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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Tag Archives: Flash
It’s what you do with the memory that counts. Case in point: the TI Stellaris M4F microcontrollers
NAND Flash wear leveling is an established error- and fault-management technique in SSDs, but Texas Instruments is touting on-chip Flash and EEPROM durability in a low-cost microcontroller: the TI Stellaris M4F series based on the ARM Cortex-M4F microprocessor core. There’s … Continue reading
The top 21 things you probably didn’t know about Flash memory, from the Flash Memory Summit
Last week’s Flash Memory Summit ended with a session titled “The top 10 things you need to know about Flash memory today. Richard Goering summarized the panel in his blog titled “Flash Memory Panelists Challenge Conventional Thinking About NAND and … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, SSD, Storage
Tagged Flash, Flash memory, Floyd, NAND Flash, Scaling limit, Solid-state drive, SSD, Western Digital
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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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Memcon is filling up. Register now to be sure you get a ticket. It’s free. September 18. Silicon Valley
The Flash Memory Summit took place this week and registration for next month’s Memcon in Silicon Valley suddenly took a big uptick. I’d like to suggest that if you want to be certain to attend Memcon next month, you might … Continue reading
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
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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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
Three Golliaths and a host of Davids meeting up on the storage battlefield. Who wins?
If you want to read a short, interesting overview of the combined HDD/SSD storage battlefield, look no further than a new article on The Register’s Web site. The article, titled “Will the titans of storage decide to flash their bits?” … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, HDD, Micron, Samsung, SSD
Tagged Flash, Hard disk drive, Hynix, OCZ Technology, Samsung, Solid-state drive, Toshiba, Western Digital
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Jim Handy, The Memory Guy, answers your questions about Flash memory
Two weeks ago, Jim Handy (who bills himself and appears on the Internet as “The Memory Guy”) posted a blog discussion about the end of Flash memory scaling. He also posted a notice of the blog as a discussion on … Continue reading
Posted in 3D, Flash, Memcon, ONFI
Tagged Charge Trap Flash, Flash, Flash memory, Jim Handy, LinkedIn, Memory Guy, Open NAND Flash Interface Working Group, Solid-state drive
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Applied Materials develops Centura Avatar etcher for enabling 3D NAND Flash manufacture
About a year ago, I wrote an EDA360 Insider blog entry about 3D NAND Flash semiconductor memory. (See “3D Thursday: A look at some genuine 3D NAND cells, courtesy of Micron”) In this post, I discussed a talk by Glen … Continue reading
Jim Handy, The Memory Guy, writes that Flash memory is dead…but perhaps not just yet
My good friend Jim Handy—who writes several blogs including The Memory Guy and The SSD Guy—recently published a blog titled “The End of Flash Scaling.” He writes: “Everyone knows that flash memory is about to hit its scaling limit – … Continue reading
Posted in 3D, Flash, Memristor, MRAM, ReRAM, SSD
Tagged Flash, Flash memory, Flash memory controller, Hynix, NAND Flash, SSD
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Second Samsung memory video just as amusing as the first
Yesterday, I posted a blog entry about an amusing Samsung memory video aimed at memory consumers with a fanciful supervillian named Fiona Freeze who was responsible for causing device freezups. Today, I present the Samsung Memory Battery Brutus video. Battery … Continue reading
Whoa, Momma! Flash memory maker SK Hynix enters the SSD market. Take a look at these performance charts!
Jim Handy, the “SSD Guy” and the “Memory Guy,” just published a short blog post alerting us to the fact that Flash memory maker SK Hynix has entered the SSD market just four days after announcing the purchase of Link_A_Media, … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, mSATA, ONFI, SATA, SSD, Storage
Tagged Flash, Flash memory, Hynix, IBM, Phase-change memory, SK Hynix
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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
So just how big is the semiconductor memory market? $50 billion? $60 billion?
