Macronix Launches Full Support of New JEDEC Standard JESD216 SFDP for Serial Flash Memory

HSINCHU, Taiwan, September 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Macronix International Co., Ltd. (TSE: 2337), the worldwide leader in Serial NOR Flash memory, continues its 'leadership and innovation in the Non-Volatile Memory market by announcing its full support of the new JEDEC Serial NOR Flash standard' JESD216 across its entire Macronix Serial Flash family.

JESD216 Serial Flash Discoverable Parameter (SFDP), announced by JEDEC in September, enables Serial Flash to self-describe its pertinent device parameters and capabilities using a standardized communication protocol and internal parameter table format. With SFDP embedded in the flash device, the Macronix Serial Flash family further facilitates interoperability between the host system software and Serial Flash devices.

Serial Flash products are evolving with diverse feature sets, expanding from single I/O throughput to multiple I/O data throughput capability. Macronix has been striving to unify and standardize the Serial Flash specification. Macronix actively participated in the creation of the SFDP standard, which was approved by the JEDEC Board of Directors.

With respect to the SFDP, Mr. Rick Culver, the chairperson of the JEDEC SFDP Task Group, also commented, "This SFDP standard provides a consistent method of describing the functional and feature capabilities of Serial Flash devices in a standard set of internal parameter tables. These parameter tables can be interrogated by host system software to enable adjustments needed to accommodate divergent features from multiple vendors. SFDP provides more flexibility in vendor selection, reduces engineering resources for firmware upgrades and effectively shortens the time to bring product to the market. The value of SFDP mirrors that of Common Flash Interface (CFI) for Parallel Flash. The software engineers have been asking for a standard like this since the increased adoption of Serial Flash."

The SFDP standard allows Serial Flash vendors to embed a description of important device characteristics within the device in standard set of parameter tables. The host system can then read the parameter tables to understand the functional characteristics and capabilities of the device. Serial Flash with SFDP embedded will substantially facilitate its use and implementation; and then reduce the system manufacturers' production and research costs. Macronix has already embedded SFDP in its Serial Flash family products and gradually activates this feature from now on.

About Macronix International Co., Ltd.

Macronix, a leading integrated device manufacturer in the Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) market, provides a full range of NOR Flash and ROM solutions. With its world-class R&D and manufacturing capability, Macronix continues to deliver high-quality, innovative and performance driven products to its customers in the consumer, communication, computing, automotive, and networking markets.  

Visit http://www.macronix.com for more information.

Media Contacts:

Headquarters
Michelle Chang
Department Manager
Corporate Communication Office
Macronix International Co., LTD.
TEL: +886-3-578-6688 ext. 71233
FAX: +886-3-666-3169
Email: michellechang@mxic.com.tw

Americas
Salman Rashid
Senior Marketing Director
Macronix America, Inc.
TEL: +1-408-941-6264
FAX: +1-408-262-8810
Email: salmanrashid@macronix.com

Europe
Jeff Doong
Product Marketing Director
Macronix Europe, N.V.
TEL: +32-2-456-8023
FAX: +32-2-456-8021
Email: jeffdoong@mxic.com.tw

Japan
Nobufumi Fujii
Marketing Senior Manager
Macronix Asia Limited
TEL: +81-44-246-9100
FAX: +81-44-246-9105
Email: fujii@mxic.co.jp