AMD isn't solely in the business of building PC processors, it also more than dabbles in the design and production of non-volatile flash memory and just let us know that it has started shipping a family of flash products based on the 0.17-micron process from its joint-venture fab in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan. AMD says the JV3 Fab was built, qualified and released to production months ahead of schedule. Groundbreaking happened in June 2000 and volume shipments commenced this quarter. The facility is owned by Fujitsu-AMD Semiconductor Limited (FASL), which (you may have gathered from the name) is a joint venture between AMD and Fujitsu.

One of the fruits of AMD's labors is the new Am29PDL128, an x32, high density, 128Mb NOR flash memory device, which provides 25 nanosecond page-mode read access and 70 nanosecond random asynchronous access. Built using the previously proclaimed 0.17-micron flash memory process, the device offers a selectable x16/x32 data bus and AMD's simultaneous read/write architecture. The Am29PDL128 is a 3.0 volt-only device and is available in AMD's new Fortified BallGrid Array package, which has 0.6mm diameter balls and 1.0mm pitch. It's available now and is priced at $25 in 10,000 piece quantities.