Atmel Targets Low Power Designs With World's First 1.8V 8-Megabit Serial Flash

San Jose, California (ots/PRNewswire) -

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the
production availability of its new AT25DF081, the industry's first
8-megabit Serial Flash device capable of operating at 1.8-volts. With
a low-voltage operating range of 1.65V to 1.95V, the AT25DF081
operates at the same voltage range as many current and upcoming
sub-90nm ASICs and processors/controllers which allows system
designers to finally create applications that can utilize a single
supply voltage for all components in the system while also saving a
significant amount of cost. Unlike devices that are screened to
operate at lower voltages and subsequently de-rated, the AT25DF081
was designed specifically to operate at 1.8 volts, enabling the
device to retain the same high levels of performance as its 3-volt
counterpart.

Atmel developed the AT25DF081 based on direct, specific needs
from its customers who use the devices to store both program code and
data in battery-powered, portable consumer products such as personal
media players (PMPs) and smartphones. The AT25DF081 addresses the
key, main concerns when choosing to use Serial Flash for portable
designs. First and foremost, because the AT25DF081 is used as a boot
and code shadowing Flash memory, read performance from the Serial
Flash is critical in order to keep the applications' power-up boot
time as short as possible to appease the instant-on expectations of
consumers. The 66MHz operation of the AT25DF081 addresses this
concern and can enable an application to shadow the entire contents
of the memory in under a very short 130 milliseconds.

The 1.8-volt capability of the AT25DF081 solves the additional,
common issues that plague any portable design. By having a complete
system operate at a unified 1.8 volts, system designs can be fully
optimized to provide the lowest power consumption and longest battery
life possible. Precious board space, weight, and system cost can also
be significantly reduced by simplifying the embedded power-supply
circuitry and eliminating the need for an additional LDO (low dropout
regulator) and associated passive components that would otherwise be
necessary for a 3-volt Serial Flash memory. In addition, since the
AT25DF081 can operate at the same voltage as the ASIC or
processor/controller, there is no need for level shifters on control
and data lines, resulting in further savings.

"Ever since Atmel introduced the world's first Serial Flash in
1997, we have been a consistent leader in Serial Flash memories and
have continued to work diligently to align our product roadmaps with
our customers', ensuring that we define the right products to meet
their future design needs," stated Richard De Caro, Atmel's Director
of Strategic Marketing for its Memory Business Unit. "The AT25DF081
is a clear case in which we listened to our customers and developed a
product that allows them to design their applications to be smaller,
lighter, and last longer, all at a lower cost and without sacrificing
performance," continued De Caro.

Availability and Pricing

The AT25DF081 is available now for both samples and production
volumes. The AT25DF081 is offered in three different package options
comprising of an 8-lead, 150-mil wide "narrow-body" SOIC, an
8-contact, 5mm x 6mm x 0.6mm Ultra Thin DFN (UDFN), and an extremely
small, 0.4mm thin 11-ball dBGA (WLCSP). In 10,000 unit quantities,
prices start at US$0.66, US$0.70, and US$0.83 for the three
respective package options.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of
microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory
and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's
broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is
able to provide the electronics industry with complete system
solutions focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications,
computing and automotive markets.

(C) 2008 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), logo
and combinations thereof, and others, are registered trademarks, or
trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and
product names may be trademarks of others.

Information:

Atmel's AT25DF081 product information may be retrieved at,
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=4220
For further information on Atmel's Serial Flash offerings, visit
http://www.atmel.com/products/SFlash/default.asp

Press Contacts:
Richard De Caro, Director of Strategic Marketing -- Memory Business Unit
Tel: +1-916-933-1033, Email: richard.decaro@atmel.com
Helen Perlegos, Public Relations
Tel: +1-408-487-2963, Email: hperlegos@atmel.com

Web site: http://www.atmel.com

ots Originaltext: Atmel Corporation
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Richard De Caro, Director of Strategic Marketing, Memory Business
Unit, +1-916-933-1033, richard.decaro@atmel.com, or Helen Perlegos,
Public Relations, +1-408-487-2963, hperlegos@atmel.com, both of Atmel
Corporation