Kilopass XPM is first logic NVM IP available in TSMC 45nm and 40nm processes

March 27, 2010

By Bill Murray

According to the company, its XPM embedded one-time programmable (OTP) non-volatile memory (NVM) intellectual property (IP) is the first logic NVM IP to be available in TSMC’s 45nm and 40nm low power processes. TSMC sees application in consumer products such as wireless devices and set-top-boxes, and customers have already taped out designs. SCDsource delves below the press release to look at power and area impact.
 
Linh Hong, vice president of marketing at Kilopass said “XPM is the first to complete TSMC IP-9000 Level 4 qualification in these processes. Early adopter customers of Kilopass 40/45nm OTP have already successfully taped out.” She continued “Our logic-based NVM utilizes standard CMOS logic processes with no additional steps and integration costs – and it scales with process technology. In contrast to other NVM technologies, its die area and programming time shrink significantly with smaller geometries.”
 
The news comes close on the heels of the March 15 announcement that Samsung Foundry has adopted XPM for its processes, including its 32/28nm HKMG logic process technology.
 
What kind of power reduction can be achieved when moving from process to process?
 
Hong said “About 50 percent when migrating from 180nm to 40nm general purpose processes, and more when migrating to the 40nm low power process.”
 
Hong continued “XPM’s anti-fuse bit-cell utilizes only core NMOS devices in the memory array, so power scales with core voltage supply. The peripheral logic also scales with the voltage supply. In TSMC’s general purpose 180nm process (180G), the supply is 1.8V, while in the 40nm general purpose process (40G) it is 0.9V – a 50 percent reduction. The bit-cell current doesn’t vary much across the process technologies. The logic 0 current tends to be higher because of inherent leakage currents, while the logic 1 current consistently averages about 50μA.”
 
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