Samsung in Mass Production of 256GB Embedded Universal Flash Storage

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has begun mass production of a 256GB embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) solution with advanced features based on automotive specifications from the JEDEC UFS 3.0 standard.

Following the memory breakthrough of the automotive industry’s first 128GB eUFS in September, 2017, Samsung’s automotive 256GB eUFS is being shipped to automotive manufacturers preparing the market for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), next-generation infotainment systems and new-age dashboards in luxury vehicles.

As thermal management is crucial for automotive memory applications, 256GB eUFS extends the temperature range to between -40°C and 105°C for both operational and power-saving modes. Warranties for conventional embedded multimedia card (eMMC) 5.1 solutions generally cover -25°C to 85°C for vehicles in operation and -40°C to 85°C when in idle or power-saving mode.

“With the new temperature threshold for automobile warranties, major automotive manufacturers can now design-in memory that’s even well suited for extreme environments and know they will be getting highly reliable performance,” said Kyoung Hwan Han, VP of NAND marketing, Samsung. “Starting with high-end vehicles, we expect to expand our business portfolio across the entire automotive market, while accelerating growth in the premium memory segment.“

256GB eUFS can endure the new temperature specification, despite the heat-sensitive nature of memory storage, and also through its temperature notification feature, a sensor will notify the host application processor (AP) when the device temperature exceeds 105°C or any pre-set level. The AP would then regulate its clock speed to lower the temperature to an acceptable level.

Sequential reads for the 256GB eUFS can reach 850MB/s, which is at the high end of the current JEDEC UFS 2.1 standard, and random read operations come in at 45,000 IO/s. In addition, a data refresh feature speeds up processing and enables greater system reliability by relocating older data to other less-used cells.

The temperature notification and data refresh features are included in UFS specification, version 3.0, which was announced last month by JEDEC, a semiconductor standards organization.

Samsung plans to bolster its technology partnerships with automakers and component providers, and continue expanding its eUFS line-up.

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Samsung Embedded Universal Flash Storage Solution for Automotive
64GB and 128GB
2017.10.06 | Press Release