Sonos

Sonos is an American consumer electronics company founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane, Craig Shelburne, Tom Cullen, and Trung Mai. The company makes a variety of wireless audio products.

History

Sonos was founded in 2002.

As of December 2013, the company is estimated to have raised $118 million in venture funding, including a $25 million round in December 2013. Its investors include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Redpoint Ventures and Elevation Partners.

Products

The company offers a wide range of products, including the Sonos Wireless HiFi System creates a dedicated local Sonos network through wireless and/or ethernet connections which allows for the streaming of digital audio to any Sonos device on the network.

Multiple Sonos devices in a single household can connect to each other on a proprietary peer-to-peer synchronous mesh network using AES encryption. This network, known as SonosNet, allows audio to be played simultaneously in separate zones. A single ZonePlayer or ZoneBridge must be wired to a network for access to LAN and Internet audio sources when using this feature, or when creating a 3.1/5.1 surround setup. SonosNet 2.0 integrates MIMO on 802.11n hardware, providing a more robust connection. Sonos does not implement wake-on-wireless technology, instead requiring that every Sonos player or bridge constantly maintains a wireless connection, even when in standby mode or connected by cable. Sonos devices do not have power buttons. The company claims that each speaker consumes between 4 and 8 Watts in idle or standby mode.

Sonos (disambiguation)

Sonos may refer to:

See also

SONOS

SONOS, short for "Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon", is a type of non-volatile computer memory closely related to Flash RAM. It is one of Charge trap flash variants. It is distinguished from mainstream flash by the use of silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) instead of polysilicon for the charge storage material. A further variant is "SHINOS" ("Silicon Hi-k Nitride Oxide Silicon"). SONOS promises lower programming voltages and higher program/erase cycle endurance than polysilicon-based flash, and is an area of active research and development effort. Companies offering SONOS-based products include GlobalFoundries, Cypress Semiconductor, Macronix, Toshiba, and United Microelectronics Corporation.

Description

A SONOS memory cell is formed from a standard polysilicon N-channel MOSFET transistor with the addition of a small sliver of silicon nitride inserted inside the transistor's gate oxide. The sliver of nitride is non-conductive but contains a large number of charge trapping sites able to hold an electrostatic charge. The nitride layer is electrically isolated from the surrounding transistor, although charges stored on the nitride directly affect the conductivity of the underlying transistor channel. The oxide/nitride sandwich typically consists of a 2 nm thick oxide lower layer, a 5 nm thick silicon nitride middle layer, and a 5–10 nm oxide upper layer.