Spansion expands serial Flash Memory portfolio

The family of quad I/O serial Flash memory features high performance (108MHz clock frequency), efficient 4K-Byte sectors and enhanced security to support the diverse needs of set-top boxes, digital televisions, printers, home networking, automotive, smart meters, tablets and next generation computers. According to Alan Neibel, founder and CEO of WebFeet Research, "Serial Flash is one of the fastest growing memory markets. Worldwide serial NOR Flash shipments will grow from $1.34 billion in 2012 to greater than $2 billion by 2015. Customer platforms, particularly those with low to mid-density storage needs, benefit from serial Flash solutions for its small form factor and low pin count as a means to simplify board layouts and reduce cost." "With the introduction of FL-1K family, Spansion continues to expand its serial peripheral interface (SPI) portfolio, delivering high performance, code-efficient small sectors and advanced security for next generation electronics," said Jackson Huang, vice president of product marketing at Spansion. "In particular, the FL-1K's flexible data protection and one-time-programmable (OTP) features help prevent unintentional programming errors and hacking, allowing for a more secure user experience and high levels of system integrity." Key Facts of the New Spansion FL-1K family:

• Spansion FL-1K 16Mb, 32Mb and 64Mb now sampling, production Q3 end
• Temp range: Industrial -40C to +85C, Automotive -40C to +105C (125C planned)
• Packages: 8/16-pin SOIC, 8-land 6x5 USON, 24-ball BGA 6x8
• SPI Interfaces: Single, Dual and Quad up to 108MHz clock frequency
• 4KB uniform sectors for efficient erase and program code management
• Three one-time-programmable (OTP) security registers (256 bytes each)
• Enhanced write protection of memory range with lock-down and OTP option
• Support for JESD216 Serial Flash Discoverable Parameter (SFDP)
• Spansion Flash File system software drivers

The entire Spansion FL Serial Flash portfolio scales from 4 Mb up to 1 Gb to serve the broad needs of embedded applications with input output (IO) options for single, dual and quad bit read operation as well as a double data rate (DDR) mode that doubles the read throughput of the system. The product portfolio is backed by the high quality and reliability customers have come to expect from Spansion and is available with long-term product support.