Denali Memory Report:
The Denali Memory Report is produced by Cadence Design Systems, Inc. It delivers memory market news, discussions of market trends, products and product strategies of the memory vendors, plus information about alliances and industry consortia.
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Recent Posts
- Some great analysis on SSD wear leveling and power consumption
- The Economist covers PCM – must be something real
- Add OCZ to the growing list of SSD vendors differentiating their drives with a proprietary controller
- IDT announces DDR4 register chip for DDR4 registered DIMMs and 3D die stacks
- Western Digital sampling 5mm, 2.5-inch, 500Gbyte hybrid HDD with NAND Flash
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Category Archives: NAND
Some great analysis on SSD wear leveling and power consumption
Some great analysis by Cullen Logan at Amazon.com appeared on LinkedIn over the weekend in response to my post “Are Enterprise SSDs a “bad” idea? Four tips and counter-tips for your consideration”: “To put some raw data out there, consider … Continue reading
Posted in NAND, SSD
Tagged ECC, Flash memory, Flash memory controller, Multi-level cell, Solid-state drive, Wear leveling
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Future Memory: The MemCon Panel. What comes after NAND Flash and DRAM?
Just announced, there’s a pre-lunch panel at MemCon covering future memories. There are several new memory technologies that would usurp the thrones from DRAM and NAND Flash memory. Will any succeed? Come and hear the panel to find out. Jim … Continue reading
Posted in DRAM, Flash, MRAM, NAND
Tagged DRAM, Flash memory, NAND Flash, Santa Clara Convention Center
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Want to know why SK hynix is placing its bets on three different alternatives to DRAM and Flash?
Last week at the Flash Memory Summit, Dr. Sung Wook Park spoke about memory. No surprise there, but there were several surprises in Park’s presentation. The first surprise popped up in the slide immediately following the keynote presentation’s title slide: … Continue reading
Add Hitachi Data Systems to the growing list of companies developing their own SSD controllers
According to this Computerworld article, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) announced last week that it is developing its own SSD controller for MLC NAND Flash to be used in its SSD arrays. The objective is a 4x improvement in read/write throughput, … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, MLC, NAND, SSD, Storage
Tagged Computerworld, Flash memory, Flash memory controller, HDS, Hitachi, Hitachi Data Systems, Solid-state drive
3 Comments
Tweaktown review of 1.6Tbyte SMART Storage Optimus SSD reveals a few secrets. Wanna see them?
Tweaktown.com attended last week’s Flash Memory Summit and has published some great photos of the internals of the 2.5-inch SMART Storage 1.6Tbyte Optimus SSD. The drive has dual SAS ports with accompanying specs of 1Gbps sequential read and 500MGbps sequential … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, MLC, NAND, SAS, SSD, Storage
Tagged Flash, Flash memory, Flash memory controller, Multi-level cell, NAND Flash, Skyera, SMART Storage, Solid-state drive, SSD
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Want to know Rado Danilak’s and Skyera’s plan for total enterprise-class SSD world domination?
