Weartech-ICs & Semiconductors

JEDEC-compliant multimedia card saves space

Tue, Feb 01, 2022

Two industrial-grade, embedded multimedia cards (eMMC) have been announced by Alliance Memory. The 4Gbyte ASFC4G31M-51BIN and 8Gbyte ASFC8G31M-51BIN are designed for solid-state storage in consumer, industrial, and networking applications. Each 11.5 mm by 13 mm 153-ball FBGA package integrates NAND flash memory with an eMMC controller and flash transition layer (FTL) management software. 

The devices comply with the JEDEC eMMC v5.1 industry standard, supporting boot operation, replay protected memory block (RPMB), device health report, field firmware updates, power-off notification, enhanced strobe features for faster and more reliable operation, write levelling, high-priority interrupt (HPI), secure trim / erase, and high speed HS200 and HS400 modes. The ASFC4G31M-51BIN and ASFC8G31M-51BIN are also backwards-compatible with eMMC v4.5 and v5.0. 

The eMMCs will be used in products such as smart watches, tablets, digital TVs, set-top boxes, VR and AR headsets, digital cameras, infotainment, CCTV, surveillance, automation, point of sale (PoS) systems, and emerging embedded applications. 

According to Alliance Memory, the eMMCs simplify designs for fast and easy system integration, speeding up product development and time to market. They also save space by eliminating the need for an external controller. The FTL software provides high reliability and stable performance with wear levelling and bad block management. 

The ASFC4G31M-51BIN and ASFC8G31M-51BIN operate over an industrial temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C and offer programmable bus widths of x1, x4, and x8. The devices’ NAND memory with internal LDO can be powered with a single 3.0V supply voltage, and the controller can be powered by 1.8V or 3.0V dual supply voltages. 

Samples and production quantities of the eMMCs will be available in Q1 2022, with lead times of 12 weeks. 

Alliance Memory provides critical and hard-to-find memory ICs for the communications, computing, consumer electronics, medical, automotive, and industrial markets. The company’s product range includes flash, DRAM, and SRAM memory ICs with commercial, industrial, and automotive operating temperature ranges and densities from 64kbit to 8Gbit. 

http://www.alliancememory.com

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Battery charger IC is designed for low voltage charging for wearables

Wed, Nov 17, 2021

A battery charger IC has been designed by Rohm for low-voltage charging. The BD71631QWZ is suitable for wearables like wireless ear buds and thin, compact IoT devices such as smart displays powered by rechargeable batteries.

The need for safer, higher density rechargeable batteries has led to the development of new battery types, including all- or semi-solid types and using novel materials for the electrode part and batteries that adopt different terminal compositions. Many of the latest rechargeable batteries are small and thin, requiring low voltage charging in the 2.0 to 3.0V range. There are currently no battery charger ICs that can handle a wide voltage range, says Rohm.

The BD71631QWZ battery charger IC supports low voltage charging of Li-ion but also new types of rechargeable batteries such as all-solid and semi-solid state models. The IC achieves low voltage charging over a wide range from 2.0 to 4.7V by improving the stability of the internal circuit

Unlike general battery charger ICs that provide a fixed voltage, the BD71631QWZ battery charger IC allows the charge voltage to be easily set by simply changing the external resistor, reducing design load when changing batteries. The original package technology results in a compact package just 0.4mm thick, which is 60 per cent lower than conventional products in this market to make devices smaller and thinner. Each charging characteristic like charge/termination current can be set for CCCV charging, providing an optimal charging environment for thin, compact IoT and wearable devices usng the latest rechargeable batteries.

In addition to devices using low voltage and single-cell Li-ion rechargeable batteries, the battery charger IC can be used in wearable devices, such as wireless ear buds, electronic pens, e-cigarettes, smart displays or tags and other compact IoT devices.

An evaluation board, BD71631QWZ-EVK-001, is also available.

