Micron, Nanya Develop Low-Power Mobile Device Memory

Micron Technology and Nanya Technology on Thursday said they have jointly developed low-power DDR2 memory that uses half the power of the most commonly used memory in mobile devices.

Micron plans to initially offer the chips in 1-Gb and 512-Mb versions, eventually reaching as high as 4 Gb. Compared with the popular DDR1 technology, the new components will improve performance and reduce power consumption in such applications as handsets, smartphones, and mobile Internet devices, according to Micron.

While DDR1 operates at 1.8 volts, the Micron-Nanya technology uses 1.2 volts, which Micron says amounts to as much as a 50% reduction in power consumption. In addition, the companies say their technology is faster at up to 1,066 Mbps.

The new technology received an endorsement from Nvidia, which makes the Tegra line of computers-on-a-chip for running graphics on mobile devices. Micron is sending samples of its 1-Gb chip to device manufacturers and plans to begin volume production in the second half of the year. Micron is headquartered in Boise, Idaho, and Nanya in Taipei, Taiwan.

In addition, Micron also announced that it's sampling 16-GB multilevel cell NAND memory for high-end mobile phones. Micron stacks eight die in a package that reduces the needed space within the device by as much as 40%, when compared with other products, according to Micron.

Micron plans to begin volume production of the 16-GB chip by the end of March. The company also is sending samples of 4-GB and 8-GB versions to device manufacturers.

Micron in November announced with Intel a NAND flash memory chip that the companies developed using a 34-nanometer manufacturing process. The smaller circuitry means more memory on a chip. As a result, the companies can offer packages of as much as 64 GB of memory for MP3 players and other mobile devices. Micron and Intel have formed a joint venture for memory production called IM Flash Technologies.