Micron Innovations Blog » NAND Concepts

The Scoop on 25nm TLC NAND

Steve Janzen — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:31:11 +0000

We put Kevin Kilbuck, our director of strategic NAND marketing, in front of a whiteboard so we could get some high-level perspective on today’s Micron/Intel 25nm Triple Level Cell (TLC) NAND technology announcement. Is this brief video he reviews MLC, SLC, and TLC technology and demonstrates what a 25nm TLC NAND offers for consumer storage.
Watch to learn more.

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Is PCM the Next Big Memory Technology?

Ed Doller — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:17:30 +0000

Future Memory: What Will Replace DRAM? That’s the title for the panel I was asked to sit on at last week’s MemCon 2010 event. It may seem premature to think about replacing DRAM now (we still see several generations of DRAM development ahead with a long-term home in computing systems), until you think about HW and SW design cycles. Hardware platforms for 2015, 2016, and even 2017 are being developed right now. So we need to pick the best option that’s working today and start thinking about how we’ll use it, especially if it’s not drop-in compatible.

You can watch my arguments for why PCM will be that next-generation technology in this video. It was a great discussion, one that I’m happy to continue online—please post your comments and questions below.

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Just How Small is 25nm?

Kevin Kilbuck — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:02:28 +0000

Technology moves fast. It was only 14 months ago that we went into production with our world-leading 34nm process NAND, and we’ve already moved on to 25nm NAND. In this brief whiteboard video, I explain just how small 25nm is (3,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair) and why our ongoing quest to shrink process technology is vital to the future of storage.

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World’s Most Advanced Semi Process

Kevin Kilbuck — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:58:33 +0000

Today, Micron and Intel announced 25nm NAND, the smallest, most advanced semiconductor process technology in the world. This achievement allows us to double the capacity of our highest-density MLC device, enabling up to 64GB in a single package and paving the way for big developments in storage, computing, and consumer electronics.

The video below features highlights from a presentation given by Intel and Micron executives at our 25nm announcement. Learn what our aggressive scaling strategy means for the future of storage and the next generations of NAND.

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Top 10 Product Innovations of 2009

Chris Smith — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:20:24 +0000

Let’s commemorate the close of the year with … a list!

OK, to be honest, ending the year with a Top 10 List is not very, um, well, innovative. But it’s what’s on our list that’s innovative. And the year 2009 for Micron and Lexar Media can be summarized like this: Bigger. Faster. Better.

So, that’s our Top 10 list for 2009, innovatively reduced to three memorable points.

Still not ready to let go of tradition? Then, on with the Micron and Lexar Top 10 Innovations of 2009 countdown:

1. Maximizing Capacity – Crucial 4GB DDR3-1333MHz Memory Module
Yes, bigger is better. Memory hogs of the world rejoiced when Crucial announced its 4GB DDR3-1333MHz (PC3-10600) non-ECC UDIMM memory module. It allows power users to max out their systems with up to 24GB of computer memory.

2. Color Me Fast – Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB DDR3-1600
Not only do the Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB DDR3-1600 memory modules use Intel Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP) for easy overclocking, they also come with stylish red, blue or green heat spreaders and matching LEDs. Now, if only your socks matched.

3. 600X and Be There – Lexar’s 600x Professional CompactFlash cards
With an industry leading 600X (90MB/s) guaranteed minimum sustained write speed and the reliability of Image Rescue software, Lexar remains the professionals’ preferred high-performance memory card.

4. Socially Aware – Lexar High-Speed microSDHC Card
The introduction of Lexar’s High-Speed microSDHC Card kit brought an easier, faster way for mobile-device users to upload photos, videos, music and files from their handhelds to their host computers and share them with friends through social media channels. Named the “Shining Star” in the MobileVillage Mobile Star Award program in the portable storage hardware category, the card and accompanying side-load software ushered in a new market where data can be shared easier than ever before.

5. Is it safe? – Lexar JumpDrive SAFE S3000/SAFE S300 FIPS
More than ever, security standards were a priority for enterprise organizations and government agencies in 2009 and the Lexar JumpDrive SAFE S3000 and JumpDrive SAFE S3000 FIPS were the first to incorporate smart card-based encryption technology to deliver secure, manageable portability to organizations that must meet strict security regulations.

6. Big Performance, Small Size – Micron 34nm NAND and Lexar memory cards
In June, Lexar announced the inclusion of Micron’s 34nm NAND flash memory across a number of product lines. By including the award-winning 34nm NAND technology in its memory cards and flash drives Lexar is able to offer industry-leading products with high performance at a more cost effective price point—a differentiator the company continues to focus on as it heads into 2010.

7. Serious Endurance – Enterprise NAND
Micron’s MLC Enterprise NAND provides a viable alternative to standard SLC NAND that allows enterprise applications the ability to cost-effectively and reliably double storage capacity (since MLC provides twice the storage space in the same die size as SLC). The new MLC Enterprise NAND chip is able to reach 30,000 write cycles (6x the reliability of standard MLC NAND).

8. The incredible shrinking chip – 3 bit-per-cell
Micron and Intel teamed up through their joint venture, IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), to roll out the industry’s smallest and most cost effective 32Gb 3 bit-per-cell (bpc) NAND chip for flash cards and USB devices. Made on its leading 34nm process technology, the 3bpc product demonstrates the companies’ continued progress in NAND development. Stay tuned for more on Micron and Intel’s next NAND milestone—a new 2Xnm NAND process will be announced in early 2010.

