DRAM maker to sample 256Mb UtRAM for handsets

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has developed what it claims is the first 256Mb uni-transistor random access memory (UtRAM) device, which it plans to sample to mobile phone manufacturers later this month.

Manufactured using 90nm process technology, the 256Mb UtRAM operates at 133MHz and can process data 1.7 times faster than 80MHz pseudo SRAM devices, the company said.

In February 2001, Samsung introduced UtRAM to replace SRAMs in portable systems. A UtRAM device is a type of pseudo-SRAM, but with a cell configuration of a DRAM and the interface of an SRAM or NOR flash memory device.

The 256Mb UtRAM device is fully compliant to JEDEC's burst pseudo-SRAM standard. It is available as a standalone device or in multi-chip packages typically used in mobile phones.

The 256Mb UtRAM is scheduled for mass production at the end of this year. The company would not release sample pricing.

- Ismini Scouras
eeProductCenter