Colorado Springs, CO and San Jose, CA – May 3, 2011 – Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR), the leading supplier of nonvolatile ferroelectric memory products, today announced at the Embedded Systems Conference upgrades to the company’s family of Processor Companion products targeted at the high-volume, processor-based electronics system market. Ramtron’s new Processor Companion integrates a precise Real-Time Clock (RTC) with a temperature compensation crystal oscillator (TCXO), 256-kilobits (Kb) of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (F-RAM), and a suite of peripheral functions. The highly integrated Processor Companion with TCXO offers competitive advantages for leading-edge electronics manufacturers that seek to reduce part inventory, lower bill-of-material cost, reduce manufacturing steps and potential points of failure, as well as decrease board space. First in a series of Processor Companions with TCXO, Ramtron’s FM31T378 is ideal for use in meters, elapsed time monitors, time-of-use recording, and other intensive data-collection applications that require accurate time-stamping.
The Processor Companion with TCXO also features a processor supervisor that supports virtually any microcontroller- or microprocessor-based design. The supervisory function detects power supply faults and will initiate a reset to escape software lockup conditions. Ramtron’s Processor Companion with TCXO also features a wealth of integrated functions that include:
F-RAM nonvolatile memory – built on an advanced, high-reliability ferroelectric process, Ramtron’s F-RAM offers low power operation, NoDelay™ writes, and 100-trillion (1e14) high endurance reads/write cycles.
Temperature Compensated Real-Time Clock Operation – an embedded crystal and on-board temperature sensor internally calibrates the crystal temperature characteristics with accuracy to ±2.6min/yr (±5ppm) over the industrial temperature range (-40°C to +85°C). The precise time-keeping component is shielded from security breaches and environmental effects such as vibration, humidity, and spurious EMI/RFI.
Low-Voltage Reset – a programmable low-VDD reset, a programmable watchdog timer, a backup power source controller, and a manual reset function are standard on Ramtron’s Processor Companion devices.
Additional Peripherals – two battery-backed event counters with a tamper interrupt output, a 32.768 kHz clock output, a lockable 64-bit serial number, and a general-purpose comparator that can be used for an early power-fail (NMI) interrupt.
About the Processor Companion Family
The Processor Companion family integrates complementary but distinct functions that permit a common interface and replace the need for multiple parts on a system board. The complete FM31T37x Processor Companion family will include devices with 4Kb, 16Kb, 64Kb, and 256Kb of nonvolatile F-RAM memory. The 4Kb, 16Kb and 64Kb densities within the family are expected to be available during the first half of 2011. The FM31T37x family is offered in a standard 14-pin SOIC package. The Processor Companion with TCXO operates from 2.7- to 5.5-volts using an industry-standard I2C interface to access the memory and control all functions. The device offers a user programmable, lockable 64-bit serial number and has two battery-backed 16-bit event counters that can be used to log system intrusions (tamper events) or virtually any other general-purpose event. Working in conjunction with the event counter, the Tamper Interrupt suspends the system processor in the event of an intrusion attempt.
Pricing and Availability
Samples are available for the FM31T378 in a 14-pin SOIC package, with prices starting at $3.89 for 25K piece quantities.
About Ramtron
Ramtron International Corporation, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets specialized semiconductor memory and integrated semiconductor solutions used in a wide range of product applications and markets worldwide. For more information, visit www.ramtron.com. For a 300-dpi product photo of the Processor Companion with TCXO, visit www.ramtron.com/press-center/image-bank.aspx (see Processor Companion Product Photos). For a complete data sheet, visit www.ramtron.com/products/integrated/processor-companion-product.aspx?id=157.
