UBM TechInsights discovers first phase change memory device in commercial app

OTTAWA, CANADA: UBM TechInsights, the pre-eminent provider of services for companies seeking to leverage and protect their technology and intellectual property assets, announces the first commercial design win of a Phase Change memory component in a downstream product application.

The discovery of this NOR-compatible Phase Change RAM (NcPRAM) ends years of speculation of when the first product to utilize this innovative form of memory would reveal itself.

Discussed as recently as April 2010, Samsung has been in a development race with primary competitor Numonyx (now Micron) to introduce PRAM to engineers and handset designers as an alternative to traditional nonvolatile memories such as NOR and NAND.

Through forensic technical analysis, UBM TechInsights has confirmed Samsung's claim of second half 2010 availability of a PRAM die in a multi-chip package (MCP) in a mobile phone. This establishes Samsung as the current leader in PRAM development and deployment.

UBM TechInsights' finding of a 512 Mbit die, labeled KPS1N15EZA and packaged with a Samsung 128Mbit UtRAM die, packs memory cells into a greater density than its previously analyzed Numonyx 128Mbit Phase Change Memory counterpart.

The Samsung PRAM die is comprised of four aluminum interconnect layers with the memory elements and the top and bottom electrode contacts built between the aluminum metal 1 and the silicon substrate.

"The future of phase change memory technology is still unclear as a viable alternative memory technology to NAND, NOR and even DRAM", says Young Choi, senior memory analyst.

"Recent debate on the scaling limitation of phase change memory technologies, combined with production delays from Numonyx had left many wondering if PRAM would ever realize its promise as a next generation memory. The discovery of this product in a mobile application is a clear sign that designers are now open to using this promising technology."