First of all, it is necessary to explain what is meant by Unified and Universal memory. In traditional memory types like Static RAM or Flash, the program must be separated according to its usage as either run time or data storage (program) memory. Furthermore, there are usually set ratios of the amount of RAM to Flash that can be on a device. Most commonly this is about 16 bytes of Flash for every byte of RAM. This creates unique challenges if a designer finds out that their requirements changed during the development process; for example, an increased RAM requirement may arise. With a traditional MCU this means the designer has to pay a higher price for a device with more memory and also go through the process of changing to a different part. In addition, many applications require a small amount of non-volatile memory like EEPROM for storing critical parameters or data in the event of a device failure or reset. Frequently, this increases both cost and complexity because it introduces a new chip into the design. One of the greatest things about FRAM is that it can function as all three of these memory types simply by setting some registers in the initialization software. Not only does this reduce system complexity and speed up design, but it gives the designer a very flexible memory platform to work on. This ease of use will also lead to applications that take advantage of large ratios of RAM as well. Imagine, the same chip could be used to operate as a data logger with very little run time memory one day, and then switch modes the next day through a software update to do more intensive processing with the majority of the device acting as “RAM.”