 |
| Background |
| In 2009, Ramtron announced a transition of its product manufacturing from Japan to its established U.S. foundry and newest foundry operation at IBM Corporation. |
|
| Device Specification Changes |
| The change in foundry operations has caused some product specifications to change. In some cases, certain product specifications have improved, while most specifications have stayed the same. Specifications have been relaxed in only a small number of cases. Please see the Foundry Conversion Table for a list of part numbers changes and specification differences. |
|
| New W-Family |
| A new, wide-voltage family of F-RAM memory has been introduced in serial SPI, I2C and parallel interfaces. The W-Family offers devices that are designed to operate in a wider operating voltage range from 2.7V to 5.5V. Additionally, the W-Family offers performance enhancements including a 25% to 50% reduction in active current. |
|
|
|
|
| Dual Sourcing |
| The recently introduced B-Family and upcoming C-Family devices are compatible with our previously manufactured products and offer our customers more F-RAM product choices. B-Family products are available now and initial C-Family products are currently sampling. |
|
| The B-Family |
| The B-Family consists of serial (SPI and I2C) 64k, 16k and 4k parts, and two parallel parts, the FM1608B and FM1808B, which are 64K and 256k parallel parts respectively with TTL compatible inputs. |
|
| The C-Family |
| The C-Family offers performance improvements over the B-Family for certain specifications. Most specifications are the same; some are improved. The ESD specification is slightly relaxed on the C-Family products. The C-Family has been launched with 5V, serial (I2C and SPI) 64K, 16K and 4K parts. 3-volt serial C-Family parts will follow soon. |
|
| Compared to our pre-foundry transition devices, there have been a few specification changes for the B-Family and C-Family parts. The table below gives general guidelines. For specific changes, please refer to the relevant datasheets and product differences documents. |
|
| Specification |
Description |
| Active Current |
- The B-Family and C-Family parts generally have lower active current than the pre-transition part.
|
| Standby Current |
- Generally, the 5V B & C parts have the same standby current as the pre-transition part
- For the 3V parts the standby current has increased
|
| Operating Frequency |
- A few members of the B- & C-Families are faster than the pre-transition parts and the rest are the same speed.
|
| Endurance |
- For I2C parts, the interface speed limits the user to the point that we consider I2C parts to have virtually unlimited endurance
- For 5V SPI parts, when accessing the F-RAM at a rate of 2,000 times per second to the same row 15 years will elapse before 1012 endurance cycles are reached.
- For 3V SPI parts, when accessing a 64-byte loop at 20MHz continuously, 85 years will elapse before 1014 endurance cycles are reached.
|
| Data Retention |
- The data retention of the B & C parts are currently specified less than the pre-transition parts. Considerable time is required to gather significant data to demonstrate a long data retention time. The specification is expected to increase in the future when more data has been gathered. Data Retention is 10 years at +85ºC and 38 years at +75ºC.
|
|
|
| Automotive AEC-Q100 Grade 1 Products |
| Ramtron is currently conducting qualification testing to verify the performance of the new B-Family and C-Family devices at high temperature (125°C). Contact Ramtron for more information. |
|
| Processor Companions |
| Ramtron’s 14-pin I2C processor companions have been transitioned to our alternative foundries. Our SPI processor companions will transition to a new foundry during the second half of 2011. |
|
| The part numbers of the processor companions have not changed. There has been a slight increase in the backup current (Ibak) that supplies the RTC when Vdd is absent. To compensate for this change, there has been a reduction in the voltage necessary for the RTC to operate. Applications using a backup capacitor to supply the RTC when Vdd is absent benefit most from the new, lower operating voltage of the RTC.
The following changes apply to the I2C processor companions:
- All FM32xxx devices have been discontinued and are no longer available.
- The 64-Kb 3-volt (FM3130) devices have been discontinued and are no longer available.
- All -4Kb and 16-Kb 3- and 5-volt FM31(L)xxx devices have been discontinued. Last time buy for these devices is February 2012. Customers can use our higher-density 64Kb and 256Kb processor companions in place of the lower density devices.
|
|
| SPI processor companions (FM33xx) have not changed. Ramtron plans to transition to the new foundry during the second half of 2011. |
|
| State Savers |
| FM1107 and FM1114 are Not Recommended for New Design (NRND). Our other State Savers have not changed. These devices are currently shipping and Ramtron plans to transition to the new foundry during the second half of 2011. |
|
| Conversion Table |
|
|
|
|
| Not all parts have transitioned. The following rules are a rough guide to what has changed: |
|
- Wireless Memories (WM7xxxx) not affected
- V family parts are not affected
- Any density above 1Mbit not affected
- For 256Kbit density standard memory parts there are now 2 options for most parts, a V option and a W option.
- For 64K, 16K and 4K density standard memory parts there is a new B-Family.
|
|
| ^ Back to top |