Tokyo – Kioxia Corporation announced sampling of Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 4.0 embedded flash memory devices designed for automotive applications. These new, higher performing devices deliver fast embedded storage transfer speeds in a small package size and are targeted to a variety of next-generation automotive applications, including telematics, infotainment systems and ADAS. The improved performance of UFS products from Kioxia includes approximately +100% for sequential read speed and approximately +40% for sequential write speed. This enhancement enables these applications to take advantage of 5G’s connectivity benefits, leading to faster system startup times. Ultimately, users can enjoy a better overall experience.
The new UFS Ver. 4.0 devices also enable higher data transfer rates and have designs for operation in harsh automotive environments, guaranteeing that car drivers can enjoy smooth and responsive entertainment systems and other features even in adverse driving conditions.
The first to introduce UFS technology(6), Kioxia continues to move the technology forward. Moreover, its new UFS Ver. 4.0 devices integrate the company’s innovative BiCS FLASH™ 3D flash memory and a controller in a JEDEC-standard package. UFS 4.0 also incorporates MIPI M-PHY 5.0 and UniPro 2.0 and supports theoretical interface speeds of up to 23.2 gigabits per second (Gbp/s) per lane or 46.4 Gbp/s per device. Moreover, UFS 4.0 is backward compatible with UFS 3.1.
The new Kioxia devices support High Speed Link Startup Sequence (HS-LSS) features. This allows the device and host to perform Link Startup (M-PHY and UniPro initialization sequence) at a faster HS-G1 Rate A (1248 megabits per second) than conventional UFS. Furthermore, we anticipate that this will reduce the time for Link Startup by approximately 70% compared to the conventional method.
Advanced features and functionalities are supported in the new UFS Ver. 4.0 devices to address demanding automotive application requirements, including:
- Refresh Feature: Improves data reliability by refreshing degraded data to prevent data corruption even in the harsh, demanding in-vehicle environment.
- Extended Diagnosis Feature: Allows users to view crucial information from the UFS device, enabling them to take preventive action.
The new Kioxia devices are available in capacities of 128, 256, and 512 gigabytes (GB). They support a wide temperature range, meet AEC-Q100 Grade2 requirements, and offer enhanced reliability capabilities that complex automotive applications require.
