Ground-breaking new architecture now available on 180nm technology

X-FAB Silicon Foundries, together with Attopsemi, announced that the latest version of Attopsemi‘s I-fuse IP with its next-generation architecture had successfully demonstrated on X-FAB’s XH018 180 nm process technology. It is provided in various memory densities, ranging from 512bits to 8KBytes, with a number of customer projects already being ramped up to volume production.

Attopsemi‘s pioneering new I-fuse S3 architecture suggests that the area taken up by the IP is at least 50% less compared to earlier versions, with no trade off program window range, program voltage and any of the myriad other benefits associated with the original. This allows a notable reduction in OTP footprint and a decrease in peak and average current consumption by between one-third and one-half, while still maintaining to a 3.3V standard I/O voltage for programming.

The XH018 is a powerful modular sensor and high-voltage EPI technology, particularly intended for managing a broad variety of prospective customer scenarios. This technology supports an extended temperature range from -40C to 175C and a modular 1.8V/3.3V ultra-low noise process with many different automotive-grade non-volatile memory options. The I-fuse solution is an excellent fit for X-FAB’s expansive memory portfolio, complementing the company’s current NVM providing. The inclusion of I-fuse into XH018 will expand the spread of this process into diverse industrial, medical and consumer applications where 3.3V operation coupled with compact and cost-effective dies are called for.

“We are pleased with the performance of the XH018. The high reliability of this X-FAB process has resulted in first-time-right integration,” states Shine Chung, chairman of Attopsemi. “It is very encouraging to see that our collaboration has already triggered new projects with common customers in industrial and consumer areas and is starting to open up new opportunities throughout the medical sector too.”

“This latest I-fuse implementation further adds to our successful story of collaboration with Attopsemi. Aligned side-by-side with the present X-FAB proprietary NVM portfolio, the Attopsemi IP solution is broadening the target applications. It presents our customers with an optimized die cost, via the combination of no additional mask layers on top of the XH018 core, plus the footprint reductions that the new architecture enables,” adds Nando Basile, product marketing manager for Memory Solutions at X-FAB. “We now have an increasing number of products where I-fuse has been embedded, with transitioning to mass production already underway on specific 180 nm and 130 nm platforms.”