February 25, 2014

 

TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced that it has developed the world's fastest device controller for embedded NAND flash memory modules compliant with the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver.2.0 and UFS Unified Memory Extension (UME) Ver.1.0 standards defined by JEDEC Solid State Technology Association (JEDEC). An embedded NAND flash memory module integrating the controller achieves a random read performance about 10 times faster than modules compliant with the e·MMC™ [1] standard now widely used in low- to high-end mobile devices. The device controller secures a performance equivalent to that of Solid State Drives (SSDs) for personal computers in a package as small as a fingernail.

Toshiba presented the new device controller at the 2014 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, California, on February 12.

Recent advances in CPU processing power and DRAM capacity in smartphones and tablet PCs allow users to enjoy more powerful applications, including high resolution video players and feature-rich games. Such devices also require embedded NAND flash memory modules as their main non-volatile storage. Going forward, the higher performance of embedded NAND Flash compliant with the UFS standard will secure its widespread use in high-end mobile devices.

Current embedded NAND flash memory modules are increasingly unable to store all the data required to execute commands received from the host in the on-chip RAM of their device controllers, largely because of its increasing size; the device controllers have to execute multiple reads of the command data from NAND flash memory, which slows command execution. The result is growing demand for improved random read performance and a better user experience. However, it is difficult to secure anything more than incremental improvement in random read performance, because it takes 10s of microseconds to read data from NAND flash memory.

Toshiba has developed a new device controller for embedded NAND flash memory module to overcome these issues.

The new device controller stores data for executing a command received from the host in the host-side DRAM, reducing the number of read operations from NAND flash memory. This halves the time required to process a read command. The procedure by which the device controller writes data to the host-side DRAM and reads data from host-side DRAM is compliant with the UFS UME Ver.1.0 standard, published at the same time as UFS Ver.2.0.

Toshiba has also developed a hardware engine that executes read commands received from the host in parallel and integrated it into the new device controller. It achieves more than two times higher random read performance compared with conventional technology.

These two new Toshiba technologies have realized embedded NAND flash memory modules with a device controller that attains over 60 kIOPS[2] in random read performance of 4 KB access[3]. This performance level is about 10 times higher than that of modules compliant with e·MMC Version 5.0.

The new device controller also integrates new, Toshiba-designed, analog circuit technology that enables UFS's ultra-high-speed serial communication at 5.8Gbps per lane, which avoids any increase in power consumption.

Mobile devices with an embedded NAND flash memory module that uses the new device controller will offer higher random read performances that will improve response time in user interactions and shorter application start-up times, enhancing the overall user experience.

Sample shipping of embedded NAND flash memory modules with the new device controller are scheduled to start in the first half of CY2014.

[1] e·MMC™ is a trademark and a product category for a class of embedded memory products built to the JEDEC e·MMC™ Standard specification.
[2] Input / Output Per Second, number of commands to complete in 1 second.
[3] Conditions are followings; number of NAND flash memory chips is 8, size of access region is 8 GB, and host latency is 1 microsecond.

 

Information in this document, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the announcement but is subject to change without prior notice.

Toshiba Corporation- Semiconductor and Storage Products Company　Website＞http://www.semicon.toshiba.co.jp/eng/index.html?mm=cp0225&no=04

 

Visit Chip1Stop Chinese site
Visit Chip1Stop Korean site
Visit Chip1Stop English site
Visit Chip1Stop German site

Companies Website:
http://www.semicon.toshiba.co.jp/eng/index.html?mm=cp0225&no=04

Toshiba News Release

• Toshiba Starts Test-Sample Shipments of a Bare Die 1200V SiC MOSFET with Low On-Resistance and High Reliability, for Use in Automotive Traction Inverters

  2024/11/13Toshiba  Automotive

• Toshiba Starts Sample Shipments of Gate Driver IC for Three-Phase Brushless DC Motors in Diverse Automotive Applications

  2024/11/01Toshiba  Automotive

• Toshiba Releases Automotive Photorelay with Output Withstand Voltage of 900V, Housed in a Small Package

  2024/10/28Toshiba  Automotive

• Toshiba’s 1200V Additions to its Lineup of Third-Generation SiC Schottky Barrier Diodes Will Contribute to High Efficiency in Industrial Power Equipment

  2024/09/26Toshiba  Power Supply

• Toshiba Is Sampling an Automotive CXPI Responder Interface IC that Contributes to Shorter Software Development Times

  2024/09/05Toshiba  Automotive

Related News Release

• Quobly Forges Strategic Collaboration with STMicroelectronics to Accelerate its Quantum Processor Manufacturing for Large-Scale Quantum Computing Solutions

  2024/12/24  STMicroelectronics  Processor/Memory

• Winbond’s LPDDR4/4X: A Green Solution for the Automotive Industry

  2024/11/29  Winbond Electronics  Processor/Memory

• STMicroelectronics reveals Page EEPROM two-in-one memory to boost smart-edge performance and efficiency

  2024/10/08  STMicroelectronics  Processor/Memory

• Winbond has unveiled its latest 1Gb QspiNAND for Wearable and Low-Power IoT Devices.

  2024/08/08  Winbond Electronics  Processor/Memory

• STMicroelectronics powers up the intelligent edge with second-generation STM32 microprocessors, bringing performance boost and industrial resilience

  2024/03/18  STMicroelectronics  Processor/Memory