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Crossbar and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) announced a strategic partnership on March 11, 2016, to develop and produce embedded resistive RAM (ReRAM) blocks using SMIC’s 40nm CMOS process. The memory was intended for customers integrating nonvolatile storage into microcontrollers (MCUs) and systems-on-chip (SoCs)—not as a retail memory product. A January 2017 trade report said the technology was in production at SMIC and being sampled to customers, but neither that report nor the original announcement proves the specific offer remains active today.
What Crossbar licensed to SMIC
The agreement gave SMIC access to Crossbar’s ReRAM intellectual property for embedded memory blocks compatible with SMIC’s 40nm CMOS manufacturing process. Those blocks could be incorporated into a customer’s MCU or SoC design and manufactured through the foundry. The companies described the arrangement as covering both development and production of nonvolatile RRAM.
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This was therefore a business-to-business semiconductor-IP relationship: Crossbar supplied technology, SMIC supplied process and manufacturing access, and chip designers could use the resulting memory in custom integrated circuits. It was not an announcement of a finished Crossbar-branded chip or a consumer memory module.
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Crossbar CEO and co-founder George Minassian called the collaboration “a major stepping stone towards the commercialization of our RRAM technology.” He also said designers needed nonvolatile memory that could be integrated easily and manufactured with standard CMOS logic processes. Those are statements of Crossbar’s rationale, not independent performance measurements. SMIC and Crossbar’s March 11, 2016 announcement described the blocks as offering “low latency, very high performance and low power,” but supplied no comparative benchmark.
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What ReRAM means in this context
ReRAM, also written RRAM, is resistive random-access memory. It stores data by changing the electrical resistance of a memory cell, and it is nonvolatile, so data remains when power is removed. In this deal, “ReRAM” refers to embedded memory IP placed alongside logic on a custom chip.
The 40nm figure identifies SMIC’s CMOS process for implementing the memory blocks. It is not a retail part number, a statement that every chip using the technology had the same capacity, or evidence that a finished product entered every market named in the release.
Why embedded nonvolatile memory matters
- Integration: An MCU or SoC designer can include memory in the same IC rather than adding a separate storage component.
- Nonvolatility: Firmware, configuration data or other retained information can survive power loss.
- Process compatibility: A foundry-qualified memory block can reduce the need for a separate manufacturing flow, subject to the customer’s design and qualification work.
Choosing ReRAM still requires evaluating density, access latency, power, endurance, cost, design rules and manufacturing maturity against alternatives such as embedded flash or other nonvolatile technologies. The cited sources do not provide a balanced dataset for those comparisons.
Which products and markets were targeted?
The 2016 release named several intended application areas:
- Internet of Things devices
- Wearable and tablet computers
- Consumer electronics
- Industrial electronics
- Automotive electronics
These were target markets for customer designs, not a list of confirmed deployments. The announcement does not identify a shipping product, customer name, memory capacity, qualification result or sales volume in any of those categories.
On March 22, 2016, Crossbar announced a Shanghai office and said the SMIC relationship would support embedded applications on SMIC’s 40nm process and beyond. That was Crossbar’s market-entry plan at the time, rather than evidence that a broader process portfolio had already been qualified. Crossbar’s China market announcement provides that contemporaneous context.
Was Crossbar ReRAM produced at SMIC?
There is a dated indication that it progressed beyond a proposal. On January 12, 2017, eeNews Europe reported—attributing the information to Crossbar vice president Sylvain Dubois—that embedded ReRAM was in production at SMIC on 40nm CMOS and that samples were being supplied to SMIC customers. This is a trade report of an executive’s statement, not an independent production audit, and it does not establish current production or the status of the exact 2016 commercial offer. Read the January 2017 report.
Crossbar’s present website invites companies to license ReRAM IP for integration into their own IC designs and says the technology is in production starting at 40nm. That is current company marketing language; it does not specify whether the original SMIC agreement, its terms or the same 40nm offering remain available. Prospective customers would need to confirm process support, commercial terms and qualification status directly through Crossbar. Crossbar’s current ReRAM licensing site is the company’s inquiry point.
Timeline of the partnership
| Date | Event | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| March 11, 2016 | SMIC and Crossbar announce a strategic partnership for development and production of embedded RRAM on SMIC’s 40nm CMOS process. | The original scope and intended customer integration path. |
| March 22, 2016 | Crossbar announces a Shanghai office and describes applications on SMIC 40nm and beyond. | Crossbar’s China market-entry plans at that time. |
| January 12, 2017 | eeNews Europe reports, citing Crossbar’s Sylvain Dubois, that 40nm ReRAM is in production and sampling to SMIC customers. | A dated, attributed follow-up—not an independent audit or current-status confirmation. |
| May 2018 | Crossbar announces a separate ReRAM-core-IP licensing relationship with Microsemi. | Evidence of another later licensee, but no update to SMIC’s status. |
| September 2026 | Crossbar’s website continues to advertise ReRAM IP licensing and production starting at 40nm. | Current company positioning, without confirmation that the 2016 SMIC arrangement is still active. |
The original announcement is also covered by EE Times. The separate Microsemi announcement is available from Design-Reuse China.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the deal means for chip designers
A designer considering this kind of arrangement would normally verify the following before committing a product:
- Whether the required SMIC process node and design rules are currently supported.
- Available memory density, macro configurations and integration constraints.
- Access performance, standby and active power, endurance and data-retention specifications.
- Foundry qualification, reliability data, automotive or industrial-grade options and production capacity.
- License fees, royalty structure, support obligations and permitted product markets.
- Whether the memory is suitable for the planned MCU or SoC volume, lifecycle and security requirements.
None of those commercial or engineering details is established by the 2016 announcement. The practical significance of the partnership is that it created a route for customers to obtain process-compatible embedded nonvolatile memory IP through a major Chinese foundry, while the exact capabilities and availability had to be confirmed in a customer-specific engagement.
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