February 3, 2011 -- As system-on-chip (SOC) developers continue to look for ways to reduce cost and time-to-market, it is important to consider the different non-volatile memory (NVM) options that add flexibility to their products. Over the last few years, the NVM market has been flooded with new solutions. Now, having designers weigh the benefits of reliability, options, and costs during project development is even more critical. With antifuse vendors targeting a wider range of functionality and products, noting the reliability concerns of reaching hard breakdown (HBD) compared to soft breakdown (SBD) is vital.

By Walter Novosel. (Novosel is the Engineering Director at Novocell Semiconductor, Inc.)