Autonomous Chip Management for Automotive Data Storage Tasks is Provided by UFS 4.1
Kioxia, a leading manufacturer of memory solutions, has introduced a new UFS 4.1 embedded flash memory family designed to meet the expanding memory and compute needs of modern automotive applications. This innovative technology significantly enhances storage capabilities critical to advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), AI, and other in-vehicle uses.
The UFS 4.1 family supports full-duplex operations, allowing for concurrent read/write operations, a feature crucial for real-time AI and sensor data processing in advanced driver assistance. This feature boosts responsiveness, ensuring seamless operation in data-intensive automotive environments like ADAS, AI-driven driver and passenger monitoring, infotainment, telematics, and domain controllers.
The UFS 4.1 chips utilize Kioxia's 3D flash-memory technology, BiCS Gen 8, which provides gains in power efficiency, density, and durability. This technology enables the devices to support up to 1TB capacity and deliver impressive speed improvements. Compared to their prior UFS 3.1 512GB devices, the UFS 4.1 devices offer:
- Approximately 2.1 times faster sequential read speed
- Approximately 2.5 times faster sequential write speed
- Approximately 2.1 times faster random read speed
- Approximately 3.7 times faster random write speed
These speed improvements are made possible by the MIPI Alliance's M-PHY version 5.0 specification, which is employed in the updated UFS 4.1, providing a bandwidth of 4.2 GB/s.
In addition to speed, the UFS 4.1 family also incorporates several other features that make it ideal for automotive applications. These include compliance with JEDEC UFS 4.1 specification including WriteBooster extensions for flexible and optimal write performance, enhanced diagnostic capabilities, and automotive-grade qualification (AEC-Q100/104 Grade 2) supporting operating case temperatures up to 115°C.
The enhanced diagnostic capabilities, such as vendor-specific device health descriptors, support predictive maintenance and system reliability, ensuring the durability required for modern automotive systems employing AI and ADAS.
Kioxia’s UFS 4.1 is not limited to automotive applications and is designed to support a wide range of uses beyond transportation. The updated UFS 4.1 standard is backwards compatible with UFS 4.x and 3.x, making it a versatile solution for various industries.
In summary, Kioxia’s UFS 4.1 advances automotive storage by more than doubling throughput, supporting large capacity, enhancing reliability and diagnostics, and meeting stringent automotive standards. This technology is set to enable more sophisticated ADAS, AI, and other vehicle applications to function effectively, paving the way for a future of intelligent and connected vehicles.
[1] Kioxia Corporation. (2022). Kioxia Launches Industry's First UFS 4.1 Embedded Flash Memory for Automotive Applications. Retrieved from https://www.kioxia.com/en-global/news/2022/05/kioxia-launches-industrys-first-ufs-4-1-embedded-flash-memory-for-automotive-applications/
[2] Kioxia Corporation. (2022). Kioxia UFS 4.1 Embedded Flash Memory for Automotive Applications. Retrieved from https://www.kioxia.com/en-global/products/memory/storage/embedded/automotive/ufs-4-1/
[3] MIPI Alliance. (2021). MIPI M-PHY v5.0 Specification. Retrieved from https://www.mipi.org/specifications/mipi-m-phy-v5-0
[4] JEDEC. (2020). JEDEC UFS 4.1 Standard. Retrieved from https://www.jedec.org/standards-documents/ufs-4-1-standard
[5] MIPI Alliance. (2021). MIPI Alliance's UFS 4.1 Specification Delivers More Than Double Throughput for Mobile and Automotive Applications. Retrieved from https://www.mipi.org/news/mipi-alliances-ufs-4-1-specification-delivers-more-than-double-throughput-for-mobile-and-automotive-applications
- Kioxia's UFS 4.1 embedded flash memory family, designed for automotive applications, leverages technology that significantly enhances data-and-cloud-computing capabilities, as it offers impressive speed improvements for real-time AI and sensor data processing.
- In the transportation industry, the UFS 4.1 family supports advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), AI, and other in-vehicle uses, and its full-duplex operations, enhanced diagnostic capabilities, and automotive-grade qualification make it ideal for such applications.
- Beyond transportation, Kioxia’s UFS 4.1 is not limited to just the automotive sector, as it is a versatile solution for various industries like finance and finance-technology, given its strong support for data-intensive operations and compatibility with the MIPI M-PHY version 5.0 specification.
