SMIC, SHHIC deliver smart card IC using 0.162?m EEPROM

Shanghai Huahong Integrated Circuit Co. Ltd (SHHIC) announced that its design of a high-end contactless smart card IC has successfully entered into commercial production at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) using162?m embedded EEPROM process.

The product is a collaborative effort by SHHIC and SMIC. It is also the first smart card IC in commercial production using SMIC's 0.162?m EEPROM technology.

The targeted markets for SHHIC's high-end smart card IC product are identification or payment systems of which chip security and chip performance are the two key requirements. The product uses 32bit low-power security processor architecture, which adopts ROM, RAM and EEPROM of large capacity. The communication speed of the RFIC has reached the upper limit of the ISO/IEC14443 standard, which guarantees that the chip may be applied to a wide range of complex contactless IC applications.

The chip also has an embedded high-quality random number generator, the latest design by SHHIC using built-in high-speed symmetric cryptography and Public Key Infrastructure co-processor to support applications following mainstream cryptographic protocols. In addition, the chip uses an advanced anti-shock technology exclusively developed by SHHIC. Various mechanical shock tests have proven that the chip can withstand high impacts. With such features, a strong market demand for the SHHIC's high-end contactless smart card ICs can be expected.

"The success of the commercial production of this smart card IC product marked a meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough in the industry," said XinHua Ji, director of design of SHHIC.

Chris Chi, senior VP and chief business officer of SMIC said, "SMIC has reached a new milestone in embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) technology. The 0.162?m embedded EEPROM process can provide customers solutions with more reliability, stability and lower-costs. It will therefore greatly enhance customers' market competitiveness, and consequently, consolidate SMIC's leadership position in the embedded NVM market. The process is poised to play a significant role in both the existing and the potential markets in China. SMIC will continue with the R&D of embedded NVM technology and forge close collaboration with our clients for a win-win partnership."