CHANDLER, Ariz., Jan. 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Automotive applications are increasingly depending on microcontrollers (MCUs) with embedded flash memory to ensure the high performance and reliability required for safety-critical and infotainment applications. To extend the availability of these solutions, Microchip Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHP) subsidiary Silicon Storage Technology (SST) today announced that its high-speed embedded SuperFlash^® technology is qualified to Automotive Electronics Council’s AEC-Q100 Grade 1 on United Microelectronics Corporation’s  (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) 55 nm platform. 

SST’s embedded SuperFlash technology offers low power, high reliability, superior data retention and endurance across broad markets. For example, in automotive applications, SuperFlash technology provides IC designers with a cost-effective, embedded flash solution that meets high speed and dependability requirements. As electronic content in vehicles continues to rise, the technology’s fast access time, power efficiency and fast erase speeds are crucial for automotive applications.

“As part of the AEC-Q100 Grade 1 qualification on UMC’s 55 nm platform, SST’s SuperFlash technology completed a very high bar in endurance testing, including 700,000 program/erase cycles and 20 years of data retention,” said Mark Reiten, vice president of SST, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microchip. “The partnership with UMC will enable automotive customers who require low-power, high-endurance embedded flash to keep their production costs down by using the 55 nm platform.”

“Since qualifying SST's SuperFlash technology on UMC’s 55 nm in 2015, we have engaged with multiple customers for a variety of end market applications,” said Steven Liu, vice president of Corporate Marketing Division at UMC. “With this latest milestone to successfully achieve automotive-grade qualification, UMC customers can confidently utilize SST 55 nm SuperFlash technology for their automotive IC designs manufactured in UMC’s fabs, which have all been IATF-16949 certified to meet stringent automotive quality production standards.”

Contact SST for more information on SST’s extensive custom library of off-the-shelf IP blocks optimized for automotive/secure/smartcard System-on-Chips (SoCs).

For more information on SST's patented and proprietary SuperFlash NOR flash technology, visit www.sst.com/technology/SuperFlash-Overview.

About Silicon Storage Technology (SST)
Microchip Technology’s SST subsidiary is a leading provider of embedded flash technology. SST develops, designs, licenses and markets a diversified range of proprietary and patented SuperFlash memory technology solutions for the consumer, industrial, automotive and Internet of Things (IoT) markets. SST was founded in 1989, went public in 1995, and was acquired by Microchip in April 2010. SST is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Microchip, and is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. For more information, visit the SST Web site at www.sst.com.

About Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology Inc. is a leading provider of microcontroller, analog, FPGA, connectivity and power management semiconductors. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio enable customers to create optimal designs which reduce risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company’s solutions serve more than 130,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.

Note:  The SST name, the SST logo and SuperFlash are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Inc. and Silicon Storage Technology, Inc., as applicable, in the USA and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.