Micron and AgigA Tech Collaborate on Nonvolatile DIMM Technology

Micron Technology, Inc. and AgigA Tech, Inc., a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. and provider of high-speed, high-density, battery-free nonvolatile memory solutions, have signed an agreement to collaborate to develop and offer nonvolatile DIMM (NVDIMM) products.

The partnership will leverage the strengths of the respective companies, with Micron’s expertise in memory IC, module development, and manufacturing, and AgigA Tech’s substantial IP and patent position in the area of hybrid nonvolatile RAM technology.

As part of the agreement, Micron will offer to their customers an NVDIMM module that will pair with AgigA Tech’s power modules, based on ultracapacitors (PowerGEM), to create a complete NVDIMM solution. NVDIMM technology provides performance, cost and data security advantages for a range of applications, including server RAIDs, storage tiering, data logging, de-duplication, system checkpointing and metadata processing.

"The increasing need for persistent, cost-effective nonvolatile memory solutions is a key focus for us," said Robert Feurle, VP DRAM marketing at Micron. "Our partnership with AgigA Tech is a major step in enhancing a strong portfolio for our customers."

"From our start in 2007, we have always believed that NVDIMM technology could be a game-changer for enterprise-class server and storage solutions," said Ron Sartore, president and CEO of AgigA Tech. "Establishing a strategic partnership with Micron allows us to drive that vision toward mass market enablement."

NVDIMM Technology NVDIMMs enable fast, persistent main memory for high-performance computing applications. By combining DRAM and NAND flash technology, NVDIMMs provide the low latency and nearly infinite endurance of DRAM, along with the nonvolatility of flash. During normal operation, the NVDIMM appears to the host system as a standard JEDEC DRAM memory module. In the event of an unexpected power loss, the critical data residing in the DRAM is saved to onboard NAND flash using a battery-free power source based on ultracapacitors.

When power is returned, the in-memory state of the DRAM at the time power was lost is restored from the flash. The recovery time from a catastrophic power-loss event is almost immediate since the restore operation takes a matter of seconds and recharging the ultracapacitors takes only minutes. NVDIMMs are designed to integrate into the DIMM slots of industry-standard server and storage platforms, providing persistent memory for use cases such as write caching and metadata storage.

Availability NVDIMM samples are expected in 1Q13.

SC12 Micron and AgigA Tech showcases NVDIMM technology at SC12 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, UT, November 12-15.