Intel integrates XScale, StrataFlash on a package: new processor, memory designed for cellular handsets - Semiconductors

Electronic News, Oct 21, 2002 by Tom Murphy

Intel Corp. is starting to flex its manufacturing might, and the result is a more serious effort to earn design wins in the cellular handset market.

Intel is unleashing its double-dense flash products with the latest versions of its XScale processor line. Both products are designed to burn less power than previous generations, and both can be placed in a single-stacked package designed to save space in ultra-compact data-enabled cell phone designs, the company said.

Intel plans to sample low-power versions of its 128Mbit StrataFlash NOR memory, according to Steve Eunial, product marketing engineer for Intel's flash products group.

At the same time, Intel will be making way for the PXA261 and PXA262 XScale processors featuring more power-saving attributes than their predecessors. Both processors are designed to be placed on the same chip-scale package as Intel's flash memory products. Intel will use a multichip technology that it calls stacking, said David Rogers, product marketing manager for Intel's personal client architecture group.

Intel's PXA261 processor, which can deliver 200MHz, can be packaged with a l28Mbit, 1.8V StrataFlash chip in a single package that measures 13mm square, Rogers said. That saves as much as 56 percent more space on a wireless platform as opposed to implementing the solution with a 17mm square XScale processor and a 9mm-by-11mm StrataFlash memory chip, Rogers said.

The PXA262 processor, available in 200MHz and 300MHz versions, can also fit into a 13mm square package with two flash memory chips equaling 256Mbits as opposed to a three-chip solution. The stacked package saves 65 percent of board space, Rogers said.

Stacking flash on microprocessors is not a new phenomenon and not exclusive to Intel. Also, some cell phone OEMs actually prefer processors and flash to be separate so they can get the best market price for the memory products.

With its system-on-package technology, Intel can stack as many as four chips high on a single package for a total of 1Gbit of memory, Eunial said. The new memory chips reduce voltage from 3V to 1.8V to allow for longer battery life in mobile applications.

Intel seeks to gain an advantage in upcoming wireless handset designs over rivals such as Texas Instruments, Motorola and others.

Eunial said the stacked packages would bring more data capability to cellular handsets. Intel is releasing the parts first in the Asia/Pacific region because it is known there for leading edge handset designs.

Intel has been offering stacked flash memory packages for at least one year, but the latest chips are the first ones that will offer memory and logic on the same package, Eunial said.

Intel's latest flash chips also mark the migration to 0.13-micron technology, Eunial said.

Intel's integration efforts are a precursor to Intel's Manitoba project, which is what the company calls wireless Internet on-a-chip, Rogers said. In that project, Intel seeks to place logic, analog, flash memory and SRAM all on one die.