Semiconductor Insights Recognizes Toshiba with 2005 INSIGHT Award for Most Innovative Non-Volatile Memory.OTTAWA -- Semiconductor Insights (SI), the leader in technical and patent analyses of integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. and structures, today announced that it has awarded Toshiba's 4Gb multi-level cell MLC NAND flash is a flash memory technology using multiple levels per cell to allow more bits to be stored as opposed to SLC NAND flash technologies, which use a single level per cell. (MLC (MultiLevel Cell) A flash memory technology that stores more than one bit per cell. Traditional flash memory defines a 0 or 1 bit based on a single voltage threshold. ) NAND flash See flash memory. in 90nm process the 2005 INSIGHT Award for Most Innovative Non-Volatile Memory Refers to memory chips that hold their content without power being applied. It may refer to chips that are not changeable, such as ROMs and PROMs, or to chips that can be rewritten many times such as flash memory. . This category is co-sponsored by Semico Research Corporation. The Toshiba device is the first 4Gb monolithic flash seen by SI, and arguably the only one in the market. As well, Toshiba is the second vendor to successfully realize commercial flash production at the 90nm node, following Samsung. "Toshiba has really surpassed itself by producing the first single chip, 4Gb flash device," said Edward Keyes, Vice President and CTO (Chief Technical Officer) The executive responsible for the technical direction of an organization. See CIO and salary survey. for SI. "Equally impressive is their use of two bits per cell technology at the leading edge 90nm technology node See technology generation. . Normal practice for MLC vendors is to hedge their bets and hold back one generation." Keys to the flash market are density, cost, and read/write performance. There are two rival flash technologies - NAND (Not AND) A Boolean logic operation that is true if any single input is false. Two-input NAND gates are often used as the sole logic element on gate array chips, because all Boolean operations can be created from NAND gates. See flash memory. and NOR. NAND offers large storage capacity at a cost effective price, while NOR delivers high-speed code execution. The battle for market dominance between NAND and NOR hinges on the evolving and converging mobile device market which is seeking solutions with advantages from both technologies. "No other semiconductor market is growing as fast as NAND is today," said Jim Handy, Director of Nonvolatile Memory Services at Semico. "NAND became the second-largest memory after DRAM in Q1 of this year. This market is only open to serious contenders with great technology and superb manufacturing. Semiconductor Insights' technology analysis shows that Toshiba shines in those areas." SI recently analyzed Toshiba's TH58NVG NVG Night Vision Goggles NVG Neovascular Glaucoma NVG New Venture Gear (auto transmission) NVG Not Very Good NVG New Ventures Group 3D4BTGI0 2-stacked, 4Gb 90nm MLC NAND flash. SI's analysis revealed a die size of 137mm2, making Toshiba the current density leader in flash and neutralizing its closest NAND competitor, a 90nm 2Gb single bit cell (SBC (1) (SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, TX, www.sbc.com) A large, national telecommunications company that grew from a multitude of local and regional companies, including Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, into a single, unified brand by 2002. ) flash with a 144mm2 die size from Samsung. "With a leading edge density and process technology, Toshiba's 4G NAND flash is extremely well positioned in the rapidly growing and highly competitive consumer device market", said Keyes. "This device is a significant milestone for Toshiba's flash program and creates a roadmap for the future." Finally, in recognition of the cost-performance leadership displayed by Spansion's 1.8-volt 256Mb MirrorBit NOR flash in 110nm process, SI has awarded Spansion with an honorable mention in this category. For a complimentary Insight Report on the Toshiba or Spansion flash devices, please visit www.semiconductor.com. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: About the INSIGHT Awards http://www.semiconductor.com/insightawards/index.asp About Semiconductor Insights http://www.semiconductor.com/about_si/index.asp About Toshiba's 4Gb MLC NAND flash in 90nm process http://www.semiconductor.com/resources/reports_database/ view_device.asp?sinumber=11958 Image - Toshiba's 4Gb MLC NAND flash in 90nm process http://www2.ccnmatthews.com/database/fax/2000/ toshiba_die_photo.jpg About Spansion 1.8-volt 256Mb MirrorBit NOR flash in 110nm process http://www.semiconductor.com/resources/reports_database/ view_device.asp?sinumber=11571 (Due to their length, these URLs may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.) |
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