Special Report on Flash Memory Summit 2013

This special on report on the event Flash Memory Summit 2013 has been published by data storage industry’s market research and consulting firm Trendfocus, Inc.
 

3D NAND, Enterprise SSDs, and SSHD Take Center Stage

The annual Flash Memory Summit convened at the Santa Clara Convention Center on August 13-15 in Santa Clara, CA. There were more exhibitors and attendees this year with the unofficial attendee count at around 5,000. All of the major players were present in one form or another, and took the opportunity to showcase their latest products and technology. Some of the companies that were present:

Samsung
Samsung’s 3D NAND uses CTF (Charge Trap Flash) technology based on 24-stack cell structure on 128GB MLC NAND. It has 2x the density in the same lithography, 20% faster write speed, 40% improvement in power consumption, and 10x in endurance cycle. The 3D NAND is made on a 30-40nm process node and is sampling to OEMs in enterprise SSD form factor offering capacity of 480GB and 960GB. Production is expected to start in first half of 2014 in Xian fab.

SK Hynix
SK Hynix’s 3D NAND is based on the same 24-stacked cell structure and 128GB MLC NAND and 30-40nm process node, but SK Hynix’s 3D NAND uses a technology called CTD (Charge Trap Device). Mass production is also scheduled for the first half of 2014. On planar 2D NAND flash, SK Hynix has samples of its 16nm MLC at major OEMs and is expecting to start mass production in CQ4 ’13. SK Hynix’s SSDs are utilizing controllers from LAMD (Link_A_Media), which they acquired last year, and their SSDs are in the qualification process at major OEMs.

Micron
Micron displayed their recently announced 16nm MLC NAND flash in wafer form. Samples of the 16nm MLC NAND will be available later this month with mass production from its Singapore fab slated for CQ4. Micron’s 3D NAND will also be available in first half of 2014.

Toshiba
All of the HDD companies are involved into solid-state technology and Toshiba is no different. However, unlike the other HDD companies, Toshiba is vertically integrated with their own NAND supply, and has the broadest product portfolio in the market. Toshiba’s products include NAND, HDD, SSD, and SSHD.

Diablo Technology
The Canadian company based in Ontario, came out of the stealth mode this year. Diablo has been in an exclusive technology partnership with SMART Storage Systems ULLtraDIMM (SanDisk announced its intention to acquire SMART Storage last month). Diablo’s MCS (Memory Channel Storage) solution connects the flash directly to the CPU through the memory bus and works in conjunction with SMART Storage’s GuardianTechnology Platform. SMART Storage’s ULLtraDIMM has the industry’s lowest write latency (less than 5 microseconds) with read/write IOPS of 150K/60K and sustained read/write performance of 1GB/s and 750MB/s per DIMM slot. The ULLtraDIMM has the same physical dimension of a DRAM DIMM and is able to plug and play in any DIMM socket targeted toward servers and storage systems. Diablo claims their product (MCS ASIC + firmware) provides ultra-low latency at a lower $/GB versus a PCIe solution.

Huawei
The leading global ICT (Information and Communication Technology) solutions provider showed off their FH-HL (full-height half-length) PCIe product at the show. The company also designed the PCIe controller and the firmware for their product, which are available in 800GB, 1.2TB and 2.4TB with max read IO/s of 770K/ write IO/s of 630K.

Comments and Analysis:
Although this show centers on solid-state technology, rotating disk companies (HDD) were all present. The four HDD companies (HGST, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital) took the opportunity to debut introduce SPA, Storage Products Association, which intends to promote the merits and benefits of SSHD (solid-state hybrid drive), formerly referred to has hybrid HDD. SPA held a kickoff event on the eve of the show, and the member companies participated in a panel titled, Solid State Hybrid Drives Help Meet Today’s Storage Requirements on Tuesday. Seagate has been the engaged in this SSHD for several years now, but shipments have been modest at best. However, with the cooperation of the other HDD companies in SPA, Seagate hopes that SSHD market will take off.

This year’s Flash Memory Summit may be a sign of the times. With interest in flash technology, SSDs, PCIe, and everything in between on the rise, this show could be even bigger next year. With the struggling PC market, the focus shifted to the enterprise space. Digital content continues to multiply every year, and with the emergence of cloud computing, data centers, and hyperscale companies, enterprise SSDs (SAS, SATA, PCIe) are expected to play a bigger and more lucrative role for NAND and SSD companies. However, this market somewhat in a state of disarray right now, as the industry is inundated with dozens of companies making similar but niche products all vying for a finite market. But like most other technology-based industries, time and competition will weed out the weaker players leaving the industry with a smaller set of players and platforms. In the meantime, this show will be the centerpiece for the flash industry to congregate and show off their technology and wares.