JEDEC Solid State Technology Association today announced
selected key attributes of its Universal Flash Storage
(UFS) Standard, the next flash memory specification.
With publication forecasted for late 2010, JEDEC UFS is
being designed as a next-generation specification that will
enable higher performance and faster data transfer rates
when flash memory storage is used in products such as
laptops, mobile phones (including smart phones), and other
portable consumer electronics devices.
The proposed JEDEC UFS standard will define a multi-gigabit
per second high speed interface for embedded mass storage
and removable cards, and will address the need for
high-speed, high-capacity mass storage devices, as well as
support for bootable storage devices and I/O devices.
Speaking from a recent technical committee meeting in
Toronto, Mian Quddus, Chairman of JEDEC?s JC-64 Committee
for Flash Memory Modules, noted: "By bringing principal
consumer electronic and mobile/smart phone OEMs together
with major chip manufacturers, JEDEC is able to ensure that
UFS will meet the most up-to-date needs of the mobile
industry." He added, "And UFS is not just targeted to the
requirements of today, but is also being designed with the
flexibility needed to accommodate future device
requirements."
UFS performance is envisioned as a quantum leap beyond the
existing embedded non-volatile memory system standard,
e?MMCTM, with UFS? architecture better suited to
high-performance mobile computing. UFS will adopt and
optimize e?MMC features including the high priority
interrupt feature included in the most recent e?MMC update,
e?MMC v4.41. UFS is also designed to enable improved random
access, as well as simultaneous read/write data flow, both
of which are intended to benefit device performance.
Other selected JEDEC UFS attributes include:
- Functionality defined in the UFS standard will fully
leverage and utilize the performance gains in the
next-generation Flash media access standards such as ONFi
and Toggle Mode.
- Based upon industry interface standards, such as the
Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPISM) Alliance?s
M-PHY and UniProSM.
- UFS adopts the widely recognized SCSI as the basis for
its command set with provisions for UFS specific features
including Security, Partitioning, ERASE/TRIM, and more.
- Layering architecture, including PHY, LINK, Translation
and Protocol layer that has well-defined functions at the
individual layers working together to achieve the highest
performance and functionality for the advanced UFS storage
device.
- Mechanical specifications for both the embedded package
ballout and removable card designed to accommodate a high
speed signal without degrading the signal integrity.