Munich — (press release excerpt) — SanDisk Corp. introduced a software development kit (SDK) that supports the use of low cost NAND flash memory, including multi-level cell (MLC) NAND. The SDK is targeted to developers of consumer and industrial products including cell phones, handheld computers, digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players, industrial computers, and automotive and telecommunications… systems.

NAND flash offers superior write performance at lower power, higher capacities, and significantly lower cost than NOR flash. However, although NAND flash has compelling advantages over NOR, companies have been slow to adopt the technology primarily due to the lack of supporting software drivers. The Stingray SDK will provide for a more robust design by leaving the management of the NAND memory to a single software package that is easily ported to any microprocessor or operating system. It has already been ported to Motorola microcontrollers, ARM system-on-chip processors, Texas Instruments DSPs, and the WinCE and Linux operating systems.

Over the last few years, flash memory companies, driven by the need to increase capacity points and lower costs, have developed increasingly advanced and complex flash technologies. However, older software controller packages have not been able to adapt to these new flash technologies. For example, MLC NAND flash, which offers substantial improvements in storage density and cost as it stores multiple bits of information in a single memory cell, is not supported by older software controllers. With Stingray, all versions of NAND flash (including the most advanced MLC architectures) are fully supported. This broad support for NAND flash by a single software package provides significant flexibility in the choice of NAND memory architecture, including easy implementation of MLC NAND.

Stingray contains an infrastructure that thoroughly addresses all aspects of managing binary and MLC NAND flash memory, including endurance improvement, memory management, consistent performance, and power failure recovery. Stingray also includes an optional, optimized FAT file system for convenient transfer of files between embedded and removable flash products.

The Stingray SDK, a patent-pending technology, is available now and is offered for a license fee of $19,950 per (developed) product. It is a complete, turn-key solution for both embedded code and data storage applications and can be used with either binary or MLC NAND flash.

SanDisk currently offers NAND flash in capacities ranging from 128 megabit (Mbit) to 1 gigabit (Gbit). Two 1 Gbit dies also can be stacked in a single TSOP (Thin Small Outline Package). That would produce a 256 megabyte (MB) storage device.

 
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