Contract electronics manufacturer GlobalFoundries has acquired Renesas’ proprietary and production proven conductive bridging random access memory (CBRAM) technology for home and industrial IoT and smart mobile devices.

The transaction strengthens GF’s memory portfolio and extends its roadmap of embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) by adding another reliable, customisable embedded memory option that is relatively easy to integrate into other technology nodes.

Specifically, this technology should help users further differentiate their SoC designs and advance a new generation of secure and intelligent devices.

“We’re committed to differentiating our technology portfolio to be the foundation of our customers’ energy efficient IoT applications today and for decades to come,” said Mike Hogan, chief business officer of GF. “With the acquisition of this innovative memory technology, GF is now playing an essential role in accelerating development of NVM which will enable our customers to design the next generation of intelligent and connected devices. CBRAM technology unleashes a new paradigm of performance and ultra-low energy use, enabling a wide range of applications, from wearable devices to smartphones, to extend the time between battery charges from hours to weeks to years in specific use cases.”

CBRAM’s low power consumption, high read-write speeds, reduced manufacturing costs and tolerance for harsh environments make it particularly suitable for consumer, medical and select industrial applications.

In 2020, GF entered into a licensing agreement with Dialog Semiconductor, which was acquired by Renesas in 2021, to offer its CBRAM technology as an embedded, NVM option. Today, CBRAM is being qualified on the company’s 22FDX platform, with plans to extend it to other platforms.

GF is one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers spanning the USA, Europe and Asia.