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Samsung Electronics unveiled the Next Generation Small Form Factor (NGSFF) SSD to replace the current standard. When the existing products are replaced with the new SSD, the memory capacity will be increased by four times.
The company introduced new chip products that can dramatically improve both the memory capacity and the processing speed of smartphones and servers. It is an innovative technology that can store 80 HD movies in a single semiconductor chip. These products will be commercialized from next year, leading the era of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.
At the Flash Memory Summit 2017 held at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center on August 8, Samsung Electronics unveiled its new Vertical NAND (3D NAND) solution the world’s biggest storage capacity of 1-Terabit (TB) along with next-generation solid state drive (SSD) solutions.
Unlike DRAM chips in which stored data disappear when the power is off, NAND flash chips can keep storing data in memory cells even where there is no power. NAND flash chips are considered a typical product that will lead “semiconductor super cycle” with the growing demand in the data market.
At the summit, Samsung Electronics revealed its 1-TB V-NAND chip that boasts twice larger storage capacity than the existing 512-Gigabit (GB) chip. Considering the fact that 1 TB is equal to 128 GB and a typical two-hour-long HD movie takes up 1.5 GB of memory capacity, about 80 HD movies can be stored in a single V-NAND chip. When 1-Tb V-NAND is commercialized, it is possible to construct 2-TB memory in a single V-NAND package by stacking 16 1TB dies.
Samsung Electronics is planning to start producing the world’s largest capacity SSD applying 1-TB V-NAND memory technology next year. Generally, these products are used in the market in the order of servers, personal computer and smartphones. Some market experts say smartphones will completely replace personal computers in the near future as the semiconductor technology is advancing.
At the summit, Samsung Electronics also presented its new NGSFF SSD, which can maximize the memory storage capacity of server systems, and announced to start mass producing the new SSD in the fourth quarter of the year. With the new NGSFF SSD, four times larger memory storage capacity can be secured in the same server, so data centers and customers using the server can build more efficient system, said Samsung.
In addition, Samsung Electronics introduced its hybrid semiconductor chip “Z-SSD” which has merits of both DRAM and NAND flash chips. The Z-SSD maximizes performance by forming idealized operating circuits. It has seven times faster read and response speeds than existing SSD solutions and up to 12 times faster speeds under the system environment in where repeatedly reads and writes. The company stressed that the Z-SSD will be the best solution in the sector that requires fast response speeds such as real-time big data analysis and high-performance server cache.
“We will continuously develop and advance V-NAND technologies in order to proactively meet the demand of future advanced semiconductor chips including AI and big data," said Jin Gyo-young, head of Samsung Electronics’ memory business.