Samsung 3-Volt SRAMs Put Pedal To Metal

3-Volt, 256K- and 1-Meg SRAMs Are Industry's Fastest

SAN JOSE, Calif., February XX, 1994 -- The industry's only 3-volt, 4-megabit SRAM was joined by two of the industry's fastest 3-volt parts today as Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. announced its 3-volt, 256-kilobit and 1-megabit CMOS SRAMs. With access times as fast as 70 nanoseconds, the new SRAMs are particularly well suited for portable, hand-held and other battery-powered computer applications, including the emerging PCMCIA credit-card-size peripherals, where 3-volt operation provides substantial power savings and prolonged battery life.

The KM62V256C and KM68V1000B achieve their tremendous speed advantage through an enhanced manufacturing process Samsung has optimized for creating high-performance 3-volt parts. This is the same process employed in Samsung's breakthrough 3-volt, 4-megabit CMOS SRAM, the lowest-power memory of its size.

"Unlike other 3-volt SRAMs currently on the market that are merely recharacterized 5-volt parts, our low-voltage SRAMs have been re-engineered to obtain the best performance in the industry," said Robert Eminian, Samsung's assistant director of memory marketing. "Our process technology is unique in the industry, giving us a leg up on the competition."

Samsung's 256-kilobyte and 1-megabit CMOS SRAMs are also available in standard 5-volt commercial and wide-temperature-range industrial versions. The chips are all implemented with thin-film transistors for high-speed, low-power operation in a compact die, and are fabricated in Samsung's own foundry using its advanced 0.5-micron double metal, quintuple poly CMOS process.

Battery Backup SRAMs

The KM62V256C and KM68V1000B are fully-static devices requiring no clock or refresh circuitry to retain their data. Both provide 70-nanosecond access times at 3 volts (± 10%) within a temperature range of 0 to 70 degrees Celsius.

The KM62V256C is organized as 32,768 words by 8 bits, while the KM68V1000B is organized as 131,072 words by 8 bits. Both have chip enable lines to activate standby mode for minimum operating power consumption and output enable lines for precise control of data outputs. Outputs are three state, and both inputs and outputs are TTL-compatible. In addition, a 2-volt data retention voltage enables battery backup operation at room temperatures while dissipating only 1.5 microwatts of power.

Three packages provide flexible through-hole and surface-mount design capabilities. The KM62V256C is available in 28-pin DIP, 28-pin SOIC and 28-pin standard and reverse TSOP packages for two-sided board mounting. The KM68V1000B is available in 32-pin DIP, 32-pin SOIC and 32-pin standard and reverse TSOP packages.

The Demand for SRAMs

A large, pent-up demand for high-density, high-speed memory devices capable of battery backup and operation has been created by the increasing use of data compression techniques to store and transmit information; the explosion of portable computers, cellular telephones and hand-held devices; and the need for non-volatile, alterable configuration memory. Unlike the dynamic RAMs found in desktop computer memories, CMOS static RAMs are capable of retaining their information at very low power, without the need for complex circuitry to periodically "refresh" the data. As a result, a variety of electronic devices, from televisions to machine tools use battery-powered CMOS static RAMs to store information even when the main power is turned off.

"As more and more equipment manufacturers take up the EPA's Energy Star initiative, there's greater demand for components that reduce power consumption," said Eminian. "Samsung's low-voltage, low-power CMOS SRAMs make it easy to be green, requiring a miserly 10 microamperes of current in standby mode."

Pricing and Availability

The KM62V256C 256-kilobit SRAM is available now in production quantities for $3.90 (70-ns, quantity 1000). The KM68V1000B 1-megabit SRAM is also available now in production quantities for $10.50 (70-ns, quantity 1000).

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