In a significant announcement, SureCore and Intrinsic have declared a joint endeavor aiming to expedite the market introduction of Intrinsic’s cutting-edge Resistive Random-access Memory (ReRAM) technology. The novel ReRAM by Intrinsic presents a promising resolution to the conundrums faced by System on Chip (SoC) developers, who are in pursuit of an inbuilt non-volatile storage substitute. This need is especially pronounced for 22nm nodes and their tinier counterparts, as flash memory ceases to be a feasible alternative. The ReRAM technology from Intrinsic stands out for its combination of flash-equivalent density and the rapid access speeds characteristic of SRAM. Such advancements pave the way for its potential utility across multiple domains, encompassing automotive, medical, wearable technology, artificial intelligence, edge-driven AI, and the AI Internet of Things (AIoT).
Shift from Embedded Flash Memory
For a considerable duration, embedded flash memory has been the go-to non-volatile stalwart, especially predominant in the realm of microcontrollers. This memory solution enabled the prompt delivery of products fortified with the latest firmware, dispatched to users through over-the-air downloads. This ensured that customers could seamlessly receive bug fixes and newly incorporated features. Yet, in alignment with the progression of Moore’s law, FinFET nodes have ascended in cost-efficiency, making the scaling of flash memory beyond 28nm a daunting task. This evolving scenario is ushering in a new era where alternative memory technologies are stepping in to bridge this void. The automotive sector, in its pursuit of augmented autonomous capabilities, remains particularly vigilant of these developments due to an escalating need for enhanced processing prowess and augmented embedded memory.
The ReRAM Solution: Bridging the Technology Gap
Flash memory’s incapability to scale congruently with logic presents a formidable hurdle for advanced microcontroller developers. Integrating these two technologies on a unified chip is no longer feasible, compelling vendors to contemplate a dual-chip methodology, which isn’t conducive from an energy consumption standpoint. Intrinsic endeavors to mitigate this issue by offering a non-volatile memory that can be seamlessly incorporated on the same sophisticated process nodes as the logic. Such an approach substantially diminishes both power usage and potential data bandwidth obstructions, as well as latency linked to employing off-chip flash memory. Intrinsic’s ReRAM stands out due to its ability to fetch data at speeds ranging from 10 to 100 times faster and write data at a rate 1000 times swifter than contemporaneous solutions. Fabrication of this technology employs standard processing methods at the back-end-of-line, rendering it less intricate and more cost-effective than alternate ReRAM solutions. Factors such as these, when amalgamated with its flash-equivalent density and resilience to elevated temperatures, bolster its appeal in the tech world.
