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INDUSTRY LEADERS SUPPORT STANDARD FOR MULTI-CHIP MEMORY DEVICE
10/21/99 9:09:00 AM
Source: Business Wire
Packaging
Business Editors & High-Tech Writers IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1999-- Advanced Micro Devices, Sanyo Electric Company, Seiko Epson, Shinko Electronic Industries Co. and Yamaichi Electronics Co. join Toshiba, Fujitsu, and NEC In Bringing Ease of Migration and Optimized Board
Layout to Multi-Chip Packaging Solutions Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) Thursday announced that Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Sanyo Electric Company Ltd., Seiko Epson Corp., Shinko Electronic Industries Co. Ltd. and Yamaichi Electronics Co. Ltd., join Toshiba Corp., Fujitsu Limited and NEC Corp., in announcing support for an industrywide standard for stacked multi-chip packaged (MCP) SRAM and NOR flash memory products. The standard, originally drafted by Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC, is currently under review by JEDEC, and reaffirms these companies' commitment to the memory market for wireless applications including cellular phones and full-featured personal digital assistants (PDAs). "As a worldwide leader in memory solutions and developer of multi-chip packaging solutions, we have aligned our low-power SRAM and NOR flash products with the wireless market," said Stephen Marlow, vice president, Memory Business Unit, TAEC. "Together with our stacked MCP partners, Fujitsu and NEC, we have the best solution for wireless market with the smallest MCP available today, providing more density headroom for the full-featured cellular phones of tomorrow." The MCP solution developed by Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC has been proposed to JEDEC as an industrywide standard using JEDEC approved packaging. The solution combines two chips in one package to minimize package size and assembly area, reduce board area and weight, and support higher memory densities in the future. "Fujitsu's collaboration with Toshiba and NEC has created a proposed multi-chip package standard that meets the industry requirement for MCPs in wireless applications," said Keith Horn, director of memory marketing, Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc. "We will work closely with Toshiba, NEC and other leaders to establish industrywide standardization for MCP products through JEDEC. We will continue to provide multi-chip package solutions scaled to application needs, such as double and triple stacked Flash and SRAM die in a single, economical package." Unlike other MCP solutions, Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC have developed an MCP solution with the same address lines shared by the SRAM and NOR flash devices, eliminating the need for redundant address pins. This pin assignment solution supports a range of 4Mb to 128Mb of NOR flash memory and from 1Mb to 128Mb of SRAM memory. Other solutions only address up to 16Mb of SRAM, and will eventually run out of headroom as demand increases for applications requiring more SRAM. "Virtually all next-generation cellular phones will use some form of miniature packaging, such as MCP or chip-scale packaging (CSP)," said Jesse Huffman, analyst, Cahner's In-Stat Group. "The proposed solution from Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC is ideal because it can support every I/O combination of SRAM and flash in a single pin assignment." For example, discrete SRAM and Flash devices exist in both x8 and x16 configurations. "Through our partnership with Toshiba and Fujitsu, we have made all combinations of x8 or x16 SRAM and flash possible within one package," said Hiroyuki Goto, engineering manager, memory business unit, NEC Electronics Inc. "Other solutions require different SRAM and flash products for each combination of I/O widths." This MCP will be packaged in a 56-pin ball grid array (BGA) located on an 8x8 area with 0.80 millimeter (mm) pin pitch. In addition to the upward migration capability realized by reducing redundant pins, the four center balls are not required and have been removed. This allows a maximum of two signals between any two adjacent balls, relaxing the printed circuit board specification (PCB) and minimizing the layers. Other solutions require more than two signals running through the BGA resulting in more costly PCBs. The package assembly is a third the size of two TSOP products used in legacy systems. About Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) is a leading provider of comprehensive information technology and network solutions for the global marketplace. Comprising more than 500 group companies and affiliates worldwide -- including ICL, Amdahl and DMR Consulting Group -- the Fujitsu Group had consolidated revenues of 5.24 trillion yen ($43.3 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999. With world-class hardware and software technology in computers, telecommunications and microelectronics, and a corps of 55,000 systems and services experts around the world, Fujitsu is uniquely positioned to harness the power of the network to help its customers succeed. Altogether, the Fujitsu Group has 188,000 employees and operations in more than 100 countries. Home page: fujitsu.co.jp. Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc. (FMI) designs manufactures and markets a wide range of semiconductors and electronic products. For more information, call 800/866-8608 or visit the company Web site at fujitsumicro.com. About NEC Electronics Inc. NEC Electronics Inc., with headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., is one of the leading developers, manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor products in the United States. Committed to meeting customers' cost, performance and time-to-market requirements, the company offers solutions ranging from standard products to system- on-a-chip (SOC) solutions, as well as customized products for next-generation designs. NEC Electronics also offers customers the benefits of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Roseville, Calif., and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company, NEC Corp. (Nasdaq:NIPNY). For more information about products offered by NEC Electronics Inc., visit the NEC Electronics Web site at necel.com. About Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) is the North American engineering, manufacturing, marketing and sales arm of Toshiba Semiconductor Co. and Display Devices and Components Co. TAEC is recognized as one of the world's largest suppliers of semiconductor, electronic component and storage solutions. Toshiba Semiconductor Co. is one of the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor products including LSIs, microprocessors and controllers, and advanced memory products, in addition to discrete and bipolar components. The company is also responsible for global sales and marketing of other major electronic components including liquid crystal displays, color display and picture tubes, lithium-ion and other secondary batteries. For additional information visit TAEC's Web site at toshiba.com. Note to Editors: Reader inquiries please publish 800/879-4963, ext. 245.
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