At Electronica 2018, Micron Technology, Inc. announced its automotive AEC-Q100 Grade 1 (+125°C) qualified NOR flash portfolio, along with the first 1TB automotive and industrial grade PCIe NVMe solid state drive (SSD).

The NOR Flash portfolio encompasses Micron's 45nm NOR flash solutions utilizing both quad-SPI and Xccela bus interfaces, with densities ranging from 128 megabits (Mb) up to 2 gigabits (Gb).

As the performance of automotive advanced driver assisted systems (ADAS) technologies such as vision, LiDAR, radar and infrared sensors increases to address autonomous driving requirements, the system temperature levels also increase. The rise in system temperature is due to both the heat generated by the more advanced processors and the miniaturization of the sensors embedded into a vehicle's bodywork. To ensure reliable and safe system operation, the application firmware code, key parametric and calibration data, and incident and error data logs must be stored in and executed from a high-speed non-volatile memory that is capable of withstanding elevated temperatures as high as +125°C. With initial latencies as fast as 78ns and operating temperature support up to +125°C, Micron's NOR flash allows safety systems to boot in an instant to meet the needs of next-generation ADAS sensors and control units.

Micron produces the 45nm NOR flash devices at its wafer fabrication facility located in Manassas, Virginia.

The company architected Xccela flash from the ground up to meet the stringent requirements of next-generation automotive applications. With the latest product line extension, Micron's MT35X Xccela flash product family now meets the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) qualification standard of AEC-Q100 Grade 1 with an extended temperature range of -40°C to +125°C, as well as AEC-Q100 Grade 2 with a temperature range of -40°C to +105°C. With initial latencies as short as 78ns, sequential byte reads as fast as 2.5ns, and sustained read throughputs as high as 400 MB/s (3.2 Gb/s), Xccela flash is able to support systems that meet the "instant-on" and fast system responsiveness requirements for ADAS and advanced dashboard cluster systems. Xccela flash densities range from 256Mb to 2Gb, with samples and production volumes available now for all densities.

Micron's MT25Q Serial NOR flash product family is now qualified to meet both the AEC-Q100 Grade 1 and Grade 2 standards. With quad-I/O operation at clock frequencies as high as 166 MHz in single transfer rate (STR) mode and 90 MHz in dual transfer rate (DTR) mode, coupled with features to enhance data integrity, reliability, and security, the MT25Q family provides ADAS and infotainment applications with the speed and feature flexibility necessary for system designs. MT25Q densities range from 128Mb to 2Gb, with samples and production volumes available now for all densities (+125°C version of the 2Gb will ramp production in 2Q19).

Micron also today introduced the first 1TB automotive and industrial grade PCIe NVMe solid state drive (SSD) in BGA and 22x30mm M.2 form factors at Electronica 2018. Based on 64-layer triple-level cell (TLC) 3D NAND technology, the new Micron 2100 series of NVMe SSDs is designed for next-generation autonomous cars and the industrial internet of things (IIoT).

Micron 2100 SSD Key Features

• Up to 2000 MB/s reads and 1100 MB/s writes, >2X faster reads and >1.5X faster writes than UFS 2.1 and SATA 3 interfaces1
• Available in 64GB to 1TB densities2 and 16x20mm BGA and 22x30mm M.2 form factors
• Optimized for reduced power consumption with lower estimated energy usage vs. UFS 2.13
• Operating temperature: -40°C to 105°C and -40°C to 95°C Tcase
• Storage interface: PCIe x4 Gen3, NVMe 1.3 with direct boot option, bypassing the need for another storage device for boot; NVMe shows >25% and >15% improvement in system write and read speeds, respectively, over SCSI software storage stack used in UFS4
• AEC-Q100, IATF 16949-compliant
• Automotive and industrial specific features: End-to-end data path protection, SLC partitioning support for high endurance, TCG Opal with self-encryption capability
  
• Based on 64-layer TLC NAND with CMOS under array technology

Micron is sampling the 2100AI and 2100AT PCIe-based NVMe SSDs to automotive and industrial customers today, with volume production expected in 2H 2019.