Toshiba Claims Smallest MCP
Online staff -- EDN, March 25, 2002
Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) today introduced two four-chip NOR flash and SRAM memory devices that are housed in what the company said is the smallest multi-chip packages (MSP) available.
TAEC, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Toshiba Corp., said its latest 10mm-by-7mm MCP devices combine 8Mbits of SRAM and 32Mbits of pseudo SRAM (PSRAM) with two 64Mbit NOR flash memory chips. This increases the overall functionality, Toshiba said, and reduces the use of board space by 30 percent when compared to its previous MCP, which measures 9mm by 12mm.
All four chips contained within the MCP are produced by Toshiba, and each is specialized, the company said. For example, there is a low-power SRAM for CPU memory, PSRAM for video buffering, NOR for code storage, and a secondary NOR chip for data storage. Known as the THPV357022BCBB and THPV357023BCBB, the devices are available in either top or bottom boot block, respectively.
"Designers of handheld devices, particularly 2.5G and 3G full-featured mobile phones, are demanding new options that will enable them to pack more functionality onto an ever-shrinking board space," said Paul Liu, business development manager for communications memory products for TAEC. "Since conventional SRAM and NOR flash solutions are, in many cases, both cost and board-space prohibitive for some mobile applications, there is a definite industry need for the MCP devices we are introducing."
Toshiba said it plans to incorporate NAND flash into its four chip MCPs soon, with a 16Mbit SRAM, 64Mbit PSRAM, 128Mbit NOR and 128Mbit NAND combination packaged within a 9mm-by-12mm MCP scheduled for release in the second quarter.
Samples of the MCP devices are $70 each and are scheduled to be available next month. Full production is slated for May.
