At the electronica trade fair, Cypress Semiconductor introduced a nonvolatile data-logging solution with ultra-low power consumption. This solution is ideal for the latest-generation portable medical and wearable devices and other IoT applications that demand nonvolatile memories to continuously log an increasing amount of user and sensor data while using as little power as possible.
Cypress’ new Excelon LP Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (F-RAM) is an energy-efficient nonvolatile RAM which delivers instant-write capabilities with virtually unlimited endurance, enabling these applications to perform mission-critical data logging requirements while maximizing battery life. The Excelon LP series is available in a low-pin-count, small-footprint package that is perfectly suited for space-constrained, portable applications.
“With the rapid proliferation of portable medical devices and wearable health monitors, a premium is being placed on ultra-low-power, fail-safe storage,” said Sam Geha, Executive Vice President of the Memory Products Division at Cypress. “Our new Excelon LP F-RAMs use 200 times less energy than EEPROMs and 3,000 times less than NOR Flash, while providing virtually infinite endurance in a small form factor, making them a perfect match for these applications.”
The Excelon LP series offers 4Mb and 8Mb industrial and commercial-grade densities with 50MHz and 20MHz Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) performance. The series reduces power consumption with 100nA hibernate and 1uA standby modes that greatly improve a battery-powered product’s user experience by extending system operating time. The Excelon family’s inherent instant writes also eliminate power failure ‘data-at-risk’ due to volatile data buffers in legacy memories.
The family features wide voltage operation from 1.71 to 3.6V and is available in RoHS-compliant industry-standard packages that are pin compatible with EEPROMs and other nonvolatile memories. Excelon LP F-RAMs provide 1000-trillion (1015) read/write cycle endurance with ten years of data retention at 85°C or 151 years at 65°C.
Cypress’ Excelon LP F-RAMs are currently sampling with production scheduled in the second quarter of 2019.