Swissbit AG Embedded World Review

They were impressed by the Swissbit SD Memory Card portfolio and roadmap for read only applications. They satisfy the strictest standards, for example JESD22A or MIL-STD, in terms of service life, data retention, read disturb, temperature profile, robustness and many other criteria. To attain these optimum values, Swissbit has passivated all conductive components with the exception of the connector pads. Low modulus materials provide reduced warpage and packaging stress. During the specially developed and protective manufacturing process, the memory chips are not exposed to 180°C for six hours as with EMC, but instead to max. 150°C for just one hour. Fine Filler resins with particle sizes of 10µm provide reliable wire bond nets with no voids in the filling and no wire sweep. Thanks to these high-grade materials and production processes, Swissbit SD memory cards absorb extremely little humidity, as low as MSL1, are enormously robust in exposure to shock and vibration, and have a dppm rate of less than 300. They are designed for temperatures ranging between -40°C and 85°C, and the material can even withstand peaks of up to 125°C without any further issues. Highly-developed features such as Smart Active Data Refresh. Read & Write Wear Levelling, Power Fail Protection and Recovery, Bad Block Management and Life Time Monitoring (diagnosis) enhance data retention and data security even further.



Swissbit practically uses only single level cells in its memory modules. Depending on the application, other technologies may be used. In practical tests, Swissbit 32nm SLC system solutions achieved a P/E endurance of 100,000 cycles, beating comparable SLC products with 2Xnm, which only manage 50,000 P/E cycles – not forgetting multi-level cell solutions that barely manage to securely store data much beyond 3,000 cycles.

Of course, depending on the model, Swissbit also offers long-term availability of up to eight years, periods which are demanded in automotive, industrial and medical applications in particular. During this time, a fixed BOM ensures that the memory modules are absolutely identical with one another in terms of construction and are thus also identical to the sample. However, should changes arise in the component composition, a PCN will inform the customers in good time and the article designation will change accordingly. Valuable assistance is offered here by well-researched, extensive support provided by expert application engineers. They provide advice throughout the entire development cycle on the ideal memory architecture from the design phase through to implementation, testing, qualification and finally end-of-generation. These expert teams also help the customer to discuss their specific requirements and provide solutions for implementation.