Posted 10/28/09 at 05:20:43 PM by Jason Barry

Intel working in conjunction with Numonyx unveiled breakthrough technology that will keep Moore’s Law accurate. The new process will enable non-volatile memory to cost-effectively scale down to 5nm.

Without getting too technical, the companies were able to build upon phase-change memory (PCM) and create a new technology call “phase-change memory and switch” (PCMS). PCMS integrates a new thin-film selector that effectively lets the memory/selector layers stack very densely. The nature of PCM allows it operate in two ways: quick “RAM like” bit changing, and non-volatile storage.

It is unlikely well see devices using the technology for “many years” according to Al Fazio, Intel Fellow and director of memory technology development. However, this is a key first step in continuing to scale technology according to Moore’s Law.

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Posted 10/19/09 at 03:54:48 PM by Bart Salisbury

Micron Technology has announced two new enterprise NAND flash memory chips: a 16Gb single-level cell (SLC) NAND and a 32Gb multi-level (MLC) cell NAND, both produced on a 34nm die. NAND chips are commonplace in flash memory cards and electronic devices with built-in flash memory.

Micron reports that the two new chips can achieve up to 30,000 write cycles, a six-fold increase over present technology. Furthermore, the chips will support the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) 2.1 synchronous interface, which can deliver a 4x to 5x improvement in data transfer rates over legacy NAND interfaces. Improved throughput specifications and smaller size hold promise for expanding flash memory options for consumers.

Micron’s new NAND chips are currently being tested with customers and controller manufacturers. Volume production of the chips is expected to begin early in 2010.

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Posted 08/14/09 at 04:55:46 PM by Andy Salisbury

Samsung has faced a lot of adversity when it comes to getting their fancy new SSDs to consumers. While they’re responsible for producing nearly half of the NAND flash in SSDs sold, they can’t seem to sell their own boxes.

That’s why they’re aiming their sights on the gamer crowd. According to Jim Elliott, Vice President of Memory Marketing for Samsung, “In addition to processing power, advanced graphic cards and high-resolution monitors, gamers want a fast storage drive for reduced loading times and faster game performance. Our 256GB SSD provides much better overall performance than conventional HDDs, as well as longer battery life for the notebook gamer. Clearly, all PC gamers will benefit from the blistering speeds and dazzling photorealism enabled by the Samsung 256GB SSD.”

Sure, the SSDs do cost a pretty penny, but if there’s any crowd that will pay a premium for the latest piece of hardware that will give them a competitive edge, it’s gamers. No official word yet as to when we can expect the adverts.

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Posted 07/01/09 at 07:15:24 PM by Paul Lilly

Good news for storage buffs - Micron today said it has begun mass producing 34nm flash memory products, resulting in 16Gb (gigabit) and 32Gb NAND chips that will push high end storage capacities to new levels.

"Our industry-leading NAND products are opening new possibilities for some of the world's most popular consumer electronic devices," said Brian Shirley, vice president of Micron's memory group. "With our new 16- and 32Gb NAND chips in mass production, we are enabling customers to design cost-effective, high-capacity storage in their small-form factor products, using less space and fewer die."

Micron says its 32Gb MLC NAND chip is 17 percent smaller than its first -generation 32Gb chip, and that both new chips offer transfer speeds of up to 200MB/s.

As a result of the new product, mainstream SDHC cards may double in capacity from 4-8GB to 8-16GB, with 64GB or more leading the high-end market.

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Posted 05/27/09 at 03:20:09 PM by Paul Lilly

It's been a strange and wonderful ride watching solid state drive technology finally start to come into its own and threaten traditional hard disk drives. Frustrating too, as the handful of SSDs that manage to blaze a performance trail cost an exorbitant amount per gigabyte, while some of the lower cost drives based on the JMicron controller suffer from stuttering problems. That's why we're thrilled to see JMicron take a mulligan.

According to news site DailyTech, JMicron plans to unveil a new NAND flash controller at Computex. Designed to fix the aforementioned stuttering problem, the JMF612 chip will use an ARM9 core in a 289-ball TFBGA package and support the use of up to 256MB of DDR or DDR2 RAM for external cache duties.

The other part of the equation involves a new generation of NAND flash chips that are smaller, faster, and cheaper to manufacturer. At least one company -- IM Flash Technologies, a joint venture between Intel and Micron -- is said to already be building 34nm NAND, and SSDs based on the new chip(s) will support NCQ. Moreover, JMicron's refreshed controller has been specifically designed to take advantage of these new NAND chips.

We can hardly wait.

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Posted 05/13/09 at 04:37:11 PM by Andy Salisbury

Yesterday Samsung announced that shipments of their 32GB moviNAND flash memory cards had begun.

The cards are currently aimed at cell phones, media players and other consumer electronics, and have been made using a 30nm manufacturing process. This allows them to process and store large amounts of multimedia, including videos, video games and television shows.

“The unquenchable consumer thirst for possessing large amounts of data is now embracing video in a big way, which in turn means rapidly escalating demand for higher density storage,” stated Jim Elliott, Samsung’s Vice President of Memory Marketing. “Samsung has taken the lead in providing OEMs with the highest density flash storage produced using the most cost-efficient process technology around – 30 nanometers.”

Reportedly, Samsung’s exports of cards will grow eight-fold “from 120 million 16GB equivalent units, which will account for 13 percent of the global memory card shipments in 2009, to 950 million units – or 72 percent of the total cards shipped – by 2013.”

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Posted 04/27/09 at 05:31:47 PM by Andy Salisbury

No more than a couple months ago Toshiba showed off the first 32 nanometer NAND flash chips, and soon they’ll be the first company to ship them as well.

According to a press release from Toshiba, they’ll begin mass production of 32Gb (gigabit) NAND flash chips in July 2009, and 16Gb products will begin to ship Q3 of this very year.

So, what does all this mean for you, as a consumer? Sooner rather than later, manufacturers will be able to start packing more memory into smaller places. This translates to bigger SSDs, and even more internal memory for your smartphone and other mobile devices. Ahh, progress!

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Posted 04/13/09 at 08:21:39 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Apple is reported to have put NAND flash supplies under considerable strain by placing an order for 100 million 8Gb NAND flash chips with Samsung Electronics.

Taiwanese website Digitimes was the first to report on the issue. Sources told Digitimes that NAND supply will remain sparse until the end of May. NAND prices are expected to continue their upward trend on the back of this huge order. This is because NAND flash chip manufacturers are not keen on increasing production.

According to Daniel Amir, an analyst with Lazard Market Capital, Apple’s gargantuan order comprises both 16Gb and 8Gb NAND flash chips. Amir believes Apple’s order for 16Gb NAND is a harbinger of 32GB iPhones being around the corner. The same analyst had reported last month that industry insiders had told him that 32GB iPhones would become available in June, 2009.

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