SST Expands Strategic Partnership With Toshiba in New Technology Licensing Agreement
Expanded Agreement Enables Toshiba to Continue Utilizing SuperFlash Technology and Target a Broader Range of High-Volume Consumer Applications
Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (SST), a leader in flash memory technology, today announced the company has expanded its existing technology licensing agreement with Toshiba Corporation, a world leader in semiconductors, to include finer process geometries of SST's SuperFlash technology. The move solidifies SuperFlash as the technology of choice for high-volume applications and enables Toshiba to gain a significant competitive edge in a wider range of its consumer applications. Under terms of the agreement, Toshiba will license and embed SST's 0.35-micron SuperFlash technology into its 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers for use in such high-volume applications as portable digital audio devices, televisions and PDAs. In return, SST will receive licensing fees and royalties from Toshiba on sales of microcontrollers that integrate SuperFlash technology.
"Our continued relationship with SST enables us to deliver higher- performance flash memory-based microcontrollers to our customers cost effectively," said Tooru Masaoka, vice president of System LSI Division.of Toshiba's Semiconductor Company. "With our previous SuperFlash license, signed in September 2003, we plan to start mass production of the first microprocessor incorporating 0.5-micron SuperFlash for consumer applications in September. Now, with our move to finer process geometries of SuperFlash, we believe we will be able to offer much higher performance in our flash-based 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers, enabling us to serve a broader class of applications."
"The extension of our licensing agreement with Toshiba underscores the success of our high-performance SuperFlash technology within the consumer applications market," said Bing Yeh, president and CEO of SST. "The fact that one of the world's top semiconductor companies has chosen to proliferate our SuperFlash technology into its microcontrollers speaks volumes in terms of the capabilities our technology offers. We continue to be committed to supporting Toshiba's embedded flash memory needs and plan to work closely with them on the migration of our technology to ensure they receive the same level of quality and reliability they have come to expect from SST."
The previous technology licensing agreement between SST and Toshiba was signed in September 2003 and covered SST's 0.5-micron SuperFlash technology. By fiscal year 2005, Toshiba plans to extend the use of the 0.5-micron SuperFlash technology to more than 20 of its microcontrollers for such applications as audio and automotive equipment, and home appliances.
About SuperFlash Technology
SST's SuperFlash technology is a NOR type, split-gate cell architecture which uses a reliable thick-oxide process with fewer manufacturing steps resulting in a low-cost, nonvolatile memory solution with excellent data retention and higher reliability. The split-gate NOR SuperFlash architecture facilitates a simple and flexible design suitable for high performance, high reliability, small or medium sector size, in- or off-system programming and a variety of densities, all in a single CMOS-compatible technology.
Source: SST