Rohm Semiconductor develops and manufactures a large product range from SiC diodes and MOSFETs, analogue ICs such as gate drivers and power management ICs to power transistors and diodes to passive components. 

http://www.rohm.com/eu

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NFC Type 2 tag IC has permanent write locks and configurable kill mode

Thu, Nov 11, 2021

Consumer engagement, production information and brand protection are offered with the ST25TN512 and ST25TN01K NFC Forum Type 2 tag ICs by STMicroelectronics. They can also be used for access control.

The ST25TN512 and ST25TN01K NFC tag ICs support multiple user-protection and privacy mechanisms including a 7-bit unique chip-identifier code, TruST25 digital signature, NFC Forum T2T permanent write locks at block level, and a configurable kill mode that permanently deactivates the tag.

The two ICs are certified to NFC Forum Type 2 specifications and leverage ISO 14443 standards. They can be used with NFC-compatible mobiles or a dedicated short-range reader. The embedded device memory includes up to 208 bytes (1664 bits) dedicated to user content.

There is also support for messages in NFC data exchange format (NDEF) which triggers native actions on a smartphone without needing a dedicated app, such as launching a web browser or starting Bluetooth pairing. Augmented NDEF (ANDEF) enables reading dynamic information such as custom messages and unique tap codes without explicitly updating the EEPROM.

The ST25TN512 and ST25TN01K are produced by a new in-house manufacturing process. Both NFC tag ICs contain an internal tuning capacitance of 50pF, which allows plug-and-play integration by inlay manufacturers. The tags harvest energy from the 13.56MHz RF transmitter field and require only an antenna to complete the design.

They also have a long data retention and operate over a wide temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C. The ICs can be supplied in sawn and bumped wafer format or housed in a DFN5 package.

Both the ST25TN512 and ST25TN01K are available in volume production.

http://www.st.com

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Alliance Memory offers 3V multiple I/O serial NOR Flash memory solutions 

Tue, Oct 26, 2021

Alliance Memory offers a new line of 3V multiple input/output serial NOR flash memory products designed to provide supply continuity for Micron Technology customers using discontinued N25Q series devices. Offering support for single, dual, and quad SPI modes, the AS25F series combines fast read performance up to 104MHz with fast program and erase times of 0.3ms and 40ms typical, respectively. 

Available in 8-pin SOP wide body (209mils) and 8L WSON (6x5mm) packages, the devices operate from a single 2.7V to 3.6V power supply over an industrial temperature range of -40 degrees C to +85 degrees C. The solutions offer typical erase/program currents of 20mA and maximum read currents of 25mA at 104MHz, and they are said by Alliance Memory to provide reliable, long-term performance with 100,000 program/erase cycles and 10-year data retention.

 AS25F series devices support uniform 4KB or 32KB or 64KB erase, offers an 8/16/32/64byte wrap-around burst read mode, and features program/erase suspend and resume. Advanced security features include block protection and 4K-bit secured OTP to protect content from hostile access and inadvertent programming and erasing.

 With their enhanced performance, the serial NOR flash memory products are designed to meet the demands of the computer, consumer, communications, IoT and mobile markets. The devices are suitable for use in, among others, chipsets for PCs, DVD and Blu-ray players, wireless LANs and cable modems, printers, set-top boxes, LCD displays, mobile and wearable devices, digital cameras, handheld GPS units and smart meters. 

Samples and production quantities of the 3V serial NOR flash memory products are available now, with lead times of 16 to 20 weeks. 

Alliance Memory is a global provider of critical and hard-to-find memory ICs for the communications, computing, consumer electronics, medical, automotive, and industrial markets. The company’s product range includes flash, DRAM, and SRAM memory ICs with commercial, industrial, and automotive operating temperature ranges and densities from 64Kb to 8Gb. Privately held, Alliance Memory maintains headquarters in Kirkland, Washington, and regional offices in Europe, Asia, Canada and South America. 

Go to http://www.alliancememory.com

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