Automotive components are subject to high shock and vibration and need to operate at both very low and very high temperature conditions.

STEC flash products are made with state-of-the-art solid state components, and there are no moving parts inside because of the inherent benefits of flash memory technology. As such they can withstand extreme shock and vibration conditions and are therefore perfectly suited to the particular needs of the automotive industry. Since we design and qualify our sub-systems, we can offer products that are able to operate accurately under vibrations up to 16.3G and 1500G operating shocks as defined by the most stringent specification such as MIL-STD-810F. Furthermore, STEC also offers all of our products in the Industrial Temperature range. The quality of the product is guaranteed by a dynamic functional test performed in temperature chambers from -40°C and +85°C.

Maintenance of electronic devices mounted within a vehicle can often be very expensive. For this reason, these devices must be able to operate for many years without any failure.

Powering each STEC flash product is a proprietary microcontroller able to perform error detection and correction. This mitigates the risk of data corruption, as even a single bit error can be fatal when the flash product is used to store the code of the application. The same controller utilizes an extensive wear leveling algorithm to spread the write operation over the full memory array and extend the endurance of the drive. Consequently, the memory will survive the lifecycle of the vehicle without the need for maintenance or replacement.

Automotive data is strictly confidential information that should not be easily accessible. To protect sensitive information, STEC TotalDriveProtection offers varying levels of security to protect data from unauthorized users, encrypt content, or eventually, to sanitize the drive in the most efficient way.

Long-term product stability and complete traceability are fundamental requirements of the automotive industry. STEC implements rigorous Bill of Material (BOM) control to provide to the customer the degree of traceability, stability, and long-term availability they require, which in turn minimizes resource-consuming re-qualification efforts. Raw flash component technology changes every four quarters. Since we know how difficult it is for automotive customers to qualify new devices, we strictly apply Product Change Notification (PCN) procedures to inform well in advance of any changes and extend product availability with exceptionally long last-time-buy periods. For the most exigent customers, we also offer multi-year stocking services.

STEC is ISO9001 and ISO14001 certified. All of our procedures are dictated by our commitment to full customer satisfaction.

Due to the nature of the industry, automotive customers do not have the luxury of time when issues arise in the field. For such emergencies, STEC has a strong network of competent Field Application Engineers (FAE), situated around the world. They will facilitate rapid problem diagnosis and solutions, and will gladly assist in any phase of the product cycle, from its design until its obsolescence.