Microsemi unveils 65nm embedded flash platform

IRVINE, USA: Microsemi Corp., a leading provider of semiconductor technology aimed at building a secure, smart, connected world, announced that its SOC Products Division, formerly known as Actel Corp., has unveiled its new 65nm embedded flash platform, on which the company's next generation flash-based customizable SOCs (system-on-chips) will be built.

Featuring a new, expandable 4-input LUT architecture, the company's low power, intelligent mixed signal and system critical series of SOCs will converge on state-of-the-art 65nm embedded flash process. Densities will increase an order of magnitude, offering twice the performance when compared to the previous generation.

The new platform will maintain the company's low power leadership, providing 65 percent lower dynamic power while enhancing the Flash*Freeze feature to provide lower static current. Future devices will include industry-standard bus interfaces and also allow integration of hardened intellectual property such as embedded microprocessor cores, DSP blocks, high speed transceivers, memory interfaces, nonvolatile flash memory and programmable analog.

"More and more, the demand for low power, firm error immunity, security and integration are non-negotiable in today's designs," said Esam Elashmawi, vice president of product development at Microsemi's SoC Products Division. "With the move to 65nm, the increase in density and improvements in power and performance allow us to target a much larger portion of the industrial, medical, mil/aero, avionics, communications and consumer markets."

Microsemi and UMC are first to market with the 65-nm embedded flash process. First commercial silicon is already in house, with availability expected first half of 2011. Microsemi's SOC Products Division is concurrently launching its customer lead program for early adopters in the commercial and industrial markets who want early access to emerging technology for their next generation designs.