Etron: USB 3.0 Flash Drive Controller

Windows 8 introduced the Windows To Go (WTG)
feature, which enables people to enjoy their own applications and access their
personal data via any smart display that supports the Windows OS, as long as
they have a thumb-sized flash disk with them.

Etron Technology,
Inc. announced that its EV266W
Flash Driver Controller has received WTG certification from Microsoft. It
employs a dual-channel design and 72-bit ECC functionality.
It supports 8 channel enable pins per channel, with up to a total of 16 CE
pins, in a 64-QFN (9×9 mm) package or an 88-QFN (10x10mm) package. The flash
driver controller and platform enables system manufacturers of USB 3.0 flash
drives to develop a new generation of USB 3.0 device end products and
accelerate their technologies to market.

Microsoft’s WTG delivers the convenience of
smart living with plug in, boot and go capabilities.

This
allows users to:

• Travel light anywhere with their Windows
  OS, applications and personal data on a thumb-sized flash drive;

• Turn any display that supports the Windows
  OS into a dedicated PC;

• Achieve Windows usage without the need to
  sync programs and personal data across multiple devices;

• Stay productive despite computer hardware
  failure since people can connect to any PC of their choice;

• Prevent data loss and compute with privacy.

Since WTG requires frequent remote dataset
access, USB 3.0 flash drives that support WTG must achieve high levels of
system stability and reliability as well as good random R/W performance. This
exceeds these technical demands. It features the company’s self-developed,
proprietary, and high-speed USB flash drive 3.0 technology which is enhanced by
its software and firmware development capabilities and its circuit design
skills. It provides high-speed access technologies that shorten system ON/OFF
times, thus accelerating system performance.

WTG enables enterprise users to boot a full
version of Windows 8 from an external USB drive on multiple host PCs. Since USB
3.0 flash drive technology supports a theoretical data transfer speed of up to 5GB/s,
it is considered the best storage carrier for WTG. Leveraging this opportunity,
the flash driver controller and development platform enables system developers
to speed their USB 3.0 flash drive product development. Thus, it meets the need
of USB flash driver developers and consumers, allows users to access USB 3.0
capabilities, supports WTG and shall accelerate the popularity of the USB 3.0 flash drive market.