UMC Delivers High Endurance, Variable Voltage Range Embedded EEPROM Solution

1.8V-5V I/O voltage range and 1 million program erase cycles vastly improve device battery life and reliability

HSINCHU, Taiwan, August 30, 2011 -- United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC"), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that the company has achieved breakthroughs in its development of embedded electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (eEEPROM) solutions, delivering an I/O voltage range of 1.8V-5V and endurance at 1 million program erase cycles. The milestones follow several years of successful eEEPROM development at the foundry. Embedded EEPROM applications include banking cards, smart cards, ID cards, and microcontrollers.

UMC's eEEPROM I/O voltage range of 1.8V-5V achieves a breakthrough in battery life extension for mobile systems. Standard 2.5V/3.3V or 1.8V/3.3V inputs require dual devices and a regulator to reach beyond these fixed voltages. UMC's best-in-class eEEPROM solution offers a 1.8V-5V variable voltage range via a single device without the need for additional circuitry, which in conventional designs consumes extra chip real estate. This flexible and efficient SoC process facilitates longer battery life while occupying less space on the platform.

For endurance, UMC now offers 1 million program erase cycles compared to the standard 100K program erase cycles for alternative eEEPROM solutions. This high-performance technology enables UMC's customers to deliver devices with high reliability embedded memory that enable a much longer product life.

"Our success with eEEPROM, a challenging technology, underscores UMC's commitment to specialty technologies that offer customers a full range of innovative, high-performance, and compact solutions," said Anchor Chen, senior director of Special Technology Development at UMC. "UMC is delighted to make major strides in battery life extension and program erase cycles that enable customers to meet the diversified and demanding requirements of today's cutting-edge applications."

UMC's eEEPROM technologies are currently in mass production at 0.35um and 0.25um nodes and in pilot production at the 0.18um node. The 0.11um node is in development and is expected to be available early next year. Fundamental IPs, such as eEEPROM macros, standard cell library, and SRAM, are included in the offerings to enable customers to optimize their microsystem designs and accelerate design-in.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing services for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC's customer-driven foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the strength of the company’s leading-edge processes, which include production proven 65nm, 45/40nm, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. The company employs approximately 13,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.