November 2015
37
M
emories
Serial NOR flash memory with
ultra-low power and wide voltage range
By Heko Arndt,
Macronix
Macronix has recently
introduced its new MX25R serial
NOR flash product family.
The devices are specifically aimed
at next-generation consumer
wearables in the context of
the Internet of Things (IoT).
The MX25R product family features an
ultra-low-power mode and densities ranging
from 512 Kbit up to 64 Mbit, with plans to
move up to 128 MBit, 256MBit and 512MBit
in the near future. Power consumption in the
family is 60 percent lower than traditional
solutions, with a wide Vcc span of 1.7V to 3.6V
to support diverse requirements of wearable
devices. The new family fits within the Mac-
ronix portfolio of serial NOR flash products
ranging from 512 Kbit to 1 Gbit. The MX25R
series caters specifically to next-generation
consumer wearables. It supports the stan-
dard serial NOR flash memory interface and
industry-standard 8-pin layouts. With its very
compact die, this allows for very small pack-
age dimensions such as the USON (ultra thin
small outline no lead), WSON (very very thin
small outline no lead), WLCSP (wafer level
chip scale package), and also KGD (known
good die) solutions for stacked-die SIPs (sys-
tem in package).
The market prospects for wearables, in their
first incarnations coming as sensor-enabled
wristbands and rings, or smart watches
equipped with fitness and location trackers,
are a promising sub-segment of the IoT cat-
egory of systems and services. According to
new research from International Data Corpo-
ration (IDC), IoT systems and services prom-
ise a potential compound annual growth rate
(GAGR) of 78.4 percent. By 2018 annual sales
for wearables may exceed a total unit volume
of 112 million units according to a recent
report published by US market researcher
IDC. This market dynamic has encouraged
Macronix to develop novel product solutions
of memory devices for wearable applications
to further expand its leading position as a ven-
dor of non-volatile memory devices.
The key factor for wearables to gain rapid
popularity is designing them with ultra-low
power consumption and in a small form fac-
tor. The next generation of memory devices
will progress in the following directions: stan-
dardized interfaces prioritizing ease of data
import, smaller and slimmer form factors and
a power supply design focusing on ultra-low
voltage and energy consumption.
Judged by its dominating presence at the 2015
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las
Vegas the Internet of Things (IoT) provides
a forward-looking perspective for the antici-
pated wide-area networking between people
and things in a real-world environment. In this
view, IoT should be understood as a general-
ized category and a driver to build a consensus
for a comprehensive data network and its step-
by-step implementation. The need for con-
sensus-building results from the multitude of
competing processor platforms and operating
systems, in addition to the various protocols
for radio interfaces and data security measures.
This pertains to the consumer realm as well as
to its industrial-use counterpart in the guise of
Industry 4.0. All these developments involve an
extraordinary systems complexity.
Accordingly, there are several large, distinctive
market segments for IoT devices and systems:
cloud services and data centers, gateways for
mobile telephony, automotive connectivity,
home media, and a myriad of consumer-ori-
ented IoT nodes for consumers in the form
of ultra-compact, sensor-enabled termi-
nal devices for data acquisition and wireless
transmission over short distances to their per-
sonal base stations, such as smart phones and
tablets. Most attractive from a current mar-
ket perspective are the wearables, since they
will establish large consumer markets. This is
clearly indicated by the number of the semi-
conductor vendors focusing on wearables and
smart home systems and the prioritization
Figure 1. Available package
formats for MX25R serial
NOR flash devices
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