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| F-RAM has three distinct properties that make it superior to floating gate devices: |
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- Fast write speed
- High endurance
- Low power consumption
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| Here are just a few broad industry applications where F-RAM surpasses competing semiconductor memory: |
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| Power failure-prone environments |
| Any
nonvolatile memory can retain a configuration.
However, if the configuration changes and power
failure is a possibility, the higher write endurance of
F-RAM allows changes to be recorded without
restriction. Any time the system state changes, it
writes the new state. This avoids writing to memory
on power down when the available time is short and
power loss is imminent. |
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| High noise environments |
| Writing to EEPROM in a
noisy environment can be challenging. When severe
noise or power fluctuations are present, the long
write time of EEPROM creates a window of
vulnerability (measured in milliseconds) during
which the write can be corrupted. The probability of
errors is proportional to the size of the window. A
write transaction window for F-RAM is less than
200ns. |
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| RFID systems |
| In the area of contactless memory,
F-RAM provides an ideal solution. Low energy
access is critical in RFID systems because the
energy emitted in the field declines exponentially
with distance. The tag must be close enough to the
field to induce the minimum amount of energy to
write and it must extract the energy while in the
field. Applications that require writes (i.e. debit
cards, tags used in manufacturing processes) can
benefit by improved write distance, lower sensitivity
to motion (time in the field), and lower RF power
required for the transmitter and receiver. |
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| Diagnostic and maintenance systems |
| In a
sophisticated system, the ability to record the
operating history and system state during a failure
is enormously valuable. Without this data, the
ability to accurately troubleshoot or perform the
required maintenance can be difficult. Due to its
high write endurance, F-RAM makes an ideal system
log. Diverse systems — from workstations to
industrial process control — can benefit from F-RAM. |
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