Infineon introduces the industry's first high capacity radiation resistant NOR flash memory product

     Space-grade programmable logic devices (FPgas) require reliable high-capacity non-volatile memory that includes their boot configuration. To meet the growing demand for highly reliable memory, Infineon Technologies LLC, a division of Infineon Technologies, announced the introduction of the industry's first high capacity Radiation resistant (RadTol) NOR flash memory product, certified to the MIL-PRF-38535 QML-V process. The QML-V process is certified to the highest quality and reliability standards for aerospace grade ics.

     Infineon's 256 Mb and 512 Mb RadTol NOR Flash non-volatile memory enables excellent low-pin single-chip solutions for applications such as FPGA configuration, image storage, microcontroller data and boot code storage. When used at higher clock rates, the device supports data transfers comparable to or exceeding traditional parallel asynchronous NOR flash memory, while significantly reducing the number of pins. The device offers radiation resistance up to 30 krad (Si) biased and 125 krad (Si) unbiased. At 125°C, the device has a durability of 1,000 programming/erase cycles and a data retention period of 30 years, and at 85°C, it can achieve 10,000 programming/erase cycles and a data retention period of 250 years.

     As a leader in space-grade memory products, Infineon has developed the RadTol 256 Mb Quad SPI (QSPI) and 512 Mb Dual Quad SPI NOR Flash using 65 nm floating gate flash process technology. Both have 133 MHz SDR interface speed. The 512 Mb device consists of two separate 256 Mb bare chips that are assembled side-by-side in a single package solution. This gives designers the flexibility to run devices independently on either bare chip in dual QSPI or single QSPI mode, giving them the option to use a second bare chip as a backup solution. Infineon is working closely with leading FPGA ecosystem companies such as Xilinx for space-grade applications.

     Helmut Puchner, vice president of Aerospace & Defense at Infineon Technologies LLC, said: "Our radiation-resistant dual QSPI non-volatile memory is fully supported by the latest space-grade FPgas. They can lead to excellent low pin count single-chip solutions for configuring processors and FPGas. For example, the entire Xilinx Kintex UltraScale XQRKU060 image can be loaded in Dual Quad mode in about 0.2 seconds."