Phison Launches Proprietary AI Service Solutions Expanding NAND Storage in AI Applications

Phison Electronics Corp. expanded its IMAGIN+ service to include AI computational models and AI services solutions.

The company’s aiDAPTIV+ utilizes its innovative integration of SSDs into the AI computing framework and expands NAND storage solutions in the AI application market.

The company has been a global provider deeply engaged in NAND controller innovations for more than 23 years. In recent years, the firm has developed and integrated AI and ML technologies into NAND controllers and algorithms to enhance the computational performance and reliability of its NAND storage solutions.

Additionally, it has established a data science team, developed and deployed relevant AI technologies, and created a world-class validation laboratory. These efforts have accelerated the adoption of firm’s storage solutions in various applications, including PCs, mobile phones, automobiles, gaming platforms, enterprise data center and edge applications, supply chain logistics.

With the recent rise of large-scale generative AI models such as ChatGPT, the possibilities for AI to assist both businesses and individuals in the future are significant. The rapid growth of AI models has also led to an increase in the hardware infrastructure cost associated with providing AI services.

The primary reason for increased costs is that current AI models run primarily on GPUs and DRAM. However, the growth rate of future AI models will far exceed the capacity that GPUs and DRAM can provide. According to a recent research report by Microsoft, the growth rate of AI models will soon be 200x that of DRAM in GPU cards. In other words, the current hardware architecture for AI computing may already be insufficient to meet the future demands of AI applications.

To improve overall operational performance and efficiencies for AI hardware architecture, aiDAPTIV+ integrates SSDs into the AI computing framework. Based on the application timeline, aiDAPTIV+ structurally divides large-scale AI models and collaboratively runs the model parameters with SSD offload support. This approach maximizes the executable AI models within the limited GPU and DRAM resources, effectively reducing the hardware infrastructure cost required to provide AI services.

The initial application scenario for this technology is the 1st mass-produced AI-Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) system integrated with SSD cooperative computing. The company’s aiDAPTIV+ AOI services accelerate the transition of Surface Mount Technology (SMT) factories into Industry 4.0 and improve detection accuracy while eliminating delays and costs associated with instability caused by human inspection.

The firm’s aiDAPTIV+ AOI service is applicable to various SMT product lines, including SSDs, graphics cards, DRAM, motherboards. Approximately 10 SMT partners and customers have already  adopted the aiDAPTIV+ AOI service, improving the accuracy of their existing AOI systems and reducing the escape rate caused by human errors to below 10 defective parts per million (DPPM), significantly increasing throughput rates to more than 99%.

Initial users are enthusiastic about the results they are seeing upon deployment.

“Adlink and Phison have had many years of cooperation and synergy in the industrial storage application field, and recently, we have joined forces to expand into the AI application market,” said Ethan Chen, GM, edge computing platforms BU, Adlink Technology, Inc. “Phison has integrated AI mechanisms into the design of NAND controllers, enhancing product performance and reliability. Coupled with Adlink’s next-generation NVIDIA Jetson Orin platform, Adlink and Phison will be able to provide customers in the industrial and AI fields with more complete and reliable solutions. Currently, Adlink’s edge AI inference platforms, DLAP-211-Orin Nano and DLAP-211-Orin NX, have become the first certified edge computing devices for Phison’s self-developed aiDAPTIV+ AOI automatic optical inspection system, and we will continue to expand our collaboration in the future.”

“Phison’s aiDAPTIV+ architecture integrates SSD technology in an innovative approach. This new structure can significantly reduce the cost of hardware deployment in specific AI applications. The aiDAPTIV+ AOI platform launched by Phison is a concrete result of this new architecture,” said Benny Lan, deputy GM, Giga Computing, a subsidiary of Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. “Giga Computing is pleased to be the first partner with product certification for the aiDAPTIV+AOI platform, which has been successfully deployed in many customers’ SMT production lines using Gigabyte’s customized workstations and AMD GPUs, which were paired with aiDAPTIV+ computing architecture. This system improved the efficiency in detection of defects and greatly reduced possible human errors. Giga Computing and Phison will continue to expand cooperation in the field of AI applications.”

Dr. Wei Lin, head, AI R&D team, Phison, and assistant professor, College of AI, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, said: “Phison’s core expertise and competitive advantage is in the development of NAND controllers. Expanding the connection between NAND storage and AI applications has been Phison’s focus in recent years. Phison’s AI R&D team has successfully integrated SSDs into a newly developed AI computing framework, which not only effectively reduces hardware infrastructure costs for AI servers but also enables the application of this aiDAPTIV+ computing architecture in various AI application scenarios.“

The globally pioneering SSD-Boosted aiDAPTIV+ AOI optical inspection system announced demonstrates the company’s successful integration of SSDs and the creation of a new AI computing framework. Moving forward, the firm will continue to expand the development of aiDAPTIV+ technology and collaborate with partners from various fields to further foster the application of NAND storage in the AI domain. Through the aiDAPTIV+ AOI, it aims to assist SMT partners and customers in improving production efficiency and reducing costs.

It will invite global ecosystem partners and customers to visit their NAND controllers at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, CA, USA, which will take place from August 8-10. The showcased solutions will include the first PCIe 4.0 DRAM-Less client SSD controller PS5027-E27T that supports speeds of up to 3,600MT/s for 3D NAND, the first PCIe 5.0 DRAM-Less client SSD controller PS5031-E31T, as well as the live demo of the company‘s AI service solution, aiDAPTIVE+ AOI.