Intel Announces NOR Flash Memory Products for Low-Cost Handset

Intel Corporation introduced its first NOR flash memory products aimed at the emerging low-cost cell phone segment. The new products have a new pin sharing package to minimize pin count and are configured to work with low-cost, single-chip baseband and RF solutions from leading chipset suppliers. Major handset vendors are expected to start introducing low-cost cell phones based on Intel flash products this quarter.

Intel is introducing these products in response to increasing market demand for low-cost phones. The cell phone industry's GSM Association estimates that only 20 percent of the world's population use cell phones, largely because of cell phone costs.

Intel's products for the low-cost handset market segment feature cost-efficient, lower density NOR flash memory products from 32 Mb to 256 Mb with optional RAM in a multi-chip package. These products include a common 88-ball QUAD+ package with an address-data multiplexed (A/D Mux) configuration that simplifies the design-in process, enabling faster time-to-market and lower design costs. These memory solutions are expected to evolve to also support the common 107-ball x 16C package with an A/D Mux configuration. To enable accelerated design cycles, Intel offers a portable Low-Cost Handset Design Kit, which includes a design guide, product datasheets and migration guides, at www.intel.com/design/flash/nor/lc_handset/overview.htm. Available in both single-chip and multi-cell packages, the products are sampling to customers now and will be in volume production in the third quarter this year.