Serial EERAM

Microchip Technology's EERAM combines the reliability of an EEPROM with the performance of an SRAM. It is a nonvolatile SRAM with a shadow EEPROM backup. EERAM is a standalone SRAM memory with shadow EEPROM backup that helps retain the contents of the SRAM memory when system power is lost. The EERAM uses a small external capacitor to provide the energy needed to store the contents of the SRAM on to the EEPROM when system power is lost. Unlike NVSRAM, no external battery is needed. EERAM offers unlimited erase and write cycles to the memory and FRAM-like functionality at a fraction of the price.

EERAM offers unlimited writes to the SRAM array, allowing the user to constantly write to the device. Since power-loss events are typically random or unpredictable, EERAM offers applications that need to constantly update data as a safe and reliable solution to automatically store data during a power-loss event. It provides designers of data logging / black box or monitoring systems with a safe and accurate way to safely, reliably, and automatically store the last data bytes prior to the power-loss event. The capacitor connected to the V_CAP pin provides the necessary energy to safely copy the RAM’s contents to the secure EEPROM backup on power loss. Upon power-up, data is recalled automatically from the EEPROM to the SRAM.