At the 3GSM World Congress last month, Micron Technology introduced a new line-up of image sensors that create a powerful imaging platform for next-generation camera phones. Micron's new camera phone sensors were developed using a tiny 1.75-micron pixel design and range in resolution from 5, 3 and 1.3 megapixels. As the imaging market share leader for handsets, Micron is focused on developing leading-edge sensor innovations and improving the camera phone experience, encouraging new uses and opportunities for the technology.
Just as voice and text-messaging are the mainstream communication methods for today's handsets, sharing photographs and video via handsets is fast gaining in popularity as the industry produces more advanced devices and mobile service providers offer more sophisticated services.
This evolution in mobile communication is driven in part by social factors, but also by advancements in imaging technology.
Micron's technology proficiency in CMOS imaging is enabling consumers to capture high-quality images and high-definition video -- all from a camera phone.
"Digital imaging is gaining momentum as one of the mainstream applications for handsets because consumers want to visually communicate their life stories and camera phones are helping them do it," said Bob Gove, vice president of Micron's imaging group. "Micron's experience in CMOS imaging is enabling the possibility of having great video and still-picture capabilities combined in a handset. Our image sensors are designed into one-inthree camera phones today, and we're pleased to expand that imaging repertoire as we work to uncover new and fruitful opportunities for CMOS imaging."
The new sensors join Micron's previously announced 8-megapixel image sensor, also developed on the 1.75-micron pixel. Micron leads the industry in shrinking pixels, creating a smaller sensor form factor for today's razor-thin phone designs, all the while maintaining picture quality.
Micron is working to make a larger footprint in the world of digital photography. With its focus on bringing new experiences to digital still and video cameras, its CMOS market share leadership in camera phones and its recent acquisition of Lexar, Micron is at the forefront of innovation for today's digital photography enthusiasts. General customer sampling for the 5-and 3-megapixel sensors is planned for the second quarter 2007 and the 1.3- megapixel sensor is expected to sample in late first quarter 2007.
Mass production is expected summer 2007. Micron Technology is one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through its worldwide operations, Micron manufactures and markets DRAMs, NAND flash memory, CMOS image sensors, other semiconductor components, and memory modules for use in leading-edge computing, consumer, networking, and mobile products.
And somewhere to put it
The company also introduced a 1Gigabit (Gb) Mobile DRAM for popular high-end, feature rich mobile phones with multimedia and computing features. The company will bundle the new 1 Gb Mobile DRAM with 1, 2 and 4 Gb density NAND flash memory, creating a powerful memory combination. The bundled Mobile DRAM and NAND package, commonly referred to as a multichip package (MCP), consumes less real estate in mobile phones, providing extra space to design in more features or create a sleeker, slimmer product.
"As the mobile phone market continues to offer more content such as music, pictures and video, there is a critical need for more compact memory storage solutions," said Brian Shirley, vice president of Micron's memory group. "Micron continues to innovate and execute by introducing new memory designs, evident today with our new 1 Gigabit Mobile DRAM chip. And by combining our new chip with various NAND densities, it distinguishes us from the competition and provides our customers with a compact memory solution for high-density data storage applications."
Designed on the 78-nanometer process technology, Micron's new 1 Gb chip joins a family of Mobile DRAM products ranging from 64 Megabit (Mb) to 512 Mb.
Micron's Mobile DRAM products feature the company's exclusive Endur-IC technology, which leverages advanced stacked processes and a combination of other unique design methodologies to deliver low power, high quality, high reliability and overall greater performance to wireless, handheld products.
As the intersection of computing, mobile and camera capabilities continue to drive the development of exciting new portable products, Micron provides customers with a complete solution for their design requirements, including Mobile DRAM, CellularRAM memory, NAND Flash, and DigitalClarity CMOS image sensors.
Micron began sampling the 1 Gb Mobile DRAM to strategic customers in February, with mass production expected in the third quarter. Additionally, Micron will begin sampling the 1 Gb Mobile DRAM and 1 Gb NAND MCP in the second quarter 2007 and will begin sampling the 2 and 4 Gb NAND MCPs in summer 2007.
