SAN JOSE, Calif. and HSINCHU,
Taiwan, July 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Cypress
Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: CY) and United Microelectronics
Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC"), a leading global
semiconductor foundry, today announced that they have produced
working silicon on a new, 65-nanometer SONOS (Silicon Oxide Nitride
Oxide Silicon) technology for embedded Flash memory. UMC will
manufacture next-generation PSoC® programmable system-on-chip
products for Cypress on the new process, along with nvSRAMs and
other products. UMC will also make this technology available to
other companies under a licensing agreement with Cypress.
The new S65™ process is a 65-nanometer SONOS embedded
nonvolatile memory (NVM) technology. It is now successfully
integrated into UMC's standard LL65 process. Existing or new
designs using the LL65 process can now easily add embedded Flash
memory with fast time-to-market, low development cost, and minimum
design disturbance to other IPs. The S65 offers major advantages
including high endurance, low power, and resistance to soft errors.
It only requires three additional mask layers to a standard CMOS
process, as compared to 7-12 additional masks for other embedded
FLASH technology approaches. It also offers intrinsically high
yields and low test costs. Using Cypress products as a reference,
the new process is expected to provide a 75 percent reduction in
array size and 50 percent power reduction compared to products
manufactured on the current 130-nanometer S8™ process.
"We're excited to team with a world leader in semiconductor
manufacturing to bring this outstanding technology to market," said
Shahin Sharifzadeh, executive vice president of worldwide
Manufacturing and Operation for Cypress. "Our product lines are
eager to introduce new, high-performance products on S65, and we
look forward to working with UMC to license the technology to their
large customer base around the world."
"As a customer driven foundry, UMC is continuously introducing
enhanced process offerings for its customers," said P W Yen, Sr.
Vice President from UMC. "Today, Embedded NVM is a key feature in
many IC designs. UMC has delivered a very valuable technology
solution to meet customer needs through the successful S65
integration and its full compatibility with the LL65 foundry
process. We look forward to ramping this process to production for
Cypress and other UMC customers."
The UMC S65™ process is scheduled for availability to foundry
customers in Q3, 2011.
About UMC
UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor
foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing
services for applications spanning every major sector of the IC
industry. UMC's customer-driven foundry solutions allow chip
designers to leverage the strength of the company's leading-edge
processes, which include production proven 65nm, 45/40nm, mixed
signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies.
Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities
that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i are both in volume
production for a variety of customer products. The company employs
over 13,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the
United States. UMC can be found on the web at
http://www.umc.com.
About Cypress
Cypress delivers high-performance, mixed-signal, programmable
solutions that provide customers with rapid time-to-market and
exceptional system value. Cypress offerings include the flagship
PSoC® programmable system-on-chip families and derivatives such as
PowerPSoC® solutions for high-voltage and LED lighting
applications, CapSense® touch sensing and TrueTouch™ solutions for
touchscreens. Cypress is the world leader in USB controllers,
including the high-performance West Bridge® solution that enhances
connectivity and performance in multimedia handsets. Cypress is
also a leader in high-performance memories and programmable timing
devices. Cypress serves numerous markets including consumer, mobile
handsets, computation, data communications, automotive, industrial
and military. Cypress trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market
under the ticker symbol CY. Visit Cypress online at
www.cypress.com.
Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward
looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws,
including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity,
technologies, business relationships and market conditions.
Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ
materially from these statements as a result of a variety of
factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market
and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and
technological and development risks.
Cypress, the Cypress logo, PSoC, PowerPSoC, CapSense and West
Bridge are registered trademarks and TrueTouch, S65 and S8 are
trademarks of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. All other trademarks are
property of their owners.
Contacts:
Don Parkman
Cypress Public Relations
+1-408-943-4885
dsp@cypress.com
Richard Yu
UMC Corporate Communications
+886-2-2658-9168 ext. 16951
richard_yu@umc.com
SOURCE United Microelectronics Corporation; Cypress
Semiconductor Corp.