Micron Technology, Inc., and AgigA Tech Collaborate to Develop Nonvolatile DIMM Technology

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SuperComputing 2012
— Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:MU), one of the world’s leading
providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, and AgigA Tech, Inc., a
subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq:CY) and a leading
provider of high-speed, high-density, battery-free nonvolatile memory
solutions, announced today that the two companies 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(R)), to create a complete NVDIMM solution. NVDIMM technology
provides performance, cost and data security advantages for a wide
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, vice president
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 industry-standard 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 easily 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 will be showcasing NVDIMM technology at SC12 at
the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, November
12–15. In Micron’s Booth 4618, there will be a live demonstration of
the latest NVDIMM products integrated on an Intel Sandy Bridge
platform.