Computex: Silicon Motion Introduces Single Chip Controller for Cost Effective USB Portable SSDs

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation launched an SSD controller solution with an on-chip USB 3.2 interface, offering performance and low power consumption for the next generation of cost-effective portable and external SSDs.

Current portable and external SSD designs typically employ a stand-alone SSD with an USB to SATA or PCIe bridge chip for interface between the SSD and the host. The SM3282 with on-chip USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface provides a single-chip hardware and software solution supporting the USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) and 2 NAND channels with 4 CE (Chip Enables) per channel, enabling up to 2TB of storage with the latest generation of 96-layer QLC NAND. The SM3282 also enables battery powered small form factor portable SSDs while reducing BOM cost.

“Professional users often rely on high-speed portable storage to get access to their data on-the-go. Portable SSDs have been inhibited by high pricing and limited capacity compared to portable HDDs,” said Wallace Kou, president and CEO, Silicon Motion. “Our new SM3282 controller solution with its USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface enables the introduction of a new category of cost-effective portable SSDs as higher performance alternatives to portable HDDs.“

Key features of SM3282 include:

• Peak sequential read and write transfer speeds of over 400MB/s

• Supports USB type A and type C

• Compatible with Windows 10, Mac OS 10.x and Linux kernel v2.4

• Crystal-less design for bill-of-materials cost savings

• Built-in 3.3V/2.5V/1.8V/1.2V voltage regulators

• Supports LED for indicating access status

• 68-pin QFN package

The company showcased SM3282 in a private suite at Computex 2019 and will be sampling to customers in June 2019.