fimicro designs Ramtron’s 4Mb F-RAM memory into its new PC/104-compliant single board computer and smart I/O modules

Ramtron International Corporation has announced that German-based embedded hardware and software provider fimicro has integrated nonvolatile F-RAM memory into its new active104 series of PC/104-compliant Single Board Computer (SBC) and smart I/O extension modules. fimicro has designed Ramtron’s FM22L16 4-megabit (Mb) parallel F-RAM device into its active104 SBC, RAID, Ethernet, and USB boards. F-RAM has replaced Flash, SRAM, and EEPROM memory technologies in the active104 systems where Ramtron’s F-RAM nonvolatility, No Delay™ writes, and virtually limitless endurance are ideal for guaranteeing data integrity.

“F-RAM is used as replacement of less reliable Flash memory on our active104 boards to store the BIOS, OS, additional system software and vital system data,” says Simone Fischer, Managing Partner of fimicro. “It also replaces SRAM and EEPROM on our smart I/O modules. The comprehensive use of F-RAM as a nonvolatile memory technology throughout fimicro’s hardware product portfolio increases the reliability and overall robustness of our systems.”

fimicro's SBC and smart I/O boards incorporate four 4Mb parallel F-RAM devices, forming a nonvolatile memory array of 2 megabytes (MB) that the system can directly boot from and restore its latest operating status within milliseconds after the reboot. F-RAM is an ideal replacement for Flash in this application because of its high endurance and fast writes.

“The fact that fimicro has selected the FM22L16 for its active104 SBC, RAID, Ethernet, and USB boards is testament to F-RAM’s growing acceptance among advanced embedded hardware providers,” says Duncan Bennett, Ramtron Strategic Marketing Manager. “F-RAM is an integral part of fimicro’s active104 systems because it ensures data reliability and prevents data loss in the event of a power failure.”

F-RAM also replaces SRAM in the interface logic of all active104 smart I/O modules. An additional 4Mb F-RAM device has been integrated onto each of fimicro’s RAID, Ethernet, and USB modules to enable fast read/write access and to guarantee data integrity. All data transferred between the SBC and the module is stored in the F-RAM at bus speed and is protected if the power fails.

Additionally, this stored data allows the module to resume at exactly the same point when power is restored. F-RAM is also used instead of EEPROM in the active104 system to store device configuration data when needed.

Fimicro
Ramtron International Corporation