BPM announces that it has been awarded a Global Technology Award in the category of Programming for its Flashstream Flash Vector Programming System. The award was presented by Global SMT & Packaging Magazine’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Trevor Galbraith during a Tuesday, August 19, 2008 ceremony that took place during the SMTA International exhibition and conference in Orlando, FL.

Flashstream offers the fastest flash programming of NAND and NOR flash memory at speeds as low as 2.5 percent over theoretical programming minimum. This industry leading speed is due to the creation of a proprietary co-processor technology developed by BPM called Vector Engine. This technology uses a proprietary co-processor design to hardware accelerate flash memory waveforms during the programming cycle. Faster speeds are achieved through synchronous operations that eliminate the dead times when the DUT waits on the programmer. The result is programming near the theoretical limits of the silicon design - the faster the device, the faster the device is programmed.

Designed for high-density flash, the Flashstream programs NAND and NOR Flash up to 32 Gb (gigabit) and has upgradeable RAM for future densities. It comes standard with 4191 Mb (32.7 Gb) memory per site that is upgradeable to handle future densities and communicates with USB 2.0 between the host PC and programmer. The programmer also includes bad block replacement scheme for NAND and low voltage support. A four-socket manual system, Flashstream is BPM’s first dedicated hardware design for flash memories, which results in a radical improvement in speed when compared to competitive flash programmers.

As an additional benefit, multiple Flashstream units can be connected to one computer to run the same programming job in concurrent programming™ mode. Single units can be mechanically connected. Also, a LED display identifies the programmer number that corresponds to software instructions.

Featuring the capability to program with one, two, three or four socket cards, the Flashstream offers the only single socket card purchase for first article qualification. It is easy to remove and stores with little space. Additionally, it includes Active, Pass and Fail LED status indicators on each individual socket card, as well as the option of Auto-start on continuity check.

Flashstream will significantly help the production of embedded designs in electronic products by reducing ramp to volume production fears for products that integrate high-density flash memory such as wireless devices, navigation electronics and personal music systems. Now, it enables new applications, especially for very large patterns. Additionally, these systems can leave the factory with preloaded data or content instead of blank memory.

The Flashstream programmer has the capacity to support NAND and NOR flash memory devices as well as EPROMs. New device requests will be taken for Flashstream and distributed to all Flashstream customers under software contract.

The Flashstream’s significant speed reduces labor costs as well as the number of machines needed to perform the same function. The programmer is ready for both today’s and tomorrow’s most demanding flash devices.

The Global Technology Awards program is sponsored by Global SMT & Packaging Magazine, and is an annual celebration of product excellence in semiconductor packaging and electronics assembly. Premier products based on the finest examples of creative advancement in technology in key areas are chosen by a distinguished panel of global industry experts.

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