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SANTA CLARA, Calif.–Toshiba Memory America, which is changing its name to Kioxia (kee-OAKS-ee-uh) in October, had two home runs this week: It introduced its highly-anticipated XFMEXPRESS memory chip for removable PCIe-1 attached/NVMe 2 memory devices, and it received the Flash Memory Summit Best of Show award. And this was a well-attended three-day show, the largest in the flash media business.
Due to its combination of small size, speed and serviceability, XFMEXPRESS chips were developed to improve the performance of next-generation mobile and embedded applications. It is about the size of a thumbnail yet holds a half-terabyte of data storage, with a full 1TB on the roadmap. Its minuscule size belies the new SSD card’s power.
We’re sure to be seeing these things embedded in phones, notebooks, IoT devices, cars and a score of other use cases starting in 2020, TMA sources told eWEEK.
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“Industry innovations in storage include the recent protocol advancements such as NVMe, and now new advancements in form factor and packaging can lead the next wave in consumer SSDs,” said Jay Kramer, chairman of the FMS awards program and president of Network Storage Advisors Inc. “We are proud to recognize Toshiba Memory for leading the next generation of mobile and embedded consumer storage with the new industry form factor for PCIe/NVMe devices called XFMEXPRESS–and leading the market with breakthrough storage solutions.”
Recognizing the need for a new class of removable storage, Toshiba Memory used its longtime history in single-package memory designs to develop XFMEXPRESS. A new form factor and new connector allow XFMEXPRESS to provide a combination of features aimed to improve flash storage use in ultra-mobile PCs, IoT devices and various embedded applications.
Mobile-Friendly Footprint: The XFMEXPRESS form factor’s size and low profile (14mm x 18mm x 1.4mm) offers a 252mm footprint, optimizing the mounting space for ultra-compact host devices without sacrificing performance or serviceability, TMA said. With this minimized z-height, the XFMEXPRESS form factor is designed for thin and light notebooks.
Performance: Designed for speed, XFMEXPRESS technology implements a PCIe 3.0, NVMe 1.3 interface with 4 lanes (4L), supporting theoretical bandwidth up to 4GB/s in each direction, and up to 8GB/s in each direction for next-generation use cases2. XFMEXPRESS’s industry-leading performance capabilities and durable form factor provide a compelling alternative to the status quo, enabling superior computing and entertainment experiences.
Future-Proof Design: XFMEXPRESS technology offers the necessary flexibility and scalability to stand the test of time, TMA said. It is both PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 capable, can be configured with 2L to 4L, and is designed to deploy current and future 3D flash memory sizes, ensuring that products using the XFMEXPRESS form factor can scale with the market.
New Connector: The design of XFMEXPRESS offers optimized functionality as well as a purpose-built connector that improves ease-of-use and thermal efficiency, TMA said.