory, moviNAND (or eMMC) in its eight Gb Flex-OneNAND. This new feature enables the handset designers to easily launch high-density embedded memory in their new phones, removing the need to source additional software. As embedded memory can increase the high data transfer speeds, more high-end phones are anticipated to be launched with from 1GB to even 32GB of embedded memory.
The new Flex-OneNAND’s MLC area offers up to a three times greater read speed and its SLC area provides up to a four times greater read speed than the regular MLC NAND. The Flex-OneNAND MLC area features a comparable write speed to regular MLC NAND and its SLC area offers a write speed up to three times higher.
The new Flex-OneNAND decreases the area needed for memory on the printed circuit board and enhances performance by reducing transmission noise.
Samsung is also expanding its collaboration with the chipset designers to offer original equipment manufacturers with additional convenience in implementing new memory solutions like Flex-OneNAND.