SanDisk, new iNand 3D embedded flash memories: More performance for mobile devices
Both versions will be marketed under the SanDisk brand, but will exploit the best technologies offered by Western Digital: they will be the new generation of memories that we will see on future smartphones and tablets, but not only.
Western Digital, on behalf of its SanDisk brand, has introduced a new series of embedded iNAND flash units, that is intended to be used in various types of devices such as smartphones and tablets, but not only, aiming to raise the bar regarding the performance maintaining high standards of maximum capacity.
Taking advantage of Western Digital’s 64-layer NAND 3D technology and the latest UFS and e.MMC interface technologies, two models are proposed: iNAND 8521 and iNAND 7550, which will replace current embedded solutions.
These new units are mainly designed to support future, but not too far, technologies that require the use of large amounts of data and their fast management, such as applications for augmented reality, the acquisition of video at 360° and 4K or solutions based on artificial intelligence.
By the end of 2018, we estimate that the average storage capacity will rise to over 60 GB for smartphones globally to support the growing creation of multimedia content and experiences based on artificial intelligence and augmented reality, ” said Neil Shah, director research and development at Counterpoint Research ” This justifies the transition to integrated iNAND 3D flash storage solutions, which will be further support these richer experiences.
” The emergence of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in mobile apps for more engaging experiences will push the development of storage systems for mobile devices to new levels, ” said Christopher Bergey, vice president of Western Digital’s integrated solutions.
The iNAND 8521 version, the top-of-the-range solution, uses the UFS 2.1 interface and the new fifth-generation SmartSLC technology in order to double the sequential write speed, and up to 10 times the random write speed compared to the current mobile solution of iNAND 7232.
The new iNAND 7550 solutions, instead, are based on the e.MMC 5.1 specification, the best-performing company based on e.MMC interfaces, widely used up to now, will guarantee random read / write performance by 20K IOPS and 15K IOPS respectively, focusing in improving, for example: application start-up times.
Both versions will be marketed under the SanDisk brand, and will be the new generation of memories that we will see on future smartphones and tablets; for the moment, Western Digital has announced that it has already started developing these new units with capacities up to 256 GB, we just have to wait for more information about it.
