For the Trade Press: Infineon`s Innovative "Chip-Sandwich" Potentially Increases Memory Capacity More Than a Hundredfold by Just Doubling Chip Area, Enabling New Applications for Mobile Phones and Smart Cards

Nov 2, 2004 | Market News

Munich, Germany / Paris, France - November 2, 2004 - Using an innovative “chip-sandwich” technique that involves face-to-face interconnection, Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX), the world's number one supplier of integrated circuits (ICs) for chip cards, is able to design chip card ICs for use in mobile communications that offer more than 100 times the memory capacity of today’s chip cards, while just doubling chip area. The new chip card ICs will not only deliver significant performance boosts, the company says, but they will enable new applications for mobile phones and smart cards.

Infineon presented the world’s first chip card security controller which uses this innovative face-to-face technology, offers 1 megabyte (MB) of memory capacity, and is manufactured in a 130 nanometer process technology, at the “Cartes & IT Security 2004” show in Paris today.

The new SLE88CFX1M00P, which belongs to the company’s 88 family of 32-bit chip card controllers, provides eight times the memory capacity of today’s chip card controllers with 128K bytes of memory. It combines the 88 family’s state-of-the-art integral security concept, its integrated intelligent power limitation system for very low power consumption and powerful peripherals, and the capability to swiftly adapt the performance to application requirements. The controller also allows multi-tasking and multi-application operations of finance, identification and access control applications.

It is expected that the first application of the 1 MB security controller will be in SIM cards (GSM, UMTS), where the demand for higher memory capacities is the greatest, with network providers supplying further multimedia services and high data rate transfer services. Using the innovative face-to-face interconnection technique and the company’s existing technologies like EEPROM or TWINFlash, Infineon can build an ISO-compliant chip card microcontroller offering up to 20 MB of memory, based on demand, which is expected to be available in the second half of 2006. The 20 MB security controllers offer more than 100 times the memory capacity of today’s chip card ICs on just double the chip area.

“Existing robustness constraints of ISO specifications limit chip card ICs’ area to a maximum of 25 square millimetres, with restrictions in functionality enhancements and price-competitiveness, as expensive process shrink technologies have to be deployed,” said Dr. Juergen Kuttruff, Vice President and General Manager at Infineon’s Security unit of the Secure Mobile Solutions business group. “Our new SLE88CFX1M00P underlines Infineon’s world-leading position with respect to chip card IC technologies - we are the first to use a 130 nanometre process and innovative chip interconnections providing cost-effective chip card ICs with sizeable extension of memory, while complying with ISO requirements on mechanical stress.”

New 1 Megabyte Chip Card Controller, the SLE88CFX1M00P

Manufactured in a 0.13 micron CMOS process technology, the new security microcontroller, the SLE88CFX1M00P, uses the face-to-face technology to combine a 32-bit security microcontroller with 400K bytes of EEPROM, 240K bytes of ROM, 16K bytes of RAM, and a memory chip with 512 Kbytes of EEPROM, thus providing 1 MB of memory capacity. Due to the short vias connecting both chips, EEPROM access times are identical for both chips.

The EEPROM is built with very fast erase and write cycles (1.3 ms and 1 ms respectively) and is flexibly configurable in code and data sections with 4K bytes granularity, enabling project-specific or customer-specific memory usage and storage of the operating system program code and data, as well as application code and data.

As all members of the 88 family, the SLE88CFX1M00P features enhanced security characteristics. The on-chip Memory Management and Protection Unit (MMU) serves as a hardware firewall to enable secure separation of adjacent application programmes, codes and data, as well as other system elements. The MMU enables the secure downloading of applications in the field. Furthermore, the 88 family offers hardware-supported virtual language acceleration, like JavaCard™, to improve the execution speed of applets. To ensure highest security the targeted certification by Infineon is Common Criteria level EAL5+.

The new chip card IC includes an intelligent power management module that covers the voltage classes A (5 V), B (3 V) and C (1.8 V) of the third generation specification for mobile communication TS102 221. It complies with power consumption levels defined by ISO, complies with ISO/IEC7816 and ETSI standards and fits in any ISO standard chip card package.

Face-to-Face Technology Enlarges Flexibility and Memory Capacity

Infineon’s face-to-face technology is an advanced stacking method of two or more chips that allows the design of high-density, space-saving chip systems for chip card applications. Face-to-face chips can be visualized as a sandwich in which the two buttered open-faced sides, meaning the chips’ functional areas, are laid one on top of each other. Without extra-wirebonding, the chips - for example a security microcontroller and a memory chip - are mechanically and electrically interconnected via hundreds of tiny contact pads on top of the chips, resulting in higher performance and memory capacity on the same chip area, while at the same time fitting into a standard chip card specific package.

The benefits of the face-to-face technology are manifold: Depending on hardware customization or application needs, this flexible approach allows stacking of chips with diverse interfaces, such as USB (Universal Serial Bus), SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus or ISO14443 interfaces, as well as ASICs and Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) solutions and chips manufactured using different processes and technologies, such as EEPROM, Flash, NROM (Nitrided Read Only Memory), etc.

Availability of SLE88CFX1M00P

Samples of the SLE88CFX1M00P will be available in spring 2005 with volume production starting in the second half of 2005. For the design-in support, a complete set of development tools including a Software Development Kit (SDK) and an Emulator is available.

For further information on Infineon’s product portfolio of chip card ICs, please see: www.infineon.com/security_and_chipcard_ics

Infineon demonstrates a prototype of its new chip card controller using face-to-face technology at the “Cartes & IT Security 2004” (November 2 - 4, 2004, Paris, France, Exhibition Center, Paris Nord Villepinte) in hall 4 at booth 4J2.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2003 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 6.15 billion with about 32,300 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.

Information Number

INFSMS200411.011

Press Photos

  • The face-to-face technology places two integrated circuits with their functional sides one on top of the other. Without extra-wirebonding, the chips are mechanically and electrically interconnected.
    The face-to-face technology places two integrated circuits with their functional sides one on top of the other. Without extra-wirebonding, the chips are mechanically and electrically interconnected.
    Press Photo (german version)

    JPG | 188 kb | 1535 x 1063 px

    Press Photo (german version)

    JPG | 7 kb | 160 x 111 px

  • The face-to-face technology places two integrated circuits with their functional sides one on top of the other. Without extra-wirebonding, the chips are mechanically and electrically interconnected.
    The face-to-face technology places two integrated circuits with their functional sides one on top of the other. Without extra-wirebonding, the chips are mechanically and electrically interconnected.
    Press Photo (english version)

    JPG | 179 kb | 1535 x 1063 px

    Press Photo (english version)

    JPG | 7 kb | 160 x 111 px