Is it Time for UFS?

UFS-eMMC_table

Time for UFS

UFS-eMMC_table

Introduction – Like UFS SSD for Mobile

UFS was Introduced by JEDEC in 2012 as the next generation of embedded NAND standard, promising higher bandwidth and lower power consumption.

Significant advantages over eMMC 4.5

  • INCITS T10 (SCSI) command set enables robust storing and playing of multimedia files.
  • Enables enhanced security on mobile platforms
  • Multiple LUN support with up to 8 LUNs
  • lower standby power
  • 1200MB/sec vs 200MB/s
  • Full Duplex Chain Topology vs. Half Duplex

New Standards Adoption Takes Time

Full adoption of UFS required a new PHY (MIPI M-PHY) with the UniPro[sm] link-layer and new software (Host Controller Interface). More significantly widespread adoption required a new ecosystem for compliance and test. Partly in response to these factors, the JEDEC committee [64.xx] voted to extend eMMC with a performance increase from the new HS400 PHY.

Enter eMMC 5

eMMC 5.0 approved in 2013 provides 400MB/s of bandwidth. eMMC 5.1 approved in 2015, added out of order instructions for a system performance improvement.

Enter UFS

  • September 2013 JEDEC publishes Universal Flash Storage Standard 2.0 Available here
  • February 2014 The industries first UFS devices were introduced at ISSCC 2014.
  • February 2015 The first SmartPhone with UFS storage was introduced – the Samsung Galaxy S6.
  • July 2015 SK Hynix Introduces UFS 2.0 devices
  • UFSA (Universal Flash Storage Association) has implemented a certification process that includes test lab accreditation and compliance test specifications. The UFS Certification Logo gives device suppliers and OEM a means to communicate compliance and inter-operability.

With no significant performance extensions planned for eMMC, the design window for UFS is wide open.

Arasan’s UFS 2.0 Total IP Solution

Arasan offers a Total IP Solution for UFS with UFS 2.0 Host Controller, UFS 2.0 Device Controller, The MIPI M-PHY v3.0 Gear 3 supporting 5.85Gbps, the UFS software stack and a hardware validation platforms (HVP) for both host and device. The Arasan UFS 2.0 Controllers use an M-PHY® 3.0 Adapter Layer backed by a UniPro v1.6 Link layer.

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