First Flash Memory Product On 0.13-Micron Process
Intel Introduces First Flash Memory
Product On
0.13-Micron Process Technology
Extends Leadership in Advanced Process Technology
AUCKLAND, October 24 2001 - Intel today introduced the industry’s first flash memory product built on 0.13-micron process technology. The new flash memory chip is nearly 50 percent smaller and consumes less power than its 0.18-micron predecessor, making it ideal for cell phones and other electronics equipment where small form factors and low power are critical requirements.
“Intel continues to lead the industry in flash memory technical innovation and reliability,” said Curt Nichols, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Flash Products Group. “Intel is also the leading supplier of flash memory. Our goal is to ship 0.13-micron flash products before our closest competitors ship 0.18-micron products, putting Intel two product generations ahead of the next largest supplier.”
The Intel® 3 Volt Advanced+ Boot Block flash memory chip announced today is part of a family of Advanced Boot Block flash memory products that have shipped more than 700 million units, making it the world’s best-selling flash memory product. The chip helps power cell phones and other devices by storing program code that is used by the internal processor to operate the device. The chip also stores user data such as a device’s address book.
Intel became the world’s first company to introduce
0.13-micron products in volume when it announced five new
mobile processors, including the mobile Intel® Pentium®
III-M,
in July. Intel has also introduced 0.13-micron
processors for desktops and servers. Last week, Intel opened
its second 0.13-micron high-volume semiconductor
manufacturing facility. The company has plans to build
0.13-micron products at four locations in the United States
by the end of the year.
New Process Technology to Enable
Higher Densities of Flash
As the Internet and
data-intensive applications come to cell phones, more
complex, higher density flash memory is required to process
these applications. However, high-density flash must consume
less power and be physically smaller in size to preserve
cell phone battery life and ever-shrinking form factors. The
new Advanced+ Boot Block flash offers cell phone
manufacturers the world’s smallest 32 Mbit die, more than
200 times smaller in cell size than the original flash
memory introduced by Intel in the mid-1980s. The new process
technology will also allow Intel to build flash memories
with densities up to 512 Mbit, further benefiting cell phone
manufacturers in their efforts to provide more advanced
features and functions for their products.
Intel’s 0.13-micron process technology features the world’s fastest transistor, the smallest transistor gate and the thinnest gate oxide. All these features combined deliver the industry’s highest performance products at lower levels of power consumption.
The 3 Volt Advanced+ Boot Block flash will be available in 32- and 64-Mbit densities. The 32-Mbit chip is sampling now and will be in production in the second quarter of next year. The 64-Mbit chip will be in production in late 2002. In 10,000-unit quantities, prices will be $US11 for 32-Mbit chips and $US19 for the 64-Mbit chips. The flash product is the newest addition to Intel’s growing wireless product portfolio and complements the Intel® Personal Internet Client Architecture — a development blueprint for building wireless handheld communications devices that combine voice communications and Internet access capabilities.
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