ST announces 1, 2 and 4-Mbit Serial Flash memories for the Automotive Market

The new M25P10-A, M25P20 and M25P40 memories – 1Mbit, 2Mbit and 4Mbit, respectively – are thought to be the first serial Flash devices tough enough to be specified and made available for the automotive environment. They are produced using ST’s volume-proven state-of-the-art technology to offer reliable solutions for automotive applications. The products are Automotive Grade certified, and are qualified to the AEC-Q100 standard.

In addition, the devices are tested through ST’s proprietary High Reliability Certified Flow (HRCF) procedure to guarantee operation over the full -40 degrees C to +125 degrees C automotive temperature range, and to meet automotive quality and reliability demands. This testing flow is combined with statistical tools such as SBL (Statistical Bin Limit) and PAT (Part Average Testing) to screen out early failures and outliers (on wafer and die), with the aim of meeting the automotive Zero-ppm target – total reliability.

Maintaining high-speed access at up to 25MHz over the wide operating temperature range, the new memories are ideal for use in high performance engine management, transmission control modules and safety applications, as well as in in-car systems such as the dashboard, multimedia displays and audio systems. Choosing a serial memory device saves space and costs in the application because of the very small package and the 4-wire bus, and further reduces costs by needing only a few I/O pins on the microcontroller or ASIC.

The M25P10-A, M25P20 and M25P40 integrate a standard 4-wire SPI bus with an enhanced data transfer clock speed of 25MHz. They operate on a 2.7V to 3.6V supply voltage, and feature a 1µA deep power-down to minimize overall power consumption. Minimum data retention is 20 years; write endurance is 10,000 cycles by sector over the full automotive temperature range. The memories can be programmed 1 to 256 bytes at a time using the Page Program instruction, and can be erased using Bulk Erase or Sector Erase.

The chips are supplied in the popular S08 Narrow (150 mils) package, which uses ST’s ECOPACK RoHS-compliant lead-free technology. Compatibility between the densities is preserved – including pin-to-pin footprint, software configuration protocols and the power consumption performance – to enable easy design upgrades to higher densities and provide excellent flexibility in application board designs.

Devices are manufactured entirely within ST facilities qualified to ISO/TS 16949:2002, and provide unrivalled performance and ruggedness to meet both existing and future automotive requirements. Engineering samples are available for evaluation now, with volume production planned for Q2 2006. An 8Mb device is planned for the end of 2006. Product pricing is $0.95, $1.20 and $1.40 for the M25P10-A, M25P20 and M25P40, respectively.