February 2012

Everspin announced today that CogniMem's CogniBlox product line uses their 4MB MRAM chips. The CogniBlox is a reconfigurable and stackable pattern recognition module that enables a cognitive computing platform. The CogniBlox uses Everspin's MRAM to store and restore the content of the neurons. Each CogniBlox module features four CM1K neuron chips or a total of 4,096 silicon neurons.

Everspin says that MRAM is suitable for massively parallel pattern recognition tasks because it's the only memory technology that offers SRAM-like speeds, non-volatility and unlimited endurance. Having a non-volatile memory solution means that the knowledge learned is saved in the case of a power interruption - without the need for external batteries or other solutions.

Spin Transfer Technologies (STT) announced that they raised $36 million in series A funding led by parent company, Allied Minds and Invesco Asset Management. STT will use the money to accelerate the development of its patented orthogonal spin transfer magneto resistive random access memory technology (OST-MRAM) - by scaling operation, hiring new employees and purchasing equipment.

This is great news for STT. The last we heard from the company was in November 2010 when they announced the successful development of the STT-MRAM device that uses STT's proprietary orthogonal spin transfer technology with a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) for memory state read-out.

There are reports that Everspin is looking for venture capital cash - as it wants to hire more people needed to expand operation. The company expects to ship over 5 million MRAM chips in 2012 to over 300 customers.

Last month Everspin announced a 300% growth in product shipment in 2011 with 250 new design wins, including Dell and LSI.