Micron extends portfolio of phase change memory for mobile devices

USA: Micron Technology Inc. announced the addition of a new product to its Phase Change Memory (PCM) portfolio. With high volume shipments of its 45-nanometer (nm), 1-gigabit (Gb) PCM-based multichip package (MCP) solution for mobile devices well underway, the company is now sampling a 512-megabit (Mb) PCM plus 512Mb LPDDR2 MCP that offers greater flexibility in terms of application requirements.

The company also announced that it has been shipping 1Gb PCM to one of the world's leading mobile device manufacturers, Nokia, for use in their recently announced phones.

As the first company in the world to ship PCM solutions in volume, Micron is building on its close cooperation with chipset vendors, enablers and handset manufacturers to meet growing market demand for PCM. Nokia is using Micron's PCM solution to enrich the functionality of select devices in its portfolio.

"Nokia has always found ways to provide innovative mobile devices for its customers across the globe, and Micron's PCM for mobile enables us to enhance the performance of Asha smartphones," said Dirk Didascalou, senior VP, Mobiles Phones, Nokia. "Micron is a trusted supplier, and their new technology helps create a strong user experience with a number of feature and performance enhancements."

The company's unrelenting focus on memory industry leadership and technical innovation are critical success factors to adoption of PCM solutions to-date. In addition, the design-optimizing shared interface between LPDDR2 and PCM is fully compliant with JEDEC industry standards, further advancing marketplace appeal.

PCM provides enhanced boot time, simplifies software development and boosts performance with overwrite capability. It also provides very low power consumption and extremely high reliability. Micron's 45nm PCM solution is currently targeted for utilization in mobile phones bringing enhanced capabilities, with a future roadmap aimed at addressing smartphones and media tablets.

From entry-level phones to high-end smartphones and tablets, Micron supplies virtually every volatile and nonvolatile memory product utilized in wireless devices today, including NOR, NAND, PCM, LPDRAM and e*MMC embedded memory, meeting the need for increased performance, expanding storage requirements, mature technology replacement and package capability.