4-Mbit Device Is First Commercially Available MRAM

The first commercially available Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) is a 4-Mbit device appropriate for applications such as networking, security, data storage, gaming, and printers. MRAM technology enables a fast, non-volatile memory with virtually unlimited endurance, offering the ease of use and performance of SRAM combined with the non-volatility of flash, according to its manufacturer, Freescale Semiconductor. As such, the MR2A16A is a reliable and economical replacement for battery-backed SRAM, the company says.

The 3.3-V device has a commercial temperature range and comes in a 400-mil, 44-lead plastic small-outline TSOP type-II RoHS-compliant package. It uses an industry-standard SRAM pinout. The MR2A16A is organized as 256 kwords by 16 bits. It features a 35-ns read and write cycle time. The asynchronous memory—equipped with chip enable, write enable, output enable, and separate upper and lower byte enable pins—allows for system design flexibility without bus contention. Other possible applications include cache buffer and configuration storage technologies, which can leverage the speed and non-volatility of MRAM to increase flexibility and boost performance.