Silicon Motion Rolling Out Merchant 6Gb SSD Controller Solution for TLC NAND

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation introduced SM2256, a complete merchant ASIC/firmware SATA 6Gb SSD controller solution supporting 1x/1y/1z nm TLC NAND from major NAND suppliers.

Leveraging company’s proprietary NANDXtend ECC technology, it provides data protection and enhances the endurance and retention of TLC NAND, delivering more than three times better durability for TLC SSD.

The SM2256 and Silicon Motion’s other products were showcased at Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, CA from August 5 to 7. 
 
The SM2256 incorporates proprietary NANDXtend technology. The ECC engine provides three levels of error correction and data protection.

First, errors are corrected by Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) hard decoding with low-power and high-efficiency circuits to minimize power consumption. 

Second, the LDPC soft-decoding digital signal processing algorithm provides an additional level of error correction by voltage threshold tracking. 

Finally, the on-chip RAID with page parity is used for recovery of uncorrectable data. 

In addition, the NANDXtend technology can maintain consistent data throughput and provides a better user experience, even as error bits increase throughout the product lifecycle of NAND flash. The SM2256 can triple the P/E cycles for TLC NAND to extend the SSD lifespan, enabling performance, reliability and cost effective SSD solutions.
 
“We are excited to be the only merchant controller supplier today to offer a SATA 6Gb SSD controller with complete ASIC and firmware for TLC NAND,” said Wallace Kou, president and CEO, Silicon Motion. “Our SM2256 supports the broadest range of NAND flash, including 1x/1y/1znm TLC NAND and the upcoming 3D NAND from all the major NAND suppliers, allowing SSD OEMs to deliver the most advanced, cost-effective and reliable SSDs in the market.”
 
“We expect TLC SSDs to account for more than 40% of all client SSD shipments in 2015,” said Michael Yang, senior principal analyst, IHS iSuppli. “The combination of cost effective TLC NAND and new controllers like Silicon Motion’s SM2256 will help drive this level of adoption.”
 
“NAND flash memory is transitioning to TLC technology in an effort to improve the affordability and increase adoption of solid state drives,” said Gregory Wong, president, Forward Insights. “Solutions such as Silicon Motion’s SM2256 controller enable systems manufacturers to leverage TLC technology in cost-effective SSD products without compromising performance, endurance or reliability.”
 
SM2256 provides hardware and firmware SSD controller solution
with capabilities and technologies including:

• Proprietary NANDXtend error-correcting and data protection technology to triples the P/E cycles for TLC SSD devices
• Supports the latest 1x/1y/1z nm MLC and TLC flash, enabling cost-optimized, high capacity client SSDs
• Extensible to support future 3D MLC/TLC NAND
• Supports ONFI 3.0, Toggle 2.0 and asynchronous NAND
• High performance (256GB SSD with Toshiba A19 TLC NAND)
  • Sequential read: 524MB/s
  • Sequential write: 400MB/s
  • 4K random read IO/s (QD32): 90,000
  •  4K random write IO/s (QD32): 70,000
• Suited for client SSDs targeting ultrabooks, laptops, tablets and HDD replacement
• AES 256, Trusted Computing Group and Opal full-drive encryption compliant
• Supports commercial (0°C to 70°C) and industrial grade (-40°C to 85°C) requirements

Silicon Motion is sampling its SM2256 SSD controller and expects to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of 2014.