AIoT fragmented applications and computing power create new opportunities, GigaDevice diversifies storage layout

AIoT fragmented applications and computing power bring new opportunities, revealing the logic behind GigaDevice's diversified storage layout

In the human brain, the hippocampus is responsible for important memory-related functions. Similarly, in electronic systems, the role of the "hippocampus" is played by memory. As an indispensable component of semiconductor components, memory is born with data and is the most widely used and market-leading basic integrated circuit product. Data shows that global memory revenue increased by US$13.5 billion in 2020, accounting for 44% of the growth in revenue of the entire semiconductor market in 2020.

Figure 1: Global semiconductor revenue growth structure distribution in 2020 (Foresight Industry Research Institute)

In recent years, technologies such as AI and IoT have driven the rapid development of consumer electronics and large-scale data centers, and the market demand for storage has become increasingly fierce. Especially in the field of IoT, the power consumption and size of products have always been the direction in which the industry is constantly seeking breakthroughs. For memory, key features such as low power consumption, small size, and high operating speed have gradually become necessary conditions for entering IoT applications.

AIoT's diverse new demands and edge computing power drive market growth and technological evolution of various memory types

In the era of the Internet of Everything, data flows continuously; at the same time, the improvement of computing power has promoted the change of computing structure - from the end-to-cloud in the past to the cloud-to-end now. In this process, not only the IoT devices are required to have network connection capabilities, but also some basic computing capabilities, that is, the computing power of the main chip, which also means that the algorithms on the end side are larger and more complex, and the memory capacity for storing algorithm codes also increases accordingly.

"NOR Flash has excellent characteristics such as random storage, strong reliability, fast reading speed, and executable code. It is expected to replace NAND Flash and DRAM in IoT devices. The processor/main chip can directly call and run system code from NOR Flash, which can meet the requirements of storage and running memory at the same time. This makes the market demand for NOR Flash increase year by year, and the annual growth rate is expected to exceed 10%." said Chen Hui, senior product marketing director of GigaDevice's storage business unit.

Obviously, the explosive growth of the Internet of Things and related AIoT products (TWS, wearables) has become the main driving force for the growth of NOR Flash memory demand. Relevant data show that the global NOR Flash market size in 2020 is around US$3.06 billion, and will further grow to US$3.72 billion by 2022.

According to Chen Hui, as the main product in the storage field, GigaDevice SPI NOR Flash already has 26 product lines, 16 product capacities, 7 temperature specifications, 4 voltage ranges and 25 packaging methods. Data shows that since launching China's first SPI NOR Flash in 2008, GigaDevice has become the world's third and China's first SPI NOR Flash supplier, and the cumulative shipments of Flash products have exceeded 16 billion!

Figure 2: GigaDevice launches comprehensive NOR Flash products and solutions

Behind the dazzling achievements is GigaDevice's determination to constantly seek breakthroughs. Chen Hui said: "GigaDevice's strategy has always been closely linked to market dynamics, relying on product definitions and features to launch products with different performances to meet the diverse needs of customers, gradually covering industrial, consumer, and even automotive fields." At present, GigaDevice's 55nm advanced process technology SPI NOR Flash has entered the full-line mass production stage, with higher performance, richer capacity, and lower power consumption than the previous generation of products. For the automotive market, automotive-grade 3.0v and 1.8v SPI NOR Flash products have also been launched, with capacities ranging from 2Mb to 2Gb to meet the needs of different in-vehicle applications.

In addition to NOR Flash, SLC NAND Flash and DRAM are also the storage product directions that GigaDevice focuses on, and continues to increase investment. In October 2020, GigaDevice officially launched the GD5F4GM5 series, a 4Gb SPI NAND Flash product with a nationally produced 24nm process node. This series has achieved pure localization and independence in all links from design and development, production and manufacturing to packaging and testing, and has been successfully mass-produced. In addition, in terms of DRAM memory chip layout, in June 2021, GigaDevice announced the mass production of its first self-branded 4Gb DDR4 product, the GDQ2BFAA series. This product has achieved national localization from design, tape-out, to packaging and testing, and verification, marking that GigaDevice has successfully expanded its business tentacles to the mainstream DRAM storage market.

