STMicro mass produces 1Gb, 512Mb NAND Flash devices

STMicroelectronics has announced the volume production of its 1Gb and 512Mb NAND Flash memory products, which are the first available devices in the company's portfolio of NAND products.

The demand for NAND Flash memory is fueled by the increasing number of multimedia systems products coming out in the market. NAND Flash memories meet the needs of high volume, physically small products that require large amounts of data-storage memory, such as removable mass-storage devices for digital cameras, MP3 players, PDAs, and 3G cellphones.

Providing high data throughput, coupled with the high density, fast write time and low power consumption demanded by portable equipment, the NAND1G and NAND512 devices are available in two versions for operation on 3V (NAND01GW3A, NAND512W3A) and 1.8V (NAND01GR3A, NAND512R3A) power supplies to suit the two major market areas.

The NAND512 and NAND1G memories are organized respectively into a total of 32 pages by 4,096 and by 8,192 nominal blocks, that can be read and programmed as a whole; the block erase time is 2ms. The size of the page is either 528 Bytes (512 + 16 spare) or 264 Words (256 + 8 spare) depending on whether the device has a x8 or x16 bus width, and the spare bytes are typically used for Error Correction Codes, software flags or Bad-Block identification.

A Copy-Back Program mode enables data stored in one page to be programmed directly into another without the need for external buffering, a feature that would typically be used to move the data in the event of failure of a Page Program operation due to a defective block. Each block is specified for 100,000 program and erase cycles, and 10-year data retention.

The Address lines and Data I/O signals are multiplexed unto an 8-bit bus, reducing the pin count and allowing the use of a modular pin-out which enables system upgrades to higher density devices without changing the footprint. Each product has a Cache Program feature to improve the throughput for large files.

Device options include 'Automatic Page 0 Read after Power Up', intended for applications that boot from the NAND memory, and 'Chip Enable Don't Care', which allows the microcontroller to manage NAND operations more efficiently.

The 'Chip Enable Don't Care' option also simplifies the use of NAND Flash in combination with other types of memory such as NOR and SRAM.

In addition, a unique device identifier can be programmed in-factory, and a User Programmable Serial number supports increased security in the target application. Open source reference software algorithms are available to extend the lifetime of the device, including: Error Correction Code (ECC), Bad Block Management (BBM), Garbage Collection, and Wear Leveling.