Solid-State Storage IC offers compact alternative to HDDs.
Press Release Summary:
Suited for mobile and embedded applications, mini NANDrive measures 12 x 24 x 1.4 mm and comes in storage capacities of 1, 2, 4, and 8 GB. Solution leverages NAND controller technology and multi-chip packaging and incorporates ATA/IDE interface. By using standard embedded OS software stack, solution does not incur host software revalidation cycles. Sustained read and write rates up to 30 MBps, and 20-byte serial ID number is provided for data encryption.
Original Press Release:
SST Increases Density of Industry's Smallest ATA Solid-State Storage Devices
New mini NANDrive Offers Up to 8 GByte Storage Capacity for Mobile and Embedded Applications
SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 2 -- SST (Silicon Storage Technology, Inc., Nasdaq: SSTI), a leader in flash memory technology, today announced that it has expanded its NANDrive storage solution to include additional form factors with increased storage capacities. The new mini NANDrive storage solution measures 12mm x 24mm x 1.4mm and offers storage capacities ranging from 1 GByte to 8 GBytes. The mini NANDrive has the same common ball layout as the previously announced micro NANDrive products (available in densities ranging from 128 MByte to 512 MByte), thereby giving customers a wide range of easily upgradeable solid-state storage options. SST's NANDrive family offers customers a compact and rugged storage alternative, which uses a fraction of the power that hard disk drives require, while still maintaining high performance.
By leveraging SST's proven NAND controller technology, innovative multi-chip packaging expertise and a widely used industry standard ATA/IDE interface, the NANDrive family manages all NAND flash complexities and allows designers to quickly integrate this mass data storage solution into their designs without having to make any firmware changes. In addition, because NANDrive uses a standard embedded OS software stack, embedded system designers no longer face the risk of host software revalidation cycles. In contrast, other solid-state mass data storage solutions require changing host side vendor specific software to support new NAND flash devices. To further ease integration and reduce inventory management, SST's NANDrive solves the issues of pairing a NAND controller with new NAND flash devices, especially beneficial when NAND flash devices migrate to new process geometries.
"The challenge put on today's mobile devices from the standpoint of power savings, size, performance and time-to-market make the NANDrive an ideal mass data storage solution," said Mike Briner, senior vice president of Application Specific Products Group at SST. "Because NANDrive features a standard ATA-interface, we have made it very easy for designers of mobile applications to integrate it into their systems with no changes to their firmware. We plan to continue expanding our NANDrive family to include other form factors and storage capacities, enabling an increasing segment of the market to realize the benefits of our solution over conventional mass storage devices."
In addition to its ease-of-integration, SST's NANDrive offers high performance along with several advanced security protection features. With sustained read and write rates up to 30MB/sec, the performance of NANDrive meets all application needs for mobile multimedia devices, such as MP3 players, video streaming devices, camcorders, cameras and GPS navigation systems. SST's industry-first hardware 8-bit ECC engine and its firmware programmable multi-tasking NAND interface helps solve the slow performance problem that is typical when using lower cost multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash. SST's NANDrive offers a unique 20-Byte serial ID number for data encryption as well as up to four protection zones that customers can use to store boot code. By using the NANDrive to store boot code, system designers can eliminate the use of certain discrete devices, thus reducing bill of material costs. Additional security features within the NANDrive include a write-protect pin for virus prevention, password protection and a purge command.
Pricing and Availability
The new mini NANDrives feature the following storage capacities: 1 GByte (SST85LD1001M), 2 GByte (SST85LD1002M), 4 GByte (SST85LD1004M) and 8 GByte (SST85LD1008M). The 1 Gbyte, 2 Gbyte and 4 GByte mini NANDrive devices are currently sampling and SST expects these densities to be in full production in 3Q07. The 8 Gbyte device will be available for sampling the second half of the year. Pricing for the mini NANDrive devices starts at $25.50 in 10K unit quantities. For more information about SST's NANDrive family, please contact an SST sales representative, or visit the company's Web site at www.sst.com/.
About Silicon Storage Technology, Inc.
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, SST designs, manufactures and markets a diversified range of memory and non-memory products for high volume applications in the digital consumer, networking, wireless communications and Internet computing markets. Leveraging its proprietary, patented SuperFlash technology, SST is a leading provider of nonvolatile memory solutions with product families that include various densities of high functionality flash memory components and flash mass storage products. The Company also offers its SuperFlash technology for embedded applications through its broad network of world-class manufacturing partners and technology licensees, including TSMC, which offers it under its trademark Emb-FLASH. SST's non-memory products include NAND controller-based products, smart card ICs, flash microcontroller and radio frequency ICs and modules. Further information on SST can be found on the company's Web site at www.sst.com/.
For more information about SST and the company's comprehensive list of product offerings, please call 1-888/SST-CHIP. Information can also be requested via email to literature@sst.com or through SST's Web site at www.sst.com/. SST's head office is located at 1171 Sonora Court, Sunnyvale, Calif.; telephone: 408/735-9110; fax: 408/735-9036.
NOTE: The SST logo and SuperFlash are registered trademarks of Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. Emb-FLASH is a trademark of TSMC. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
For More Information Contact:
Sasha Afanasieff
Silicon Storage Technology, Inc.
408/522-7310
aafanasieff@sst.com
Steve Gabriel
Porter Novelli
408/369-4627
steve.gabriel@porternovelli.com
