Toshiba Outlines Four-Pronged Strategy for Addressing the Embedded NAND Flash Market

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., (TAEC)* today announced the company's strategy for addressing the rapidly growing market for embedded flash solutions in consumer electronics and other handheld systems, at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. To provide systems designers with Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND memory solutions suitable for various applications, TAEC is offering a selection of four embedded NAND solutions developed by Toshiba Corp.:

- GB NAND, a single-component solution combining a memory controller

with an SD interface, error correction code (ECC), wear-leveling and

block management with MLC NAND flash memory. GB NAND is being

announced today for the US market; please see accompanying news

release.

- LBA-NAND, a single-component solution that combines high-density MLC

NAND and a memory controller with logical block addressing, ECC,

block management, and a standard NAND interface. The resulting

device is a simple write/read memory that enables virtually seamless

integration of MLC NAND into new or existing embedded flash

applications that support SLC NAND, enabling access to greater

storage capacities and improved cost/performance for consumer

applications.

- GB MCP, a multi-chip package (MCP) memory that, in addition to

standard MCP memory devices such as NAND plus SDRAM or NOR plus

PSRAM, integrates a gigabyte or larger NAND flash memory with an SD

card interface controller for high-density data storage applications,

such as camera- and MP3-equipped cell phones.

- Package-on-Package (PoP) technology, a modified MCP that saves

significant circuit board space in cellular handsets and other mobile

devices by stacking a high-density memory component on top of the

processor so the two components require only one footprint on the

board. Toshiba is offering Low Power SDRAM and high-density NAND

flash PoP configurations in 14.0mm x 14mm and 15.0mm x 15.0mm PoP

packages.

NAND flash memory is the preferred nonvolatile data storage solution for portable consumer electronic devices due to its high density and low cost. As capacities increase, designers for a growing number of applications are turning to NAND as a hard disk drive replacement. Today, a significant percentage of mobile phones and MP3 players use embedded NAND, and additional opportunities exist in digital still cameras, digital video cameras, portable media players, notebook computers, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, GPS navigation devices and other handheld computing products, including portable equipment monitors, barcode scanners and data collection systems. As a result, the market for embedded NAND is expected to grow from $6.3 billion in 2006 to $12.9 billion in 2010, including NAND used in multi-chip package solutions for cellular phones. (Web-Feet April-June, 2006 and TAEC)

"As NAND advances to smaller process geometries at 56nm and below, embedded designs will need to address higher levels of ECC, wear-leveling functions, and other NAND management capabilities," said Scott Nelson, director, memory marketing, for TAEC. "Each of these self-contained MLC NAND solutions with on-board controllers eliminate the need for host software drivers and memory management functions, and help speed time to market for our customers."

MLC NAND flash memory allows each memory cell to store two bits of data, compared to one bit per cell for single-level cell NAND flash, thus achieving higher density and lower cost per bit. Advances in image and audio quality in digital consumer products have created products and markets that increasingly depend on high capacity data storage. To enable global market needs, Toshiba will continue to develop MLC NAND-based innovations such as GB NAND, LBA-NAND(TM), GB MCP and PoP that bring the latest technological advances in NAND flash memory to market in single-package solutions that simplify hardware and software integration.

Additional details on the four embedded NAND solutions available from Toshiba follow:

GB NAND -- Toshiba GB NAND is available in capacities from 1 gigabyte (GB)(1) to 4GB, to enable storage space for music, photo, video files or other data. The embedded flash devices use the popular SD interface and can be designed to run on the same bus as an SD card, enabling easier design of the memory subsystem in products that support both embedded flash storage and a removable flash card, such as digital audio/MP3 players, gaming devices, portable media players, GPS devices and PDAs.

Toshiba's GB NAND provides an attractive alternative to both micro hard drives or standard NAND flash chips. The solid-state components stack from one to four large-capacity NAND flash memory chips and a controller in a single package to minimize space requirements. The memory controller includes an SD interface and handles block management, ECC and wear leveling. As a result, system designers can take advantage of the high capacity of MLC NAND without the need to develop their own drivers or memory management functions.

LBA-NAND(TM) -- A single-component NAND solution with a NAND interface and logical block addressing that integrates a memory controller to handle ECC, wear-leveling and memory block management, with MLC NAND in capacities of 2GB, 4GB and 8GB; announced in August 2006.

