Emerging memory makers are spending less time touting the potential for MRAM and ReRAM to replace incumbent memories, and more time on emphasizing their reliability for specific applications and environments.
MRAM maker Everspin Technologies recently announced new MRAM offerings that are qualified for the AEC-Q100 standard, while Weebit Nano has completed AEC-Q100 150 degrees Celsius operation qualification of its ReRAM module.
Developed by the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC), AEC-Q100 lays out common part-qualification and quality-system standards for automotive electronics, including a set of qualification test sequences for ICs.
Everspin’s latest high-reliability, discrete MRAM offerings expand its PERSYST EMxxLX family with the EM064LX HR and EM128LX HR, which operate at temperatures from -40 degrees Celsius to +125 degrees Celsius, making them suitable for automotive applications, as well as addresses the growing demand for persistent, high-speed memory in aerospace, defense and extreme industrial environments.
In briefing with EE Times, Joe O’Hare, Everspin’s senior director of marketing, said that beyond automotive applications, which require reliable memory components that can withstand extreme temperatures, MRAM demand is also being driven by the rapid deployment of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which also require memory capable of withstanding extreme operating conditions, including tolerance to radiation.
He said Everspin’s PERSYST MRAM has a two-decade history of being adopted in critical storage applications because of its high endurance and reliability, as well as being the fastest MRAM available in its temperature range, with capacities of 64Mb and 128Mb that are ideal for mission-critical systems. O’Hare added that Everspin has had AEC-Q100-qualifed memory in production for nearly 15 years—the PERSYST MRAM additions are the highest density company offers.
MRAM maker Everspin Technologies recently announced new PERSYST MRAM offerings that are qualified for the AEC-Q100 standard. (Source: Everspin)
The incumbent memory MRAM is most likely to displace is NOR flash, which has hit a wall in its ability to scale or offer higher densities, O’Hare said. MRAM offers faster write speeds that reduces system overhead in real-time applications and has a simpler architecture.
He added that the recent focus for MRAM has been on trying fill gaps for non-volatile memory uses, and although AEC-Q100 is an automotive qualification, Everspin is more focused on space exploration applications—it is those customers that have spurred the specifications of the latest PERSYST MRAM offerings. “Our level of engagement there frankly is higher than it is even in automotive,” O’Hare said.
The market has turned the corner and become a viable one from a volume perspective, he added, and there are other aerospace and military applications.
Weebit Nano, meanwhile, is focused on automotive with its embedded ReRAM as alternative to NOR flash. The company recently has completed AEC-Q100 150 degrees Celsius operation qualification of its ReRAM module in semiconductor manufacturer SkyWater Technology’s 130-nm CMOS process.
In a briefing with EE Times, Eran Briman, VP of marketing and business development, said JEDEC has a set of standards for non-volatile memories at different temperatures and different endurance levels, but when it comes to automotive, AEC-Q100 is the gold standard. Weebit Nano has developed a “mission profile” for its ReRAM offerings that cover everything in an automotive environment.
He said the impetus for AEC-Q100 qualification is that automotives companies are moving faster when it comes to the process nodes they want when compared to IoT and other connected devices—anywhere from 28- to 16-nm. Briman said the adoption is faster for automotive MCUs. “When you go to 28 nanometers and below, the flash alternative does not exist anymore.”
There are many markets that could be served by an embedded non-volatile memory, he said, but the process node requirements in automotive are especially clear right now. Meeting automotive requirements means a non-volatile memory will also meet the needs of consumer, industrial and IoT applications, Briman added.
The opportunity for ReRAM in automotive is being driven by software-defined vehicles that need regular over-the-air updates, he said. “It’s a PC on wheels with an enormous amount of processing power.” These regular updates require a non-volatile memory with higher endurance, Briman added.
Reliability is critical for automotive memory customers, Jim Handy, principal analyst with Objective Analysis, said in interview with EE Times. “But then the question is, do they love reliability more than they love low price?”
He said that in most cases, NAND flash remains the best option from a price perspective, but MRAM is viable replacement for NOR flash if they can get it from multiple sources. And therein lies the challenge for MRAM, if it wants to make inroads, Handy said. “There aren’t an awful lot of sources for MRAM right now.”
Space applications do not just value MRAM’s reliability, but its radiation tolerance, too, he added. ReRAM, meanwhile, can provide more reliability and handle extreme temperatures better.
Handy said significant opportunity in automotive memory lies in many MCUs throughout the modern vehicle. “Getting those to be less sensitive to temperature is going to be a big deal.”
Weebit Nano is in a better position with ReRAM as there is multiple sourcing, he said, because it is licensing technology to foundries that are building microcontrollers.
Handy said the same challenges for emerging memories remain—they all have technical advantages over the established technologies, but the established technologies are cheap. “The big challenge for these emerging memory technologies is whether or not they can at least meet the cost of competing technologies.”
Gary Hilson is a freelance writer and editor who has written thousands of words for print and pixel publications across North America. His areas of interest include software, enterprise and networking technology, research and education, sustainable transportation, and community news. His articles have been published by Network Computing, InformationWeek, Computing Canada, Computer Dealer News, Toronto Business Times, Strategy Magazine, and the Ottawa Citizen.
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