9. Seeing Pico-Projection in a Whole New Light – FLCOS Microdisplays
In 2009 we saw pico projection begin to make significant headway in the consumer electronics space. Micron also got active in this space in 2009, acquiring innovative FLCOS microdisplay technology. Our high-speed FLCOS microdisplays create vibrant, sharp images from a tiny, low-power chip, so they’re perfect for mobile devices. If you want to see FLCOS technology in action, check out the 3M MPro120—one of the year’s best pico-projector offerings.

10. RealSSD C300 – The Industry’s Fastest SSD
The year culminated with Micron unveiling its C300 RealSSD Solid State Drive. This is no ordinary SSD, the C300 took the title of the fastest notebook and desktop SSD in the industry. And don’t just take our word for it, these benchmark videos show the drive in action. In addition, it’s the first SSD to use a SATA 6Gb/s interface, which provides twice the bandwidth of the standard SATA 3Gb/s interface.

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Enterprise NAND—Some Industry Perspective

Kirstin Bordner — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:45:39 +0000

We’ve had tremendous feedback from customers, partners, media and analysts on our Enterprise NAND announcement. So I thought I’d include a couple of perspectives from the industry on the potential impact of Enterprise NAND:

• “a significant milestone for the industry, one that’s likely to increase confidence in the technology.”
—Bob Merritt, analyst
InternetNews.com

• “proves wrong all those people who think that high-endurance devices will never be supported by advancing lithographies.”
—Jim Handy, analyst
Enterprise Storage Forum

• “Micron made a major announcement this week touting a new memory structure that simultaneously drives up the density and write performance of current Flash memory.”
IT Business Edge

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Huge Reliability from Tiny NAND

Kevin Kilbuck — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:08:51 +0000

Since introducing our 34nm NAND nearly a year ago, we’ve made big strides in both performance and reliability. Now, nearly all of our NAND products are built on 34nm—leading the industry in density and efficiency.

In fact, our 34nm process is so solid, we’ve even moved our super-high cycling Enterprise NAND parts to it. We just announced 34nm SLC and MLC Enterprise NAND parts that can hit 300,000 and 30,000 cycles, respectively. These new parts deliver unmatched density, cost-efficiency, and reliability and will open up new potential for NAND storage in enterprise applications. Watch my quick explanation below to understand why.

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Is NAND Ready For Enterprise Applications?

Kevin Kilbuck — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:30:56 +0000

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about NAND in enterprise applications. Can NAND hit enterprise requirements? Will sub-40nm NAND ever serve this market? Is it really a compelling choice? Put simply: yes. Here are a few reasons why:

Multiple Routes to Quality & Reliability
More than any other segment, enterprise apps want high quality and high reliability NAND. While we create specially-designed “Enterprise NAND” that delivers super-low defect rates and high endurance for specific applications, there are other methods to increase endurance. For instance, some of our customers take advantage of the high density of our newest NAND to build systems with a surplus of capacity. Because there’s extra density, each cell is written less often, and the effective life of all the NAND goes up dramatically. Advanced wear-leveling algorithms will also provide advanced NAND with better endurance levels than it achieved in the past.

NAND Control Will See Breakthrough Innovation
Yes, developing NAND controller technology is more challenging with each process node, but it is also an area of heavy focus and technology investment. Micron, with SSD’s and other technologies in development, is ensuring that NAND is fit for the enterprise. Controllers will continue to improve along with the NAND changes—this is an area of tremendous innovation, and mirrors what occurred in HDD evolution.

Scaling—The Path Ahead
Some have suggested that only legacy process NAND is fit for enterprise applications. That’s simply not true. As noted above, there are multiple methods to achieve enterprise-class performance on advanced process NAND. And while we will continue to provide some legacy NAND for key applications, most enterprise customers will want to take advantage of the benefits new technology presents. In fact, this week we will introduce a new portfolio of ultra-reliable Enterprise NAND products designed on our mature 34nm NAND process – enabling the high density and better cost structure that only advanced process NAND can provide. Make sure to stay tuned to our blog for more on that later this week.

And we stated this summer at the Flash Memory Summit, NAND has plenty of room for further scaling improvements. Don’t let the naysayers fool you—the years ahead are going to be an exciting period of change and accelerating NAND adoption into hundreds of new applications. I’m looking forward to it.

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Tripling NAND Performance in Mobile Systems

Wanmo — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:11:27 +0000

We’ve been getting great response from customers who’ve seen our NAND performance demonstration, so we wanted to share it with a wider audience.

The test pits our single- and dual-plane SLC devices and NANDCode™ FTL software against Samsung’s OneNAND™ running on Microsoft’s FTL. The test system is a TI OMAP™ 3430 development platform running Windows Mobile® 6.5 OS. We changed out the onboard NAND with a simple PISMO card swap and then ran a 10MB system performance test.

The results are impressive and undeniable. The key is our custom NANDCode FTL software, which enables advanced performance features like dual-plane programming.

Watch the video below to see why some of our competitors’ customers have been willing to open their design cycles to take advantage of the big NAND performance gains offered by Micron’s MCPs.

Visit our Web site to learn more about our NANDCode software and how you can use it to boost performance in your next mobile design.

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A look Inside the Flash Memory Summit ’09

Kevin Kilbuck — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:01:43 +0000

Micron’s Kevin Kilbuck, director of strategic NAND marketing talks about the hottest buzz happening at this year’s FMS. It’s been a lively show this year, with an interesting debate about bringing high-quality NAND to enterprise applications, as well as a big announcement from us and Intel on 3-bit-per-cell MLC NAND technology. Let us know what you think about our interview with Kevin, and be sure to stay tuned for future news and updates.

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