Numonyx catches up in NAND with rollout

Numonyx (Geneva) introduced the following products: Standalone and multi-chip package products at densities from 16- to 32-Gbit based on multi-level cell (MLC) technology; e-MMC managed NAND products from 2- to 32-GB; and microSD removable cards from 2- to 8-GB.

The company also introduced a 48-nm, 1-Gbit NAND product, based on single-level cell (SLC) technology.

The company is not changing its NAND strategy. Rather than competing in the commodity NAND markets, ''we want to be in embedded and wireless,'' said Fabio Gualandris, vice president and general manager of the Data Business Group at Numonyx.

Formed this year, Numonyx is the memory spin-off of Intel Corp. and STMicroelectronics Inc. STMicroelectronics holds a 49 percent stake in Numonyx, Intel has 45 percent and Francisco Partners owns 6 percent. The new venture is selling NOR, NAND and phase-change memory based on technology from Ovonyx Inc.

Numonyx and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (Seoul) recently disclosed a new, five-year agreement to expand their joint development programs in NAND. The companies will co-develop products and processes in the arena.

Previously, Numonyx' leading-edge NAND products were based on 48-nm technology, which put the company slightly behind its rivals. At 41-nm, ''we are catching up,'' Gualandris said. "We are in the same pack.''

In comparison, the Intel-Micron duo recently rolled out a 34-nm NAND part. Toshiba Corp. is running 43-nm devices, while Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is delivering 42-nm parts, said Gregory Wong, an analyst with Forward Insights.

Despite the breakthroughs in process technology, NAND is still in the midst of a major downturn and the market is ''unfavorable for everybody,'' he said. ''There is no clear sign'' when the market will recover.

Still, Numonyx is moving full speed ahead. The new products expand the company's MLC- and SLC-based NAND portfolio.

The 32-GB eMMC from Numonyx is said to be the highest density available in the industry and is compliant with the JEDEC eMMC version 4.3 standard. It can store up 16,000 high resolution digital photos, 8,000 songs, and up 20 hours of high definition videos.

The new 32-GB embedded devices combine eight 32-Gbit NAND chips, which are integrated with a dedicated controller. To meet the requirements of wireless and other battery-operated mobile devices, the device supports a temperature range of -25 degrees Celsius up to +85 degrees Celsius and dual voltage power supply at 1.7V-1.95V and 2.7V-3.6V. Samples of the 32-GB density will be available in January 2009.

Numonyx will offer microSD cards to its mobile phone customers in densities from 2- to 8-GB. MicroSD cards are designed for slot-equipped legacy mobile phones.

Meanwhile, the 48-nm, 1-Gbit SLC NAND includes an extra 128 Kbytes one-time programmable (OTP) block to help ensure that data stored on it cannot be modified or corrupted. In addition, it doubles the speed at which the device reads data from 13-MB per seconds to 26-MB per second. Samples of the product are currently available.

The new parts are made in a 300-mm fab in Wuxi, China. Numonyx and Hynix are the partners in the Wuxi fab. The fab venture is majority owned by Hynix.