NAND Flash memory currently uses the physical address access method that defines each physical page of a memory, from the chip to the block, to the page and down to the cell. When working with raw NAND chips, product design engineers must develop host side and driver specifications that can recognize and accommodate this physical addressing, or use third party controllers, and must repeat the process to adopt advances in next-generation NAND Flash memory capacity or features.

The logical address access method of LBA assigns each cell a unique address that is not geometry dependent. The first cell is simply 0, and numbering will continue to cover every cell. Assigning a new address to each cell allows increases in memory capacity to be more easily accommodated. This approach also allows block management, ECC and wear-leveling, all of which are conventionally controlled by the host side, to be handled on the memory side by the LBA-NAND(TM) controller. LBA-NAND(TM) is also fully compliant with the standard NAND Flash interface. As a result, LBA-NAND(TM) supports developers in minimizing development costs and improving time to market for new and upgraded products.

GB MCP -- This multi-chip package memory incorporates a NAND flash memory in capacities of up to 2GB with a controller supporting an SD interface. It can be integrated into an MCP that stacks standard memory for mobile phones, including LP SDRAM + NAND flash memory and PSRAM + NOR flash memory.

Package-on-Package -- Toshiba's initial PoP offering will include 14mm x 14mm and 15mm x15mm packages. The 15mm x15mm devices are fully compliant with the JEDEC PoP standard, and supports processors compatible with this standard. The 14mm x 14mm packages are compatible with other popular processor configurations. Memory configuration options include 512Mb(2) to 1Gb(3) Low Power SDRAM and up to 2Gb of NAND Flash.

NAND Flash Background

Toshiba was a principal innovator of NAND- and NOR-type Flash memory technology in the 1980's and maintains leadership in Flash technology today, with a complete line of removable and embedded NAND solutions to meet various application requirements. NAND Flash has become one of the leading technologies for solid-state storage applications because of its high-speed programming capability, high-speed erasing, and low cost. The sequential nature (serial access) of NAND-based Flash memory provides notable advantages for these block-oriented data storage applications. Toshiba's NAND Flash memory products are optimized for general solid-state storage, image file storage and audio for applications such as solid-state disk drives, digital cameras, audio appliances, set-top boxes and industrial storage.

*About TAEC

Combining quality and flexibility with design engineering expertise, TAEC brings a breadth of advanced, next-generation technologies to its customers. This broad offering includes memory and flash memory-based storage solutions, a broad range of discrete devices, displays, medical tubes, ASICs, custom SOCs, microprocessors, microcontrollers and wireless components for the computing, wireless, networking, automotive and digital consumer markets.

TAEC is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp. (Toshiba), Japan's largest semiconductor manufacturer and the world's fourth largest semiconductor manufacturer. In more than 130 years of operation, Toshiba has recorded numerous firsts and made many valuable contributions to technology and society. For additional company and product information, please visit TAEC's website at chips.toshiba.com. For technical inquiries, please e-mail Tech.Questions@taec.toshiba.com.

Information in this press release, including product pricing and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current and believed to be accurate on the date of the announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice. Technical and application information contained here is subject to the most recent applicable Toshiba product specifications. In developing designs, please ensure that Toshiba products are used within specified operating ranges as set forth in the most recent Toshiba product specifications and the information set forth in Toshiba's "Handling Guide for Semiconductor Devices," or "Toshiba Semiconductor Reliability Handbook." This information is available at http://www.chips.toshiba.com, or from your TAEC representative.

LBA-NAND(TM) is Toshiba's trademark for a NAND interface controller and NAND flash memory that applies the LBA logical address access method. All other trademarks and tradenames held within are the properties of their respective holders.

1. When used herein in relation to memory density, gigabyte and/or GB

means 1,024x1,024x1,024 = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Usable capacity may

be less. For details, please refer to specifications.

2. When used herein in relation to memory density, megabit and/or Mb

means 1,024x1,024 = 1,048,576 bits. Usable capacity may be less. For

details, please refer to specifications.

3. When used herein in relation to memory density, gigabit and/or Gb

means 1,024x1,024x1,024 = 1,073,741,824 bits. Usable capacity may be

less. For details, please refer to specifications.

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