Exascend Rugged AS500 BGA PCIe Gen4 NVMe 1.4 Up to 1TB SSD for Next-Gen Autonomous Vehicles

Exascend, Inc. unveiled its AS500 series NVMe Ball Grid Array (BGA) SSD.

Engineered to address the demanding storage requirements of next-gen connected and autonomous vehicles, the AS500 combines endurance with virtualization capabilities in a compact BGA form factor.

“The immense data demands of autonomous driving, infotainment systems, digital cockpits and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) require ruggedized storage solutions capable of withstanding extreme automotive conditions,” said Frank Chen, CEO. “The AS500 BGA SSD delivers sustained performance and virtualization support, offering automakers a compact, robust and power-efficient storage solution for in-vehicle deployments. We’re particularly proud that the innovative AS500 series recently took home a Best in Show honor at Embedded World 2024 ⁽¹⁾.”

Exascend’s Adaptive Thermal Control: theory and behavior
Click to enlarge

The soldered AS500 BGA SSD is built to safeguard data integrity in the harshest environments. It operates at temperatures from -40°C to +105°C while withstanding extreme shock and vibration. The company’s proprietary Adaptive Thermal Control algorithm enables sustained peak performance by effectively regulating temperature within specified thresholds. The AS500 is currently undergoing AEC-Q100 Grade 2 qualification to meet rigorous automotive reliability standards.

The DRAM-less AS500 leverages Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology to optimize I/O performance without SSD onboard DRAM, mitigating the storage capacity limitations of embedded systems. With an low active power consumption under 3.5W, the drive provides energy savings.

With built-in SR-IOV support ⁽²⁾ for up to 4 VMs via direct PCIe, the AS500 maximizes performance across multiple in-vehicle application. Its PCIe Gen4 interface and NVMe 1.4 protocol enable sequential RW speeds up to 5,000/1,600 MB/s and random 4K RW speeds up to 380,000/180,000 IO/s in HMB mode.

Available up to 1TB capacities, the versatile AS500 is optimized for automotive use cases including in-vehicle infotainment, navigation, digital cockpit, black box and ADAS. The company will showcase the AS500 BGA SSD at the upcoming ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Technology Expo, June 4-6 in Stuttgart, Germany.

(¹) embedded world 2024 Best in Show Winners
(²) SR-IOV will be enabled through future firmware updates upon successful validation and implementation.