This week, I reported on a new high-end, high-performance 44Tbyte SSD for data centers and server farms from Skyera. (See “44Tbyte Skyera Skyhawk SSD employs Everspin MRAM as write cache” and “How Skyera developed the 44Tbyte, enterprise-class Skyhawk SSD from … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, HDD, MLC, NAND, SSD, Storage
Tagged Flash memory, Flash memory controller, Multi-level cell, NAND Flash, SandForce, Skyera, Solid-state drive, SSD
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44Tbyte Skyera Skyhawk SSD employs Everspin MRAM as write cache
NAND Flash memory would be perfect for nonvolatile storage because except that Flash write speeds are slow enough to create a window of time when write transactions could be lost during a power failure. This problem is especially acute for … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, MRAM, NAND, SSD, Storage
Tagged Flash, Flash memory, Flash Memory Summit, MRAM, NAND Flash, Skyera, Skyhawk
3 Comments
Friday Video: A personal invitation to Memcon from Sanjay Srivastava
Want to know why you need to be at Memcon this year? Here’s Denali Software founder Sanjay Srivastava to tell you why: Now go and sign up! It’s a free ticket and includes breakfast, lunch, and some goodies—not to mention … Continue reading
Flash memory endurance, multi-level cells, and process technology
I’ve been following an interesting discussion about Flash memory endurance, multi-level cells, and process technology in the LinkedIn Solid State Storage Group. Yesterday, The Memory Guy Jim Handy stepped in with this comment: “Flash endurance is the result of disruptions … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND
Tagged Error detection and correction, Flash, Flash memory, LinkedIn, MLC, Multi-level cell
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Plextor blog walks you through the design process for the PX-M5S SSD: better, faster, cheaper
Plextor has just published an extremely interesting blog post that walks you through some of the high-level design decisions behind the company’s new PX-M5S SSD. According to the design goals, the prioritized objectives are: 1) speed 2) reliability 3) price … Continue reading
Posted in NAND, ONFI, SSD, Toggle
Tagged Flash memory, Hynix, Plextor, SandForce, Solid-state drive, SSD, Toshiba
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Flash Memory Summit: Great Program on Non-Volatile memory.
The Flash Memory Summit rolls into Silicon Valley – August 21-23. Here’s a summary of topics covered in the program: Flash Memory-Based Architectures Next-Generation Flash and SSD Controllers Solid-State Drive (SSD) Technology Enterprise SSDs Testing/Performance/Endurance NVMe LDPC Coding Enterprise Storage … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, mSATA, NAND, NOR, NVM Express, NVMe, SSD, Storage, Toggle
Tagged Flash, Flash memory, Solid-state drive, SSD
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Who do you want to see at Memcon?
As the emcee for the Memcon event on September 18, I’ve been given the opportunity to personally invite a few, select exhibitors to the show and to cut them a very sweet deal. To do that, I’d like to know … Continue reading
StorageSearch.com names top 25 SSD companies. Guess who?
StorageSearch.com has been following SSDs for a long, long time so they’ve got as much right to name their top picks as anyone. Here’s the 2Q 2012 version with a few you might not have heard about, yet: Fusion-io Violin … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SSD
2 Comments
Korg introduces SSD-based music workstation, the Korg Kronos X, with 62Gbyte drive and option for a second SSD
File this under places you might not expect to find SSDs: Korg USA has announced the Kronos X Music Workstation, a music keyboard and workstation with a 62Gbyte SSD for storing sound samples in sound libraries. That’s a lot of … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SSD
Tagged Flash memory, Flash memory controller, Korg, Music, Solid-state drive, Workstation
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MOSAID and NOVACHIPS announce plans for an HLNAND-based SSD controller chip. Release set for 2013.
A couple of weeks ago, MOSAID and NOVACHIPS announced plans to jointly develop an SSD controller based on the MOSAID high-speed HLNAND interface specification. If you’re not familiar with the MOSAID HLNAND high-speed serial interface, join the club. Most NAND … Continue reading
Posted in 3D, Flash, Hybrid Memory Cube, NAND
Tagged Flash memory, Flash memory controller, HyperLink, MOSAID, NAND Flash, NOVACHIPS, PCI Express, Solid-state drive, SSD
1 Comment
SSD prices: More affordable? Steady, substantial decline? In free fall? Just what is going on here?
