Silicon Motion Introducing Universal Flash Storage Controller Family Supporting 3D NAND

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation announced its UFS (Universal Flash Storage) 2.1 controller family, a product line supporting UFS HS-Gear3x1L and HS-Gear3x2L, enabling performance, capacity and low power embedded memory for mobile phones.

Designed with the company’s proprietary MIPI M-PHY, low-power architecture and advanced LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) ECC for 3D NAND support, the UFS 2.1 controller family delivers random R/W performance of up to 50,000/40,000 IO/s ^(*), capacity up to 512GB ^(**) and low power consumption for flagship and mainstream smartphones.

UFS is the latest generation embedded memory standard for mobile applications defined by JEDEC ^(***). The UFS standard features a serial link-based MIPI M-PHY interface and SCSI architecture model (SAM) which enables performance, energy-efficient and high-capacity embedded storage, which is critical for the multitasking and multimedia requirements of today’s smartphones. The UFS 2.1 controller family provides more than three times faster sequential and random R/W performance as compared to the eMMC 5.1 controllers.

“Our UFS 2.1 controller family extends our eMMC leadership in mobile devices to today’s flagship and premium models,” said Wallace Kou, president and CEO, Silicon Motion. “Our unique turnkey UFS solution will usher in a new generation of cost-effective and high-performance embedded memory solutions, just as more application processor platforms roll-out support and more handset OEMs adopt UFS in mainstream devices.“

“UFS is expected to be the dominant flash specification within the next five years, supplanting eMMC. The performance advantages of UFS over eMMC are most notable at high NAND densities, i.e. 128GB and 256GB,” said Walter Coon, director , NAND flash technology research, IHS Markit. “High-performance multimedia capabilities are a cornerstone for mobile devices today and the addition of 4K and AR/VR capabilities will require more robust and higher capacity UFS embedded memory solutions for the majority of smartphones ^(****) “.

Company’s UFS controller and firmware technologies enable best-in-class embedded storage solutions for the increasing performance requirements of today’s mobile devices.

All products support multiple form factors, including discrete UFS and multi-chip uMCP embedded memory, as well as UFS memory card, and are compatible with all of the major mobile application processor platforms in the market.

The proprietary low-power LDPC ECC engine and internally developed MIPI M-PHY enable performance UFS memory solutions with endurance and energy efficiency. Consistent with company’s widely-adopted eMMC controllers, the UFS controller family supports 3D MLC and TLC flash from a variety of NAND flash makers.

The UFS 2.1 family is sampling to select NAND OEM partners, and production ramp is expected later this year.

 UFS controller family controller specifications ^(*)

^(*) The performance result is based on various NAND types, tPROG, tR(read cycle), page size, test methodology, and other factors.
^(**) Based on 512Gb 3D NAND
^(***) JEDEC is an organization devoted to standards for the solid-state industry
^(****) Results based on IHS Markit, Technology Group, Mobile and Embedded Market Tracker Q4 2016.