Emerging high-performance applications demand increasingly fast read throughputs from NOR_Flash/ NAND Flash/ HyperRAM memory devices As new age lower-end microcontrollers (MCUs) continue to shrink in die size, their internal memory is very limited. They need a low pin count, high-performance memory subsystem. Similarly, there are consumer applications that are space-constrained and require instant-on, such as digital still cameras, DSLRs and home automation. So, OEMs are looking for simple, flexible, high performance and low-energy memory solutions with backward compatibility to meet their needs. The major NOR Flash memory device vendors responded with such devices by expanding from current Quad I/O to OctaFlash Memory (8 I/O) resulted in substantial increase in Serial NOR Flash throughput.
For example, the new-generation OctaFlash by Macronix is built on Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) and command set, providing extendable I/O capability(x8). The data transfer rate has been increased from 100MB/s of Quad I/O Serial NOR Flash to 400MB/s, claims Macronix.
This resulted in lower-density memory subsystem interfaces trending toward x4/x8 SPI (xSPI) interfaces and performance growing exponentially. Mobiveil’s approach on this emerging scenario results in adapting to JEDEC xSPI compliant NOR Flash/ NAND Flash controller supporting devices from various vendors. The IP can function as simple ‘SPI Flash Controller’ or, ‘Quad-SPI Flash Controller or Octa- SPI Flash Controller’ or ‘Dual QSPI Controller’, thus compatible with legacy devices also. The controller architecture is SoC friendly and supports multiple chip-selects.