Senior Writer Vincent Chang over at CNET writes that “SSDs are more affordable than ever” and has the charted data to prove it. Clayton Vallabhan at ITPnet.com goes even further, writing “SSD prices in freefall.” For an even more extensive … Continue reading
SK Hynix places bet on third wannabe non-volatile memory technology, phase-change memory, with IBM
When I was really young, I used to play a card game called “Pit” where you tried to corner the market on a particular commodity like oranges, sugar, soybeans, or corn. The game was based on the trading pits of … Continue reading
Posted in Hynix, Memristor, MRAM, NAND, PCM
Tagged Flash memory, Hynix, IBM, memristor, Micron, MRAM, Non-volatile memory, Phase-change memory, Samsung, SK Hynix, Toshiba
2 Comments
Flash Memory Summit 2012, Santa Clara, CA. Registration now open
Every year, the Flash Memory Summit rolls into Silicon Valley to discuss the latest in Flash memory, SSDs, and possibly up-and-coming alternative non-volatile memory technologies. This year, the event takes place on August 21-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center … Continue reading
Corsair does the Neutron dance with new line of fast SSDs based on Toggle NAND Flash
PC hardware maker Corsair has introduced a new line of 2.5-inch, 7mm SSDs called the Neutron GTX series. I find it very interesting that the first fact put forth in the Corsair press release for this new series is about … Continue reading
Will SSDs be the first big market for 3D NAND Flash memories?
I’ve been meaning to write about a comment regarding NAND Flash memory and SSDs written by Thomas McCormick in LinkedIn’s Solid State Storage Group and this seems like the perfect time. McCormick is an Integrated Hardware/Software Product Development Leader at … Continue reading
Posted in 3D, DDR, DRAM, Flash, Memristor, MRAM, NAND, SSD, Storage
Tagged DRAM, Flash, Flash memory, memristor, MRAM, NAND Flash, Solid-state drive, SSD
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Tiny RunCore single-chip SSDs cram 8 to 64Gbytes onto small SATA cards that fit anywhere
RunCore has announced a line of small single-chip SSDs in a format that the company calls “Mini DOM” (miniature disk on module). The high-speed SATA SSDs are available with capacities from 8 to 64Gbytes in three form factors: a 7-pin … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SATA, SSD, Storage
Tagged Flash memory, Mini DOM, NAND Flash, RunCore, SATA, Solid-state drive
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Lexar translates USB 3.0 specs into significant benefits that consumers care about with the new S73 JumpDrive
Sometimes, we insiders get pretty esoteric in the way we describe technological improvements. Take SuperSpeed USB 3.0 for example. Most consumers know it’s faster than USB 2.0—after all, 3.0 is bigger than 2.0 so it must be better—but perhaps they … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, ONFI, USB
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BIWIN America introduces 12x20mm e-MMC SSDs with on-chip controller, power-on boot, explicit sleep mode
BIWIN America has just announced a “single-chip” SSD device employing the e-MMC interface. The device is available in capacities from 2 to 64Gbytes, all packed into a 169-ball BGA package measuring 12x20x1mm. An integral SSD controller provides built-in BCH error … Continue reading
Posted in eMMC, Flash, NAND, SSD
Tagged e-MMC, Flash memory, Multi-level cell, NAND Flash, Solid-state drive, SSD, Wear leveling
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Low-cost Intel 330 series SSDs sport SandForce SF-2281 SSD Controller
According to this extremely informative article on the Anandtech.com site, Intel’s just-released 330 series SSDs push Intel into the low-cost SSD zone using the SandForce SF-2281 SSD controller. Apparently, Intel’s 520 SSD series also employs this controller, but the use … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SSD, Storage
Tagged AnandTech, Flash memory, Flash memory controller, Intel, Multi-level cell, NAND Flash, SandForce, Solid-state drive
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A detailed look at the IP components of an SSD controller chip by Dr. Eric Esteve
IPNEST blogger and analyst Dr. Eric Esteve has just published a detailed look at many of the IP components needed to design a high-performance SSD controller chip including a NAND Flash controller and high-speed PHY interface for NAND Flash devices. … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, NVMe, ONFI
Tagged Eric Esteve, Flash memory, Flash memory controller, NAND Flash, ONFI, PHY, Solid-state drive, SSD
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Intel jumps on the PCIe SSD bandwagon with the fast, new 910 Series
Intel has just announced an SSD family based on the PCIe expansion-card form factor and interface. The SSD family is called the 910 Series and it’s based on Intel High Endurance Technology and MLC (multi-level cell) 25nm NAND flash memory … Continue reading
4th International Memory Workshop in Milan tackles all things non-volatile with respect to semiconductor memory. May 20-23
You will need to travel to Milan, Italy to attend the 4-day intensive event devoted to non-volatile memory, which seems to be the exclusive topic for the 4th International Memory Workshop Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits covers latest STT-MRAM … Continue reading
Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits covers latest STT-MRAM developments
Session 7 of the 2012 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits is all about Spin-Torque-Transfer Magnetic RAM (STT-MRAM), one of the several technologies hoping to challenge NAND Flash memory for the top spot in the non-volatile memory hierarchy. Five presentations … Continue reading
Want to tour the Kingston SSD factory with TweakTown?