Figure 3: GigaDevice's 4Gb SPI NAND Flash product - GD5F4GM5 series

Chasing size, power consumption, safety, and performance? Superb product definition is an art

The booming Internet of Things has injected a shot in the arm for the NOR Flash market, but the diversity and complexity of IoT application scenarios have also brought new challenges to NOR Flash. For example, although small package size and fewer signal leads are the main advantages of SPI NOR Flash, it is imperative to further reduce the product package size under the requirement of increasingly miniaturized IoT devices; most IoT applications may even take more than 10 years in some cases due to geographical location or cost reasons, so power consumption is also one of the most important indicators of IoT terminals or modules. In addition, aspects such as capacity and security are also challenging topics that manufacturers have to face.

Wearable devices, which have become increasingly popular in recent years, need to collect user data and information to provide intelligent suggestions, such as location information and heart rate information, and transmit external data to users, such as music, video and calls, etc. These processes cannot be separated from the support of NOR Flash. In the case of "every inch of land is valuable" internal space, its electronic components need to meet the requirements of small size and low power consumption.

For example, as TWS headphones enter the 2.0 era, with the emergence of multiple functions including OTA upgrades, bone conduction, voice recognition, noise reduction, touch, etc., in order to store more firmware and code programs, it is often necessary to expand an external 32Mbit or even larger SPI NOR Flash, while also requiring small size and low power consumption.

As a response, GigaDevice announced earlier this year that it would introduce WLCSP packaging into its own storage devices. Compared with other packages, GigaDevice's storage devices with the same capacity can be as small as less than 1mm in length and width, and as thin as 0.25mm, which is about 1/10 of the USON8 (3mm x 2mm) package volume. For TWS headset products, GigaDevice can also stack Flash and the main chip according to customer needs, without having to open a separate space for Flash, which greatly helps reduce the area of ​​the entire system PCB.

Figure 4: WLCSP package comparison with other packages

Figure 5: WLCSP package vs. USON8 package, the volume is about one-tenth of the latter

In addition, GigaDevice has also launched the industry's lowest read power consumption LE series SPI NOR Flash, with an operating voltage of 1.65~2.0V and a product capacity of 2Mb~512Mb, which can meet different application requirements. In terms of power consumption, the sleep current of the LE series is as low as 0.1uA, and the read power consumption of the four-channel 133Hz is as low as 5mA, which is about 40% lower than the industry average.

Figure 6: GigaDevice provides a wide range of capacity options for the same package size

Security is another major consideration in memory design and application. In IoT applications, Flash is more vulnerable to attack than SoC because it stores many critical system codes, so improving security is particularly important. "To improve system security, we cannot just start with Flash security specifications or encryption technology. We need to consider Flash and main chips, such as MCU and SoC, as a whole. Although the higher the security level, the better, we consider that the security function of Flash should be matched with the terminal product positioning and the main chip positioning, so that we can make a balanced product that meets market demand." Chen Hui said, "Of course, GigaDevice Flash is combining its own MCU products or working closely with more SoC manufacturers to improve the security performance of IoT devices and systems."

Storage, computing and sensing are integrated, and the synergy effect of GigaDevice's product ecosystem is beginning to emerge

In fact, the potential of the NOR Flash market has been fully activated, driven not only by the Internet of Things, but also by the demands of automotive electronics, 5G, smart phones, and TDDI integrating touch functions into driver ICs. "At present, GigaDevice has reached cooperation with the world's top communication equipment manufacturers, and its larger capacity 512Mb-2Gb products for the automotive market have also passed the AEC-Q100 certification." Chen Hui said that with the increase in user demand, the update of system functions, and the increase in code complexity, GigaDevice's Flash products will continue to evolve in the direction of large capacity, high performance, high reliability, low power consumption, and small packaging in the future.