Sanyo, SST Ignite Flash Accord

Entering a second-source agreement for deep sub-micron IC fab technology, as well as real-world product development, memory house Silicon Storage Technology (SST; Sunnyvale, CA) has joined forces with consumer electronics giant Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). Today both firms announced news of interest to OEMs using flash.

The multi-faceted second-source joint development and wafer foundry agreements were made at a press conference in Tokyo. Under terms of the accord, Sanyo will now be an alternate source for SST's flash product portfolio. Significantly, Sanyo will be able to sell the flash ICs under its own brand name. Initial product shipment isn't anticipated until the third quarter of next year however.

Nonetheless, with today's announcement, SST secures ample capacity of Sanyo's sub-micron wafer foundry for its next-generation products. SST will also receive royalties from Sanyo's product sales based on SST's 0.25-micron fab technology. Prior to this agreement, an SST foundry agreement with Sanyo included 0.7-, 0.5- and 0.35-micron process technologies.

Going With NOR

SST's patented SuperFlash is a NOR-type split-gate cell architecture that uses a thick-oxide process involving few manufacturing steps. That results in a low-cost non-volatile structure that touts high data retention and reliability.

SST also claims its split-gate NOR flash facilitates design flexibility. SST says it's suitable for small or medium sector sizes.

SST also emphasizes that NOR technology can be used for in- or off-system programming. The company notes that it's also a single CMOS-compatible technology, regardless of application.

Prior to this agreement, SST had already been manufacturing a range of non-volatile memory based on its SuperFlash technology. The company's products include CompactFlash (CF) cards for mass storage, and flash-equipped 8-bit microcontrollers.

SST also offers SuperFlash for embedded applications through manufacturing partners and technology licensees such as Acer Semiconductor Manufacturing, IBM, Samsung Electronics, Seiko Epson, Motorola, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

Targeting Smartphones

Today's agreement calls for the two firms to co-develop high-functionality application-specific flash products targeted for compute-intensive cellphone and Internet appliances. That makes sense if you consider Sanyo's consumer-heavy portfolio. The agreement with Sanyo, one of the largest consumer product firms in the world, will likely also enable SST to expand its market presence globally through Sanyo's sales and distribution channels.

What's more, today's agreement is initially earmarked to include Sanyo as a second-source for SST's so-called Many-Time Programmable and multi-purpose flash memories. The companies expect to extend this agreement to future SST products as well.

Sanyo says its decision to second-source the SST product line was driven by customer demand for broad flash ICs that could address diverse markets. The firm says it's license of SuperFlash is due to its scalability to finer process geometries, high inherent reliability, simplicity of circuit design, and its logic-process compatibility.

Silicon Storage Technology, Inc., 1171 Sonora Ct., Sunnyvale, CA. Phone: (408) 735-9110. Fax: (408) 735-9036.