Toshiba Expands Lineup Of Embedded NAND Flash Memory Products For Automotive Applications

Supports AEC-Q100 Grade2 Requirements

Irvine, CA /PRNewswire/ - Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)^* today announced the launch of JEDEC®^[1] e-MMCTM Version 5.1^[2]-compliant embedded NAND flash memory products supporting AEC-Q100 Grade2 ^[3] requirements. The new product lineup consists of densities of 8 gigabyte (GB), 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, and is well suited to the demanding requirements of the automotive infotainment market.

As consumer demand for connected cars grows, the need to support the data storage demands of increasingly complex automotive applications – for example, ADAS ^[4] and autonomous driving systems – grows as well. Toshiba is meeting this demand by reinforcing its lineup of high-performance, high-density memory products.

In the automotive market, the development of car infotainment – ADAS and autonomous driving systems – has created an increased demand for NAND flash memory. Accelerated processing power and increased data storage capacity are crucial to enabling these new technologies, and Toshiba's e-MMC has emerged as the data storage technology of choice for automotive applications.

Toshiba's e-MMC parts integrate NAND chips and are fabricated using its 15nm process technology with a controller to manage basic control functions for NAND applications in a single package. The new products enhance Toshiba's existing lineup of automotive e-MMC devices by offering support for applications such as instrument clusters, which require storage solutions that operate at higher temperatures (up to 105°C).

New Product Lineup

Key Features

• Handles essential functions, including bad block management, error correction and driver software.
• Simplifies system development, allowing manufacturers to minimize costs and speed up time to market for new and upgraded products.
• Enhances usability with new features^[5] standardized in JEDEC e-MMC Version 5.1, including BKOPS control, cache barrier, cache flushing report, large RPMB write and command queuing.
• Supports operational temperature range of -40°C to 105°C.
• Meets AEC-Q100 Grade2 specifications.

Key Specifications

Toshiba is also currently developing automotive UFS ^[6] products that will support AEC-Q100. Sample shipments of the new e-MMC devices begin today, with mass production scheduled for the second quarter of 2017. For more information, please visit toshiba.com/technologymoves, read the TAEC Memory Blog and follow the company on Facebook and Twitter.

Notes
^[1] JEDEC is a registered trademark of JEDEC Solid State Technology Association.
^[2] e-MMC is a product category for a class of embedded memory products built to the JEDEC e-MMC Standard specification and is a trademark of the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association.
^[3] Electrical component qualification requirements defined by the AEC (Automotive Electronics Council).
^[4] Advanced Driving Assistant System
^[5] "BKOPS control" is a function where the host allows the device to perform background operation when the device is idle. "Cache Barrier" is a function that controls when cache data is written to the memory chip. "Cache Flushing Report" is a function that informs the host if the device's flushing policy is FIFO (First In First Out) or not. "Large RPMB write" is a function that enhances the data size that can be written to the RPMB area to 8KB.
^[6] Universal Flash Storage: Product category for a class of embedded memory products built to the JEDEC Standard specification.

^*The products are labeled based on the memory chip(s) it contains, not the amount of memory capacity available for data storage by the end user. Part of the capacity is reserved for device management. Please refer to the data sheet or your local Toshiba sales representative. (For purposes of measuring memory capacity in this context, 1GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes).

Product density is identified based on the density of memory chip(s) within the Product, not the amount of memory capacity available for data storage by the end user. Consumer-usable capacity will be less due to overhead data areas, formatting, bad blocks, and other constraints, and may also vary based on the host device and application. For details, please refer to applicable product specifications.

^*About TAEC
Through proven commitment, lasting relationships and advanced, reliable electronic components, Toshiba enables its customers to create market-leading designs. Toshiba is the heartbeat within product breakthroughs from OEMs, ODMs, CMs, VARs, distributors and fabless chip companies worldwide. A committed electronic components leader, Toshiba designs and manufactures high-quality flash memory-based storage solutions, solid state drives (SSDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), solid state hybrid drives (SSHDs), discrete devices, custom SoCs/ASICs, imaging products, microcontrollers, wireless components, mobile peripheral devices, advanced materials and medical tubes that make possible today's leading smartphones, tablets, cameras, medical devices, automotive electronics, industrial applications, enterprise solutions and more.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, Japan's largest semiconductor, solid state drive and hard disk drive manufacturer and the world's seventh largest semiconductor manufacturer (Gartner, 2015 Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue, January, 2016). Founded in Tokyo in 1875, Toshiba is at the heart of a global network of over 550 consolidated companies employing over 188,000 people worldwide (as of March 31, 2016). Visit Toshiba's web site at http://toshiba.semicon-storage.com.