Kingston Technology manufactures SSDs in Taiwan’s Hsin Chu Science Park and TweakTown’s Cameron Wilmot recently went for a visit. With his camera. Although Wilmot wasn’t allowed to shoot video, he did shoot a lot of photos that are included in … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SSD
Tagged Flash memory, Kingston, Kingston Technology, Solid-state drive, SSD, Taiwan, TweakTown
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Interview with Whiptail’s CTO James Candelaria demonstrates how SSD controllers can greatly improve NAND Flash endurance by managing write amplification
As NAND Flash geometries continue to shrink, device endurance specs have suffered, which is a significant challenge when using these devices in SSDs. This interview with Whiptail’s CTO James Candelaria discusses how his company’s approach to buffering writes in SSD … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SSD
Tagged Flash, Flash memory controller, Multi-level cell, NAND Flash, RAID, Solid-state drive, SSD, Whiptail, Write Amplification
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Supertalent USB 3 SSD memory-stick drive virtually “saturates” USB 2 port using 8-channel LSI SandForce SSD controller
In a sea of undifferentiated USB memory sticks, Supertalent is coming on very strong by differentiating its USB 3.0 Express RC8 drive through its use of an LSI SandForce SSD controller with 8 channels of NAND Flash memory. As a … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SSD, USB
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Micron releases video on using PCIe for fast, enterprise-class SSDs like its P320h SSD
As yet another example of how new, fast interfaces are changing the way SSDs fit into the enterprise storage arena, here’s a new video showing Gary Gentry, General Manager of Micron’s Enterprise SSD Division, explaining how and why Micron has … Continue reading
Posted in HDD, NAND, NVMe, PCIe, SAS, SATA, SSD
Tagged Enterprise storage, Flash memory controller, Hard disk drive, Micron, PCI Express, Solid-state drive, SSD
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ISQED: Who and what will win the Universal Memory Derby?
Professor Cristophe Muller of Aix-Marseille University gave an excellent overview of non-volatile semiconductor memory as the third ISQED keynote this week. It’s a very good overview of today’s landscape and well worth discussing in a wider forum like this blog. … Continue reading
Agilent: Memory technology has hit a wall due to physics limitations and that has implications for your designs
Last week, Agilent ran a seminar in Milpitas, California. The first of three subseminars was about memory technology with an excellent overview of the state of memory technology today. It was presented by Gordon Getty, an Agilent Application Engineer based … Continue reading
More on developing your own SSD controller chip. Is rolling your own right for you?
A couple of days ago, I described the new STEC MACH16 SSD and noted that STEC had developed its own SSD controller and firmware. (See “STEC’s MACH16 Slim 2.5-in SATA SSD requires small footprint, fits in small embedded spaces”) I … Continue reading
Micron introduces Enterprise-class, 2.5-inch SSD with PCIe interface
This week, Micron announced a hot-swappable, 2.5-inch SSD that employs a PCIe interface instead of the more widely used SATA or SAS disk interfaces. Dell announced that it has selected this drive for its 12th generation PowerEdge server line. Both … Continue reading
Posted in NAND, SLC, SSD, Storage
Tagged Dell, Dell PowerEdge, Flash memory, Micron, PCI Express, Serial ATA, SSD
5 Comments
Is Flash memory nearing end of life and if so what solid-state storage is waiting in the wings? Will that be the salmon or the rosemary chicken?
