Samsung Electronics announced it has successfully developed the industry’s first PCIe 4.0 automotive SSD based on eighth-generation vertical NAND (V-NAND). With industry-leading speeds and enhanced reliability, the new auto SSD, AM9C1 is an optimal solution for on-device AI capabilities in automotive applications.

With about 50% improved power efficiency compared to its predecessor, the AM991, the new 256GB auto SSD will deliver sequential read and write speeds of up to 4,400 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) and 400MB/s, respectively.

“We are collaborating with global autonomous vehicle makers and providing high-performance, high-capacity automotive products,” said Hyunduk Cho, Vice President and Head of Automotive Group at Samsung Electronics’ Memory Business. “Samsung will continue to lead the Physical AI1 memory market that encompasses applications from autonomous driving to robotics technologies.”

Built on Samsung’s 5-nanometer (nm) controller and providing a single-level cell (SLC) Namespace2 feature, the auto SSD AM9C1 demonstrates high performance for easier access to large files. By switching from its original triple-level cell (TLC) state to SLC mode, users can enjoy boosted read and write speeds of up to 4,700MB/s and 1,400MB/s, respectively, while also benefiting from the added reliability of SLC SSDs.

The 256GB AM9C1 is currently being sampled by key partners and is expected to begin mass production by the end of this year. Samsung plans to offer multiple storage capacities for the AM9C1 ranging from 128GB to 2 terabytes (TB) to address the growing demand for high-capacity automotive SSDs. The 2TB model, which is set to offer the industry’s largest capacity in this product category, is scheduled to start mass production early next year.

Through intensified board-level tests, Samsung’s new auto SSD satisfies the automotive semiconductor quality standard AEC-Q1003 Grade 2, ensuring stable performance over a wide temperature range of -40°C to 105°C.

To further meet the high standards of the automotive industry in terms of durability and stability, Samsung also conducts various quality assurance processes. The company received ASPICE CL3 authentication4 for its UFS 3.1 product in March this year.

In an effort to obtain CSMS certification based on ISO/SAE 21434,5 Samsung will continue to actively enhance the technological reliability and stability of its automotive solutions.

“ASPICE and ISO/SAE 21434 certifications are milestones that affirm the reliability and stability of our technology,” said Hwaseok Oh, Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics’ Memory Business. “Beyond these achievements, Samsung will continue to elevate its product stability and quality by consistently providing the best solution to key partners.”

1 AI such as robots and autonomous vehicles that perceives and interacts with the physical world through sensors.
2 Provides SLC partition with better performance and reliability than TLC, allowing users to configure it in accordance to data type. However, when switched to SLC mode capacity decreases to 1/3 of the TLC.
3 Global standard that Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has established for the reliability evaluation procedures and criteria for automotive electronic components.
4 Automotive Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (ASPICE) is a software development standard developed and distributed by the German Automotive Association (VDA) that evaluates the reliability and competence of automotive component manufacturers’ software development processes. It is divided into Capability Level (CL) stages 0 to 5, with CL3 meaning that an organization has established a systematic process and can effectively execute it.
5 Cyber Security Management System certification is an international standard designed to enhance cybersecurity in the automotive industry based on ISO/SAE 21434, covering cybersecurity processes and requirements from design to development, evaluation and mass production.