Toshiba will showcase its new BG series solid state drive (SSD) family featuring BiCS FLASH with 3-bit-per-cell TLC (triple-level cell) technology and Toshiba?s new single-package ball grid array (BGA) NVMe PCI Express (PCIe) Gen3 x2 SSD at the 2016 Flash Memory Summit held in Santa Clara, California between August 8 - 11. Delivering a smaller footprint, lower power consumption and better performance than traditional storage options, the BG SSD series is purpose-built for the future wave of ultra-thin mobile PCs, including 2-in-1 convertible notebooks and tablets.

With a surface area 95 percent smaller than conventional 2.5-inch SATA storage devices and 82 percent smaller than M.2 Type 22806, the Toshiba BG series condenses both the controller and NAND flash memory in a single 16mm x 20mm BGA package enabling device manufacturers to prioritize features like battery capacity for longer operating times. The BG series is also available mounted on a M.2 Type 22307 module for applications requiring socketed storage. BG SSDs utilize BiCS FLASH, a three-dimensional (3D) stacked cell structure, making it possible to accommodate up to 512GB of storage capacity in this form factor. Additionally, the BG series SSDs utilize an in-house Toshiba-developed controller and firmware for a vertically developed solution.

The BG series implements the latest NVMe standard Host Memory Buffer (HMB) feature which will be showcased during the 2016 Flash Memory Summit as a reference exhibition. HMB allocates and employs host DRAM for flash management purposes in contrast to alternative solutions that contain costly and power-hungry dedicated DRAM to perform similar functions. Host Memory Buffer technology can enable increased performance over solutions without DRAM by storing lookup data on host memory to reduce access times for commonly accessed data.

The Toshiba BG SSD Family will be available in 128GB, 256GB or 512GB capacities in both a 16mm x 20mm package (M.2 Type 1620) or a removable M.2 Type 2230 module. Samples of Toshiba BGA SSDs will be available in the fourth calendar quarter of 2016.