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Phase-change memory (PCM) has been gestating for close to 40 years but Numonyx has come up with devices that can begin to take on NOR flash in embedded systems designs. By the end of the year, the company reckons it will have ready denser devices that will suit mobile-phone makers.

Numonyx has pushed the write endurance of 128Mbit phase-change memory (PCM) devices to the point where it is now ten times that of typical flash memories and has launched a family of parts to replace DRAM and flash in embedded systems. The company is now working on higher-capacity memories to go into future cellphone designs, agreeing to use the same interface as competitor Samsung.

Giuseppe Crisenza, vice president of strategic alliances for Numonyx, said the company has been optimising the technology on a 90nm process since it launched the first memories in late 2008. In that time, the write endurance increased from 100,000 to 1 million cycles.

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