Posted Oct 1st, With its eye on the potentially huge worldwide demand for contactless chips, Texas Instruments Inc. announced last week (Sept. 27) that it will embark on the secure government ID market with products built around ferroelectric RAM and MCU technologies.
TI said it is targeting next-generation government ID programs like electronic passports, claiming its FRAM technology will enable much faster read and write times and increased memory capacity. The chipmaker said its approach could speed the process of creating and processing IDs containing personal information. The types of personal data that could be stored on e-passports and other secure IDs could also be expanded to include biometric and other data.
"For this particular application, [FRAM} is an extremely good fit," said V.C. Kumar, manager of TI's government identification unit. Kumar claimed FRAM's dense memory combined with its small cell size could help fill the gap between secure ID market requirements and existing storage technologies like EEPROM and flash. The technology "gap is increasing over time," he added.
Among other contactless applications the FRAM could usher in are electronic stamps in passports and "write-on-the-fly" mobile applications, Kumar said.
TI's embedded FRAM technology is based on joint development with partner Ramtron International Corp., which licensed its non-volatile FRAM technology to TI in 2001. In March, the partners announced an agreement under which TI would manufacturer Ramtron's FRAM devices using its 130nm process technology.
With new e-passport and national ID programs planned in over 50 countries in Europe and Asia along with a U.S. initiative, market researcher ABI Research estimates the transponder segment of the security chip market could reach $970 million by 2012. The overall security market that includes transponders, card readers, software and services could hit $1.5 billion over the same period.
ABI's Jonathan Collins said growing volumes in the security chip market likely prompted TI to jump into a market that already includes rival chipmakers like NXP and Infineon. Collins added that TI's emphasis on speed and storage capacity is among the "high notes" in terms of what the market needs.
Backlogs in issuing new U.S. passports have been growing, and experts say new security requirements threaten to slow even more the process of adding personal data to ID chips. "How do we, without compromising security, speed things up?" is the key issue for border security officials, Kumar said.
- George Leopold
eetasia.com |
