Claiming to be the industry’s first, this MRAM is expected to enable carmakers to roll out new features and accelerate over-the-air updates more efficiently
Automobile IC vendor NXP Semiconductors recently announced a collaboration with leading global semiconductor foundry TSMC. The partners will jointly develop the industry’s first automotive-embedded MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) in 16 nm FinFET technology as per the press release. As the transition to software-defined vehicles (SDVs) requires multiple generations of software upgrades on a single hardware platform, the collaborators believe that with MRAM, carmakers can more efficiently roll out new features, accelerate over-the-air (OTA) updates and remove production bottlenecks. The press release conveyed that the partnership combines NXP’s S32 automotive processors with next-gen non-volatile memory in 16 nm FinFET technology to provide the ideal hardware platform for this transition. Initial product samples are expected to become available in early 2025 as test vehicle samples are complete and in evaluation.
TSMC claims that its 16FinFET embedded MRAM technology exceeds the rigorous requirements of automotive applications with its one-million cycle endurance, support for solder reflow, and 20-year data retention at 150°C.
Executive VP & GM of Automotive Processing at NXP, Henri Ardevol commented, “NXP’s successful collaboration with TSMC spans decades and has consistently delivered high-quality embedded memory technology to the automotive market. MRAM is a breakthrough addition to NXP’s S32 automotive solution portfolio supporting next-generation vehicle architectures.”
“The innovators at NXP have always been quick to recognize the potential of TSMC’s new process technologies, especially for demanding automotive applications. We’re excited to see our leading MRAM technology employed in NXP’s S32 platform to enable the coming generation of software-defined vehicles,” said Dr Kevin Zhang, Senior VP of Business Development at TSMC.
Built on over 60 years of combined experience and expertise, NXP Semiconductors identifies as a world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, pushing boundaries in the automotive, industrial & IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets.
Founded in 1987, Taiwan-headquartered TSMC has been into the pure-play foundry business model and claims to be the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry ever since. TSMC identifies as the first foundry to provide automotive grade 16 nm FinFET MRAM production capabilities.
