SanDisk begins shipping X4 tech memory cards

NEW YORK, USA: California-based flash memory card manufacturer SanDisk Corp has kicked off production shipments of memory cards based on the company's X4 flash memory technology. The company has said that shipping of 8 and 16-Gbyte SDHC cards and also 8 and 16-Gbyte memory sticks using the technology.

The X4 flash memory technology, which is being deployed in the 43-nm manufacturing process, incorporates four bits of data in each memory cell. This, in fact, is twice the number used in conventional multi-level cell NAND memory chips.

An industry source said that the X4 flash memory technology has in the meantime, prompted SanDisk to give shape to a 64-Gbit single-die memory device. This, the company believes, is the world's highest capacity memory in production, said the source.

The company has stated that the X4 flash memory technology had been under development for the past five years. The technology, which saw major contributions from the Tel Aviv University, was licensed exclusively to SanDisk. After the Tel Aviv University gave shape to the basic design, SanDisk took over and developed the advanced X4 controller. It then successfully matched it with its advanced 43-nm, 64-Gbit X4 memory to make the final product ready for implementation.

The design team dealt with high speed 2 and 3-bits-per-cell flash chip designs and collaborated with SanDisk’s design partners to perfect the technology, the company has said.