Yesterday, Jeremy Wagstaff, Chief Technology Correspondent for Reuters in Asia, published an article on wannabe non-volatile memory technologies such as MRAM and Memristors or ReRAM (See “Pushing the PRAM: when chips just can’t get any smaller”). The lure is a … 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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MRAM spotted in Buffalo Memory SSD—for cache
Several sources including TomsHardware.com have reported the appearance at the 15th Embedded Systems Expo in Japan of an SSD built by Buffalo Memory Company with MRAM for cache memory. The drive uses 8Mbytes of MRAM (magnetic RAM) as a cache … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, MRAM, SSD
Tagged Flash, Flash memory, Magnetoresistive random access memory, MRAM
1 Comment
This SSD will self destruct…immediately. On Command (See the video)
In case you need an SSD that can be wiped quickly, RunCore has introduced the InVincible SSD with two modes of erasure: non-destructive and destructive. Two buttons—one red, one green—activate the erasure. The two buttons apparently connect to the SSD’s … Continue reading
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
Micron’s mSATA RealSSD C400 and RealSSD C400v drives get huge performance from their SATA 6Gbps interfaces and 25nm MLC NAND
Micron’s new RealSSD C400v and RealSSD C400 mSATA SSDs can operate as SSDs in ultralight, ultrathin notebooks and can also be used as a Flash caches in SSD/HDD hybrid systems. The drive fits the 3×5 cm, 3.75mm-thick mSATA form factor … 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
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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Forbes.com publishes article on growth areas for SSDs and NAND Flash devices: mobile and cloud
Tom Coughlin, the President and founder of Coughlin Associates, has just published a good background piece on growth paths for SSDs and Flash memory. I commend it to your attention and I particularly want to call your attention to several … Continue reading
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
Memcon 2012 call for presentation submissions
Memcon 2012 will take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center in the heart of Silicon Valley on Tuesday, September 2012. This is the biggest conference in the world devoted to the use and manufacture of semiconductor memory (RAM, NAND … 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
DRAMeXchange opines on six major DRAM and NAND Flash trends for 2012-2015. What do you think?
The DRAMeXchange http://www.dramexchange.com/ keeps a very close watch on the spot and contract prices for all forms of semiconductor memory including DRAM and NAND Flash devices. The group also keeps an eye on trends that may affect pricing. A couple … Continue reading
Posted in 3D, DDR3, DDR4, DRAM, Flash, HDD, LPDDR2, LPDDR3, Memcon, ONFI, Toggle
Tagged DDR3 SDRAM, Flash, Flash memory, NAND Flash, PCI Express, Ultrabook
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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
Objective Analysis White Paper covers the basics of SSD design. Do you know what’s important?
Jim Handy at Objective Analysis has just published a White Paper about SSDs titled “Enterprise Reality, Solid State Speed.” The White Paper provides an excellent introduction to issues surrounding SSD design. The key issue here is the basic wearout failure … Continue reading
Posted in Flash, SSD
Tagged ECC, Flash, Flash memory, Flash memory controller, LSI Corp, NAND Flash, SandForce, Solid-state drive
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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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Quickly Noted: EETimes on the challenges of testing semiconductor memory for mobile applications. Is testing really a 3D IC “stopper”?
Janine Love at EETimes interviewed Cecil Ho, President of CST (Simmtester.com)—a memory tester vendor, about issues surrounding the testing of semiconductor memory that’s optimized for and aimed at mobile applications. In these applications board real estate and physical volume are … Continue reading
Memcon 2012: Save the date—September 18, 2012 in Santa Clara CA
The date’s official! The 2012 edition of Memcon—the conference devoted to all aspects of semiconductor memory design, manufacture, and use—will take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center on September 18, 2012. So put that date on your calendar now, … 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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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
How about a close look at Micron’s incredible shrinking Flash memory?
Chris Ramseyer at Tweaktown was kind enough to notice and snap this photo of Micron’s incredible shrinking Flash memory chips at this week’s Storage Visions event in Las Vegas. The image shows graphically what the numbers tell us intellectually. Starting … 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
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
The return of Memcon in 2012
Under the leadership of Denali Software, Memcon became the single most important event for the semiconductor memory and storage industries. Now Cadence is taking that legacy into the future. Yes, that’s right, Memcon is back for 2012 as a standalone … Continue reading
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