On Thursday, May 17, the inaugural Storage Valley Supper Club sits down for its first dinner in Milpitas, California to discuss the state of the storage industry (“Because it’s all about storage!”). Anyone with present or past affiliations in the … Continue reading
SanDisk shows 128Gbit, 3-level cell NAND Flash memory chip at ISSCC. Is 20nm (or 19nm) here, so soon?
I’ve already written about retired SanDisk CEO Eli Harari’s ISSCC keynote prediction that ReRAM/memristor technology would supplant DRAM and NAND Flash memory by the time the 11nm process node arrives. (See “SanDisk’s founder and retired CEO Eli Harari says that … Continue reading
SMART Storage Systems’ Optimus Ultra SSD taps consumer-grade NAND Flash memory with magic wand named Guardian to make enterprise-class SSD
A lead from Computerworld put me onto the announcement by SMART Storage Systems of a new enterprise-class Optimus Ultra SSD based on consumer-grade MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash devices. Using consumer-grade silicon to make this drive cuts the OEM cost … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SSD
Tagged DIF, ECC, Flash, Flash memory, MLC NAND Flash, Multi-level cell, NAND Flash
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The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Paper predicts the bleak future of SSDs and NAND Flash memory
An interesting and disturbing paper titled “The Bleak Future of NAND Flash Memory” written by two researchers at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, and one Microsoft employee uses current trends with … Continue reading
STT MRAM startup Spin Transfer Technologies secures $36M in Series A funding
Last week, STT MRAM startup Spin Transfer Technologies announced that it had secured $36M in Series A financing from Allied Minds and Invesco Asset Management. Spin Transfer Technologies is developing an “orthogonal” version of STT (spin transfer technology—the technology, not … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, MRAM, NAND
Tagged Flash, Flash memory, Magnetoresistive random access memory, MRAM, NAND, SDRAM, Spin torque transfer
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Flash Memory Summit 2012: Call for presentations
Planning is now underway for the Flash Memory Summit 2012, which will be held in Santa Clara, CA in August. There’s no better show devoted exclusively to NAND Flash semiconductor memory and applications of NAND Flash—particularly SSDs. The organizers have … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, NAND, SSD
Tagged Flash memory, Flash memory controller, Multi-level cell, NAND Flash, Semiconductor memory, Solid-state drive, SSD
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Why is the NVMe SSD interface inherently more efficient than disk-based protocols such as SATA?
The speed at which the electronics industry moves sometimes masks other developments that are incredibly slow-paced and the conversion of storage I/O protocols from hard-disk-centric to solid-state disks (SSDs) is a shining example. Most SSDs currently employ I/O protocols originally … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, HDD, NAND, NVM Express, NVMe, SSD
Tagged ATA, Flash memory, NAND Flash, NVM Express, NVMe, PCI Express, SATA, Serial ATA
2 Comments
Can MLC NAND Flash work in enterprise SSDs? Yes, with the right storage algorithms says Seagate
MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memories provide 2x or 3x the storage for slightly more than the cost of SLC (single-level cell) NAND Flash memories. Consequently, there’s a big economic case to be made for MLC NAND Flash devices in … Continue reading
Posted in eMMC, Flash, NAND, SLC, SSD
Tagged Flash memory, Flash memory controller, MLC, MLC NAND Flash, Multi-level cell, Solid-state drive, SSD
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Elpida prototypes 50nm, 64Mbit, 10nsec Resistive RAM (ReRAM). 30nm production slated for 2013
