Reliable, lower cost alternative for automotive displays

Winbond’s new High-Performance Serial NAND technology also supports a two-chip dual quad interface which gives a maximum data transfer rate of 166MB/s. This high speed Read operation means that the new W25N01JW chip can replace SPI NOR Flash memory in automotive applications such as data storage for instrument clusters or the Centre Information Display (CID).

This is important for automotive OEMs because the adoption of more sophisticated graphics displays in the instrument cluster, and larger display sizes of 7” and above in the CID, is increasing system memory requirements to capacities of 1Gb and higher. At these capacities, serial NAND Flash has a lower unit cost than SPI NOR Flash and occupies a smaller board area per Mb of storage capacity.

SPI NOR Flash has been the preferred memory technology in automotive displays for many years because of its high read speed, which supports the fast boot requirements of automotive user interfaces. By raising the data transfer rate of its serial NAND technology to 83MB/s, matching the read speed of automotive SPI NOR Flash, Winbond has aimed to ensure that the W25N01JW can support fast boot operation and the demanding requirements of sophisticated graphics applications.

The W25N01JW also meets strict automotive requirements for quality and reliability. Built with high-reliability Single-Level Cell (SLC) memory technology, and implementing 1-bit Error Correction Code (ECC) on all Read and Write operations, it complies with the endurance, retention and quality requirements of the AEC-Q100 standard and relevant JEDEC specifications.

The W25N01JW device operates from -40°C to 105°C and retains data for ten years at 85°C after 1,000 Program/Erase cycles, whereas eMMC devices, , which are today widely used for data storage in the CIDs of high end vehicles, can only retain data for a fraction of that time under these conditions even when used in SLC mode.

William Chen, Deputy Director of the Flash Product Marketing Division at Winbond, said: “Cars’ large and attractive displays need higher memory capacity, beyond the ‘sweet spot’ of SPI NOR Flash, which is good for up to 512Mb. For systems that require high speed memory in capacities of 1Gb or higher, Winbond’s High Performance Serial NAND Flash is the new best choice for automotive OEMs, offering a combination of lower unit cost, smaller size and excellent reliability and data retention.”

The W25N01JW is available for sampling today in a capacity of 1Gb. A two-chip implementation in Dual Quad I/O mode provides 2Gb of memory capacity and a maximum data transfer rate of 166MB/s.

The chip is available in Industrial Grade and in an extended temperature Automotive Grade version operating at up to 105°C. It is compatible with standard SPI NAND Flash protocols. It is housed in standard 8x6mm WSON and TFBGA packages that are footprint-compatible with standard SPI NOR Flash products.