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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Binx Bolling who wrote (15294)	10/4/2000 4:08:04 AM
From: Craig Freeman	Respond to of 60323

Binx, many thanks for the MLC link. Per the article, Intel's Strataflash is a type of MLC. Presumably, the Hitachi cross-license will enable SNDK to compete with Intel over time. Craig

To: Binx Bolling who wrote (15294)	10/4/2000 12:08:08 PM
From: Ausdauer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

Multi-Level Cell Flash Storage Binx, I learned two things from the Intel article you posted. First, NOR cell architecture is preferred for MLC. I used to believe that only NOR could be used, but with the announcement of the FlashVision JV I was confused. The latest announcement of a 512Mbit flash chip using Toshiba NAND (with no mention of MLC) leads me to believe that either Toshiba's advanced lithography and packaging techniques will be used on SanDisk's NOR/MLC product or that SanDisk MLC will somehow be incorporated into Toshiba's NAND product or that there is some secret project underway. Second, the article made it seem like 3 bits per cell is a lay-up once 2 bits per cell is achieved. I find that hard to believe. Eli has talked about D3 and D4, but I got the impression that these projects are still some way away. INVOX has been touted for its ability to make much finer analog gradations within a single flash memory cell... "Perhaps the second most promising patent holdings in the SanDisk patent vault is the technology (and engineering talent) recently acquired from INVOX. This privately-held company is a technology leader in the area of multi-level cell (MLC) construction. The current MLC technology used by SanDisk called "D2" is currently used to double wafer production capacity by encoding two bits of data in a single memory cell. This requires the three separate electrical potentials in a single cell rather than one (and a ground state). The future development of a "D3" MLC (seven electrical potentials plus ground) or a "D4" (15 electrical potentials plus ground) may be facilitated by technolgy from INVOX. Gigabit flash memory density will likely require the engineering of higher degrees of MLC. Invox's technology using analog cell technology, NOR flash cells and digital-to-analog conversion to assign 256 unique energy potentials in a single cell." see ==> eetimes.com Ausdauer