What is it That Spansion Does?

Spansion makes Flash Memory. Flash memory can be found in nearly every electronic device- in cell phones, cars, printers, networking equipment, set-top boxes, high-definition TVs, games and other consumer electronics. As people continue to demand more multimedia content in their homes, at work and on the go, and as electronic products become increasingly complex, the amount of Flash memory in electronic devices will continue to grow.

What is Flash Memory?

A fundamental capability of Flash memory is that it can “remember” after electrical power is shut off. The advantage of using Flash memory is that it can be electrically erased and reprogrammed, in many cases more than 10,000 times. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards, USB flash memory cards (thumb drives, handy drive, memory stick, flash stick, jump drive) and embedded in many electronic devices. Flash is used for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products and was a more than $20 billion market in 2006.

The Flash memory market has traditionally been segmented into two architectural categories: NOR and NAND and based on traditional floating gate technology. NOR devices have relatively faster (than NAND) read times, relatively slower write and erase times, and they are extremely reliable. NAND devices have relatively faster erase and write times, but slower read times. They are designed to be read sequentially, so cannot directly execute code read operations which requires non-sequential access. NAND devices are much less reliable; it is not uncommon for several percent of the memory cells of a device to fail during normal usage.

Because of NOR’s fast read speed, ability to be accessed randomly, and high reliability, it has traditionally dominated instruction store applications. Due to NAND’s fast erase/write speed, and lower cost, it has traditionally been used for data storage.

Spansion offers a revolutionary technology called “MirrorBit®”. It uses a fundamentally different approach to storing charge than floating gate technology. The material used to create a floating gate is conductive, but the material used to store charge in MirrorBit technology is non-conductive. So while electrons stored on a floating gate will diffuse, those stored in a particular location of a MirrorBit cell will stay put. MirrorBit technology can address the vast majority of applications and can enable higher performance than that enabled by traditional floating gate MLC at lower costs.

For more information about MirrorBit technology, click here.