Hyperstone Produces A2 Flash Controller

Hyperstone GmbH announces mass production of their A2 family of SSD flash memory controllers.

Targeting applications such as 2.5" SATA SSD, 1.8" SATA Slim SSDs (MO-297), mini-SATA modules (MO-300), CFast Cards (CFC) as well as embedded flash, the A2 controller and firmware provides reliability, endurance, and fail-safe features for both SLC and MLC-based NAND flash memory solutions.

The A2 is in mass production. Together with Hyperstone’s proprietary firmware it has been qualified to industrial requirements, including operating temperature from -40C to 85C, and has received full SATA compliance certifications.

Product and Firmware Highlights:

• Compliant to SATA 2.6 and CFast 1.0 specifications
• Hyperstone patented firmware architecture without need for external DRAM
• Global, Static, Write, and Read wear leveling coupled to ECC
• Firmware inherent management of sudden power fails
• In-field firmware updatability without user data impact
• Firmware support is focused on high-reliability SLC NAND flashes from all major suppliers including Toshiba, Micron, Intel, Samsung as well as Spansion
• Native support for up to 32 CEs and extended CS+ mode to logically connect up to 256 flashes
• Typical active current consumption of about 250mA with 100% utilization during stress test operating 4 x 3.3V NAND flashes
• SATA partial/slumber (about 150mA) and CFast PHYSLP (about 5mA) power modes supported
• Qualified to industrial temperature range (-40C to +85C)
• Available as bare die and in different size TFBGA packages
• Reference designs available for (2.5", MO-297, MO-300, CFast)
• Firmware customization services available

"Certainly with our A2 we deliver the most power efficient controller and in terms of firmware architecture most proven and ruggedized solution for industrial and embedded applications. Our A2 SATA controller has been fully qualified to industrial requirements," said Dr. Jan Peter Berns, MD of Hyperstone. "Delivering the highest level of quality and reliability to embedded SATA solutions remains our main focus. Already more than 50 suitable NAND flash devices from various suppliers are qualified for use with the A2, which fit especially well for use within industrial, ruggedized applications."