Renesas develops advanced memory technology for microcontrollers
Renesas Electronics Corporation presented its latest advancement in embedded spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random-access memory (STT-MRAM) technology for microcontroller units at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2024 (ISSCC 2024). This development is characterized by its high-speed read access and fast write throughput.
Renesas has introduced new circuit technology to achieve a random read access frequency of over 200 MHz. This is a significant development, given that MRAM typically faces challenges with read operations due to its narrow read margin compared to flash memory. Achieving such a high access speed reduces the latency between CPU operations and memory access.
On the other hand, the technology has attained a write throughput of 10.4 megabytes-per-second (MB/s). This is particularly advantageous compared to flash memory, which necessitates an erase operation before writing new data. MRAM’s capability for direct write operations streamlines the process, leading to efficiency gains. This improvement is crucial for operations such as embedding coding codes during the manufacturing phase.
STT-MRAM is a non-volatile memory technology that utilizes spin-transfer torque mechanism for data storage. Its capabilities position it as a potential solution to replace both DRAM and SRAM, delivering high performance and durability when compared to NAND flash memory. This integration of fast read and write functionalities, as demonstrated by Renesas, positions this technology as highly applicable in fields such as IoT and AI.
However, particularly in the context of edge computing, adopting MRAM brings several benefits–high-speed read and write operations, low latency and high performance, energy efficiency, persistence and endurance, and compatibility and scalability. STT-MRAM’s design allows for efficient integration into SoC designs, ensuring it aligns with existing architectures while facilitating accelerated prototyping and mass production.
Renesas recently announced the introduction of the RA8T1 microcontroller (MCU) group based on the Arm Cortex-M85 processor. According to the company, the RA8T1 Group MCUs facilitate faster application development by providing comprehensive infrastructure software.
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