Applications
Case Study; ReRAM in Hearing Aids
ReRAM opens up a new era of hearing aids：
Reliability proven by more than 25 million units shipped
Compared to conventional EEPROMs, our ReRAMs offer 2 to 6 times the density despite the similar chip size. Our ReRAMs are used around the world in hearing aids, where chip size is strictly limited and high functionality is required at the same time.
Table of Contents
Hearing aids that require high-performance memory in a small volume
Hearing aids, which were generally equipped with EEPROMs, had strict chip size limitations in order to fit into the small volume of a hearing aid, and as hearing aids became more sophisticated, they required even larger memory density than EEPROMs.
Our ReRAMs meet these requirements and have been adopted by several hearing aid manufacturers, including two of the world's top market share leaders, who have already shipped 22 million units. There are few options other than ReRAM for memory that is equivalent to EEPROM in chip size and performance.
NOR FLASH memory is another option, but it consumes more power and requires more complex software to access the memory because data is written in sectors.
In this respect, our ReRAM is compatible with the EEPROM specification, so it can be simply replaced with ReRAM, minimizing the design burden on the customer when replacing it, making ReRAM the preferred choice for hearing aid memory.
Positioning of Our ReRAM Compared to Other Memories
Our ReRAM lineup includes 8Mbit and 12Mbit products in mass production, covering a capacity range that exceeds the 4Mbit memory density limit of EEPROMs.
Detailed specifications for 8Mbit and 12Mbit ReRAM are as follows.
Highly Accurate Voice Correction and Improved Battery Life
The change from EEPROM to ReRAM non-volatile memory allows the use of twice to four times the memory range of the previous system, resulting in more accurate correction of the hearing aid's voice. The new ReRAM also has a lower read current than the EEPROM, resulting in improved battery life.