Ramtron Expands High-Density F-RAM Family With 2-Megabit Device

Manufactured on TI’s 130nm CMOS process with advanced F-RAM cell architecture

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – October 2, 2007 – Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR), a leading developer and supplier of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (F-RAM) and integrated semiconductor products, has extended its family of high-density F-RAM devices with a 2-megabit (Mb) parallel memory device. The FM21L16 is a 2Mb, 3-volt, parallel nonvolatile RAM in a 44-pin TSOP-II package that features fast access, NoDelay™ writes, virtually unlimited read/write cycles, and low power consumption. Pin-compatible with asynchronous static RAM (SRAM), the FM21L16 targets SRAM-based industrial control, metering, medical, automotive, military, gaming, and computing applications, among others.

“This is Ramtron’s second F-RAM device to emerge from the Texas Instruments (TI)-Ramtron partnership and the next product in a family of high-density stand-alone F-RAM memories,” says Duncan Bennett, Ramtron Strategic Marketing Manager. “The FM21L16 offers a cost-effective alternative to MRAM, battery-backed SRAM (BBSRAM), and NVSRAM. Besides providing a low-cost solution and a small footprint, F-RAM consumes much less active and standby power than MRAM and does not require a battery or an on-board capacitor to back up data, as do BBSRAM and NVSRAM, respectively.”

FM21L16 Features
A 128K x 16 nonvolatile memory with an industry standard parallel interface, the FM21L16 reads and writes at bus speed with endurance of at least 100 trillion writes and more than 10 years of data retention. The device has an access time of 55 nanoseconds (ns) and a cycle time of 110ns and includes an advanced write protection scheme to prevent inadvertent writes and data corruption.
The 2Mb F-RAM is a drop-in replacement for standard asynchronous SRAMs that does not need a battery to back up data, which significantly improves component and system reliability. Unlike battery-backed SRAM, the FM21L16 is a true surface-mount solution that does not require rework steps for battery attachment and is not jeopardized by moisture, shock and vibration.

With an industry-standard parallel interface to current high performance microprocessors, the FM21L16 features a high-speed page mode that enables a peak bandwidth of 80-megabytes/second, providing one of the fastest nonvolatile memory solutions on the market. The device boasts lower operating currents than standard SRAMs, drawing 18 milliamps for reads/writes, and an ultra low power sleep mode of 5 microamps. It operates from 2.7 to 3.6 volts over the entire industrial temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C. Visit www.ramtron.com/highdensityFRAM/Default.asp for more product details.

Pricing and Availability
Samples of the FM21L16 are available now in a RoHS-compliant 44-pin TSOP-II package. Pricing begins at $12 for quantities of 10,000 units.

About Ramtron
Ramtron International Corporation, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets specialized semiconductor memory and integrated semiconductor solutions used in a wide range of product applications and markets worldwide. For more information, visit www.ramtron.com.