Seems like we're seeing STM in the news every other day. Whether you're fan of the company's products or not, it could be a good economic sign. The chips just keep on coming from STM and other silicon mavens. And, as we all have heard, silicon means devices based on that silicon are forthcoming, and the companies must expect us to have the cash to buy the resulting gadgets. (I'm no professional analyst, just trying to be optimistic here for a change.) STM has just introduced three new members of its ST19 family of multi-application smart card microcontroller units (MCUs). The first of the three is the ST19XR34 with 96K Bytes of user ROM; 34K Bytes of user EEPROM, and 4K Bytes of user RAM. The chip features a 1,088-bit modular arithmetic processor (MAP) for public-key cryptography and an ISO 14443-B-compliant RF interface for contactless operation. The other two products are the ST19XS08, with 64K Bytes of user ROM and 8K Bytes of user EEPROM, and the ST19XS04, with 48K Bytes of user ROM and 4K Bytes of user EEPROM. Both carry 1.5K Bytes of user RAM. These new ST19 devices are aimed at smart card applications and products. Security features and functions common to the three MCUs include security firewalls for memories, a DES accelerator and, in the case of the ST19XR34, a MAP, EEPROM flash programming with 100,000-to-500,000-erase-write-cycle endurance, clock management, and clock frequency and voltage sensors. The ST19XR34 is now in qualification the phase with volume shipments scheduled for early 2002. The ST19XS04 and the ST19XS08 will be shipping in volume in Q2 2002.