STMicroelectronics Launches Page EEPROM 2-in-1 Memory to Boost Performance and Energy Efficiency of Smart Edge Devices

STMicroelectronics launches Page EEPROM two-in-one memory

Improving performance and energy efficiency of intelligent edge devices

New memory combines the read speed of serial flash with the byte-level write flexibility of EEPROM, delivering the best of both worlds

October 15, 2024, China - STMicroelectronics' Page EEPROM combines the energy efficiency and endurance of EEPROM storage technology with the storage capacity and read/write speed of Flash memory, providing a hybrid memory for application scenarios facing extreme size and power constraints.

Embedded systems need to support increasingly complex advanced functions and run data-intensive edge AI algorithms. ST's new memory can meet the growing demand for storage capacity in embedded applications. For example, in behind-the-ear hearing aids, Page EEPROM can reduce the bill of materials cost and make hearing aids thinner and more comfortable to wear.

In addition to wearable devices, Page EEPROM is also an ideal choice for applications such as medical devices, asset trackers, electric bicycles, and other industrial and consumer products. Philippe Ganivet, EEPROM Product Line Manager at STMicroelectronics, said: "Smart edge technology is developing rapidly and is profoundly changing the market's demand for embedded memory capacity, performance, and power consumption. Our new Page EEPROM is a very good ultra-low-power memory and an ideal partner for battery-powered remote IoT module microcontrollers."

“ST’s Page EEPROM is a truly best-of-both-worlds non-volatile memory solution that allows us to achieve our ambitious goals as we develop our next-generation flagship products, including GPS trackers, IoT devices , and everything else that requires high performance, high reliability, small size, and low power,” said Patrick Kusbel, owner of BitFlip Engineering, an early adopter of the new memory chips. “The M95P is 50 times faster than our previous memory at one-tenth the power consumption, quadruples the reliability, and offers 500,000 erase/write cycles, compared to 100,000 for our previous products. This is a game-changer.”

STMicroelectronics' Page EEPROM series has capacities of 8Mbit, 16Mbit and 32Mbit, which is much higher than the storage capacity of standard EEPROM products . Embedded intelligent page management allows byte-level write operations, which is suitable for data processing such as data logging. It also supports page/sector/block erase and page write operations up to 512 bytes, which can efficiently handle firmware wireless (OTA) update requirements. The new series of memory also allows cache loading operations and writes data to multiple pages at the same time to shorten the time to install software on the production line. The data read speed of 320 Mbit/s is about 16 times that of standard EEPROM, and the 500,000 times erase and write endurance is several times that of traditional serial flash memory.

The Page EEPROM also features a novel peak current control feature that minimizes power supply noise and extends the runtime of battery-powered devices. Write current is lower than many traditional EEPROMs, and there is a deep power-down mode and fast wake-up feature that reduces operating current to less than 1µA .

The new series of products have a data retention period of up to 100 years and are covered by STMicroelectronics' 10-year product life assurance plan, ensuring the long-term supply of this series of products.

The X-NUCLEO-PGEEZ1 expansion board and X-CUBE-EEPRMA1 software package are now available for users to learn how to interact with Page EEPROM and how to design and develop applications using this series of products. In the software package there is a demonstration application that shows how to test the hybrid architecture of this memory and quickly build a proof of concept.

The M95P08, M95P16 and M95P32 Page EEPROMs are in production now. The X-NUCLEO-PGEEZ1 is available now on STMicroelectronics’ eSTore website.