Elpida, the world’s third largest DRAM manufacturer, just announced successful development of a 64Mbit resistive RAM (ReRAM) prototype chip using a 50nm process technology. Two key specs for this prototype are a 10nsec write speed, similar to DRAM and orders … Continue reading
JEDEC Mobile Memory Summit: The pace quickens and memory standards must keep up
By Scott Jacobson CES hosted the JEDEC Mobile Memory Summit on January 12th to review the current state of the market for mobile semiconductor memory and to discuss future trends. It was a full day review of current mobile device … Continue reading
Posted in DRAM, eMMC, Flash, JEDEC, NAND, UFS
Tagged Feature Phone, Flash, JEDEC, LPDDR3 SDRAM, Mobile, MultiMediaCard, Smartphone, Universal Flash Storage
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Samsung packages 4Gbytes of NAND Flash with LPDDR2 DRAM for smartphone and other embedded applications
Samsung has announced that it has started volume production of a combined NAND Flash/DRAM “embedded multichip module” (eMCP). The module combines 30nm-class LPDDR2 DRAM chips (packaged capacities of 256, 512, or 768 Mbytes) with 4Gbytes of 20nm-class NAND Flash in … Continue reading
You say “to-may-to” and I say “to-mah-to.” So how do you say “memristor”?
Bryon Moyer at Electronic Engineering Journal and I had a discussion a couple of weeks ago about memristors, real and ideal, and resistive RAM. Is there a difference? Does it matter? What is it we’re really looking for, a “true” … Continue reading
Is MRAM ramping up to the big time?
Today, MRAM (magnetic RAM) supplier Everspin announced that it expects to close out FY 2011 with a shipment volume that exceeds that of 2010 by more than a factor of three. MRAM combines the thin-film magnetics initially developed for the … Continue reading
SSDs as HDD caches to grow like topsy say Intel and IHS iSuppli
Intel has made a significant change in the way its chipsets handle SSDs and the result, according to analyst firm IHS iSuppli, will be a 100x increase in the annual number of drives sold in the PC space between now … Continue reading
Need an objective way to evaluate SSD performance? SNIA has one
SNIA, the Storage Networking Industry Association, has just published a White Paper titled “Understanding SSD Performance Using the SNIA SSS Performance Test Specification” as a companion piece to the association’s SSD Performance Test Specification (PTS). As the White Paper’s introduction … Continue reading
Marvell brews ARM-based native PCIe SSD Controller IC: 88NV9145 handles direct PCIe to NAND Flash I/O for high-performance, low-overhead SSD designs
It looks like 2012 is the year for native PCIe (PCI Express) interfaces to NAND Flash devices. Hot on the heels of the PCIe-based XQD memory card specification from the Compact Flash Alliance (see “Nikon D4 camera and Sony H … Continue reading
Toshiba adds 4 and 8Gbit BENAND devices to its SmartNAND lineup
Toshiba has just announced a new family of SLC (single-level cell) managed NAND Flash devices dubbed BENAND. The 24nm devices incorporate ECC so that the host processor need not perform that function, which saves time and simplifies the NAND Flash … Continue reading
Is 2012 the year ONFI 3.0 takes off? Intel, Micron, and Cadence say yes.
The ONFI 3.0 specification—released in March, 2011—raises the bar on the interface to Flash semiconductor memory. In particular, it boosts transfer rates to 400 Mtransfers/sec using an NV-DDR2 DDR-400 signaling protocol; it adopts 1.8V SSTL_18 differential signaling on the strobes … Continue reading
Nikon D4 camera and Sony H Series Flash memory cards usher in the era of high-performance XQD cards with PCIe interfaces
Nikon and Sony have jumped the gun on CES by introducing a new DSLR camera (the Nikon D4) and a new series of Flash storage media (the Sony H Series). These announcements mark the beginning of the XQD Flash card … Continue reading
Posted in Compact Flash, Flash, NAND, SD, XQD
Tagged Compact Flash, Nikon, PCIe, SD, Sony, XQD
3 Comments