Fremont, California-based chip designer Waferscale Integration Inc has announced the PSD3XXL family of 3V one stop shop memory chips for portable battery-operated products. The chips contain their own programmable logic and can reduce board space by up to 50%. The company has also unveiled a marketing agreement with the Philips Semiconductors arm of Philips Electronics NV, which is to be a second-source for the new devices and their predecessors, the 5V PSD3XX line, worldwide. The PSD3XX and PSD3XXL chips contain all the Static RAM and Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory needed by 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers in embedded control designs. This eliminates up to 10 chips – around six square inches of board – enabling engineers to make smaller and lighter products. The new low-power versions are intended for products like laptop computers, cellular phones, medical instruments, Winchester disk controllers and portable test instruments. They operate with any 3V or 5V microcontroller.

Logic arrays

Like the PSD3XX, the new devices integrate a user-programmable microcontroller interface; two programmable logic arrays for address decoding and system control; 4-bit page register; 16K-bits of Static RAM; and 256K-bits to 1M-bit of Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. They will operate between 3V and 5V – they perform more slowly but continue to conserve power at 5V – and provide 250nS access time. Operating current is 1.0mA with standby rated at 0.5uA. They have 19 configurable input-output lines and a programmable security bit to impede unauthorised copying. A variety of surface mounts are available. All are pin-compatible and so can be upgraded as required. The 256Kb and 512Kb versions are sampling now with production quantities available in the first quarter of 1993; the 1M-bit version will follow in second quarter. Prices start at $7 for 10,000-up. Prices for the PSD3XX controller family, also available through Philips distributors, start at $10 for production quantities. Waferscale hopes its deal with Philips, which has some 10,000 customers, will help to make the PSD3XX technology a worldwide standard. Although a degree of overlap is expected, it is likely that Philips will focus on large corporates while Waferscale will market the chips to smaller companies. It is expected that the first Philips-badged versions will appear during the first quarter of next year. The two companies say there is no restriction on the extent of their collaboration in the future. Given that Waferscale is a fabless operation, an agreement on the use of Philips’ production facilities is one option. Philips will be marketing the chip with its 80C51 core microcontrollers typically used in disk drives, facsimile modems, industrial controllers, instrumentation, medical electronics and automotive systems.

By Lynn Stratton

Derivatives offer an assortment of on-chip features such as additional memory, analogue-to-digital converters, pulse-width modulators, additional timers, data encryption algorithms, and bus interfaces. The PSD3XX will enrich the low power, Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, input-out, memory capacity and range of special functions offered. Waferscale says that its technology is special, because of the memory capacity it offers. This makes it possible for developers to use higher level programming languages than other single-chip systems. The integration of several components into one device decreases power consumption, increases reliability and, of course, saves space. The company is aiming for a 25% market share of the programmable chip business, the Billion dollar opportunity for the 90s which it reckons is likely to flourish as programmable logic did in the 1980s. The increasing need among manufacturers for higher memory, it believes, makes it particularly well placed. The company, which was founded in 1983, originally developed waferscale technology. This research was abandoned in 1985 – and the company duly renamed itself WSI, to avoid confusion. It went on to develop high performance non-volatile PROM and EPR

OM memory products based on split-gate EPROM technology. It has gone on to enhance this core technology by developing Alternate Metalless Ground and contactless memory arrays which reduce die area. WSI licenses its memory technology to partners – and shareholders – Sharp Corp in Japan, National Semiconductor Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc in the US which, in return, fabricate WSI chips. It is also jointly researching Flash memory technology with Advanced Micro Devices for a new family of chips, planned for 1994. WSI reckons these new chips will rival Intel Corp’s split gate offerings. Anam Electronics Co in Seoul, South Korea, Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Fine Products Ltd and NatSemi all package and test WSI’s products. Its PSD3XX and PSD3XXLs are supplied with WSI’s own Windows-based MagicPro development tools with Data I/O Corp’s Unisite software. WSI says this helps speed up the design process for customers for whom faster time-to-market is increasingly important. This flexibility also enables designers to differentiate products and caters for those needing special software code. The company says its PSD3XX family is now incorporated in 1,141 active designs worldwide; 638 of these are in Europe, where 8-bit controllers are particularly popular. Around 60% of chips are used in industrial applications as varied as oven control, engine control and laser surgery; 20% in telecoms – Goldstar Ltd’s new $200 cellular phone for instance incorporates a PSD3XX chip for memory and system control.

Customers

Major European customers include BET Plc, GEC Plc, Siemens AG and Volkswagonwerke AG. Listed amongst its American and Asian clients are giants such as AT&T Co, Eastman Kodak Co, Western Digital Corp, Motorola Inc, Fujitsu Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co to name but a few. It is certain that the low-power, low-cost and reprogrammable PSD3XXL will be a hit in the market for portable products where power efficency; small, lightweight design; short product cycles and cost sensitivity are paramount. Next on the agenda is a PSD400 family of chips with increased progammable logic; a 68-pin PSD500 family with their own timer counters; and advanced ranges of devices incorporating Flash memory technology. These will include a souped-up PSD400 device and PSD600 dual-controller family for applications requiring a dual port memory. WSI is a privately held company – none of its shareholders controls more than 10% – with sales offices in 23 countries worldwide. It says it turned in $35m in revenues in 1991.