If you want to meet regularly, welcome to collect stars ~
Source: content comes from design-electronics, thank you.Although flash memory is still the most popular non -easy -to -lose sex memory (NVM), some applications have begun to use other types of embedded NVM technology because embedded flash memory cannot exceed 28nm.It is also because of its cost, power consumption and performance advantages.
including resistance RAM (RERAM), phase -changing memory (PCM), magnetic resistance RAM (MRAM), and iron electrical RAM (FRAM)Provides alternatives.Each technology has its own advantages and challenges in terms of cost, complexity, power and performance.However, RERAM provides the best balance and is becoming the first choice for alternative flash memory in many applications.
RERAM technology has been deployed on the market, and the new design is accelerating.The adoption of the timetable varies depending on the application of the RERAM usage of different process nodes and foundries, as well as density and certification requirements.Lets take a look at some applications that RERAM starts to receive attention.
Power Management IC
One of the first -point fields of RERAM is the power management IC (PMIC (PMIC (PMIC (PMIC) And other high -pressure design.Each electronic device has at least one PMIC management system distribution, and the demand for programming PMIC is increasing to support the trend of enhanced wireless charging and smart motor controllers.For these devices, PMIC must be intelligent and can run a variety of algorithms. This requires a microcontroller (MCU) and a low -power, high -density, and economically efficient NVM.
In order to reduce costs and power consumption, people began to surpass dual -chip solutions, integrated MCU and its NVM single -chip on a single chip, and equipped with a power management circuit.Embedded flash memory is too expensive, and up to 10 extra molds are required.Flash memory is also difficult to integrate, because it is manufactured at the front line (Feol), which is made and influenced it with the simulation circuit, forcing the company to make compromises, resulting in decline in performance, increased size and cost increase.This is particularly problematic for the use of bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) process, because in this process, people have invested a lot of energy to optimize Feol power components.
RERAM is a back -end process (Beol) technology, so it will not interfere with the PMIC design.Different from the flash memory that must be adapted to each variant, Beol technology like RERAM can also be used for a geometric structure once, and it is suitable for all variants.And because RERAM only needs two additional masks, its cost and benefits have improved significantly.The use of RERAMs PMIC, audio codec and other high -voltage design has been put into production.
IoT, MCU and edge AI
Low -power IoT devices using smart MCU continued to continueincrease.The Ericsson Mobile report estimates that the number of IoT devices in the Internet of Things will increase by more than 15.7 billion units in 2023, reaching approximately 38.8 billion units in 2029.
Such ultra -low power equipment must support increasingly complicated programming.They need NVM to have the necessary ultra -low power consumption, high performance, low total cost, and the high data retention rate of high data even under bad or unacceptable conditions.When these devices must also perform simple marginal AI tasks, reducing power consumption and cost is even more important.
Designers are increasingly integrated NVM to 28nm and below MCU and film -based system (SOC) device -TinyML device running simple marginal AI AI in the software, and a simple marginal AI TinyML device.To the device with an AI accelerator, and then to the complete edge AI reasoning.Embedded RERAM has a significant advantage in all these applications, and now it has begun to provide samples.Designers can reduce costs by eliminating external memory components and do not need to obtain data from external memory. They can reduce power consumption and improve the system speed.Single -chip solutions are also safer to prevent hackers from invasion.
Since the RERAM is integrated in Beol, there is no need to make compromises in power/simulation components
In the edge AI design, in addition to code storage, RERAM can also store artificial neural networks (Ann) calculation required for the required synapses.The most power required for the ANN calculation is related to the data movement between the system component component and the memory module.By integrated dense and low -power NVM (such as RERAM) to the position of closer to the calculation component (near memory calculation), this data can be reduced.These arrays usually need a large amount of memory, between 10MB and 100MB, depending on the scale of the network.
In the future, RERAM will become the cornerstone of the nervous form (memory) calculation, where the calculation occurs in the memory unit.Because the RERAM unit is similar to the synapses of the human brain in terms of physical and functional, it can use RERAM to simulate the behavior of the brain to quickly process a large amount of data.This requires a few orders of energy to save energy than todays neural network simulation, and it takes more time to mature.
Cars
The automotive market is very wide -micro electronic control unit for automatic windows (ECU) to advanced autonomous driving technology.More than 1,000 chips control the various functions of the vehicle, and almost all chips need some NVM.
Many car MCUs are turning to 28nm and below to speed up the operation and process a large amount of data.They need to support fast startup, instant response and frequent wireless (OTA) update NVM, and are usually performed under harsh conditions.This NVM must have excellent durability, and can execute the code quickly, reliable, safe, and economically efficiently executed when running at extreme temperature.RERAM is a logical choice. Several major car chip suppliers have decided to rely on it.Due to the requirements of specific temperatures and certifications such as ISO26262 and AEC-Q100, these applications have been mass-produced for several years, but the designer has begun to sample the car chipset that integrated RERAM.
Embedded NVM comparison
Security application
Whether it is a SOC security solution (such as the physical inseparable function (PUF) and the real random number generator (TRNG)), or the embedded NVM, RERAM, which are used for security applications such as smart cardProvide inherent security solutions.Different from floating grid equipment such as flash memory, RERAM does not use charge, so it is more difficult to use electronic beam sensing/change its internal state.It is not affected by the electromagnetic field, so RERAM can easily resist magnetic attacks.Because the RERAM unit is deeply embedded between the two metal layers integrated by Beol, it can better resist optical attacks.And because RERAM can be extended to small geometric shapes, key information can be embedded in the chip without existing communication attacks between chips.
RERAM is the future of many applications
Since almost every electronic product needs NVM, the RERAMs ofThe target application is very wide.Embedded flash memory has reached the limit, and RERAM is becoming the first choice for electronic equipment in the new era.It has begun to ship in batches, and more and more foundries, IDMs and semiconductor companies are committed to using RERAM as the leading embedded NVM in its future route map.
https://www.designing-emodronics.com/a-- -New-ra-embedded-Memory/
