Western Digital Embedded Flash Platform for Universal Flash Storage 3.1

At its Flash Perspective event, Western Digital Corp. announced its embedded flash platform for Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 3.1 to enable new applications in mobile, automotive, IoT, AR/VR, drones and other emerging segments that are reshaping the way we live, work and play.

In an increasingly mobile world of always on, always connected and always available, the UFS 3.1 platform, based on the JEDEC-compliant UFS 3.1 specification, provides the speed, reliability and feature versatility that customers count on to build small, thin and lightweight solutions. Leveraging its vertical integration capability to optimize NAND, firmware, controller design, software and drivers, the company can design purpose-built solutions for markets including mobile, IoT, automotive – all leveraging a common UFS 3.1 architecture. Setting a new benchmark, this platform is expected to deliver up to 90% improvement in sequential write performance, compared to its previous generation. This improvement will help realize 5G and Wi-Fi 6 download speed potential, delivering a better experience when consuming rich media files such as 8K video, as well as improved performance for applications such as burst mode photography.

“We are just scratching the surface today on what services, technologies and devices will be built around mobility, but one thing is clear, flash storage is central to their success,” said Huibert Verhoeven, SVP, automotive, mobile and emerging, flash business. “With our new UFS 3.1 platform, we are opening up new opportunities that never could have existed before, and we are thrilled to continue our collaboration with our customers to help them design, differentiate and add value to their solutions.“

The company has developed products based on this platform, starting with its new family for mobile and consumer applications, and is working with its hardware ecosystem partners to enable it on their upcoming solutions.

The firm expects to deliver products to market in 2H21.