Tuesday, December 31, 2002
Eyeing the growing market for cellular phones, DRAM vendors are seeking ways to fold more non-volatile memory and advanced packaging techniques into their game plans.
Though the use of DRAM in cell phones is still rare, some chip makers are betting that phone manufacturers are ready to switch from SRAM to lower-cost DRAM as they ship more handsets with multimedia capabilities and color screens, all of which require more memory.
"Phones are needing higher bit densities, and SRAMs are much more expensive per bit than DRAM. As the telephone requires more memory space it becomes cost-prohibitive to stay with SRAM technology," said Jim Sogas, vice president of sales at Elpida Memory (USA) Inc.
The move into cell phones began several years ago when DRAM makers started offering special low-voltage devices to reduce power consumption. Going forward, memory chip vendors say they will have to provide more than discrete DRAM devices.
Several top-tier DRAM vendors are putting into place plans to offer multichip packages that combine low-power DRAM or pseudostatic RAM with flash memory or even digital baseband processors. Some vendors are seeking to form alliances with companies that have more packaging or flash technology expertise. Other vendors are cultivating such capabilities in-house.
Hynix Semiconductor Inc., for one, is working on ways to stack two die in the same package to keep component size to a minimum for cell phones. For the low end, the company will provide either SRAM or pseudostatic RAM plus flash memory. At the high end, it will offer low-power SDRAM plus flash. The products are expected to ship in the second half of 2003, said Farhad Tabrizi, vice president of worldwide marketing at Hynix.
Elpida too is working to fill gaps in its product line as it seeks a greater presence in cell phones. Like most DRAM companies, Elpida has offered low-power SDRAM to cell phone customers as an alternative to SRAM. Beyond that, the Japanese chip vendor is seeking ways to stack flash memory and baseband processor chips with its mobile DRAM.
By: DocMemory
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