Samsung Announces Industry’s First 128GB UFS 2.0 Smartphone Flash Storage

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a global leader in developing advanced memory technology, is announcing that it has begun mass production of the industry’s first 128GB ultra-fast embedded memory for next-generation high-end smartphones. The new embedded memory is based on the much-anticipated Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.0 standard, which is the most advanced JEDEC-compliant next-generation flash memory storage interface specification in the world.

The new specification UFS memory utilizes “Command Queue” technology to accelerate command execution in SSDs via a serial interface, which enables a dramatic increase in processing speeds as compared to the 8-bit parallel interface utilized with the current eMMC standard. By utilizing this technology, Samsung’s UFS memory is able to attain (up to) 19,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for random reads, which is 2.7 times faster than the most common embedded memory found in most flagship smartphones today.

Currently, the only way to have 128GB of storage for your smartphone is to use an add-in high-speed memory card. This type of add-in card typically can only attain maximum random read speeds of (up to) 1500 IOPS, making Samsung’s new embedded 128GB storage some 12 times faster, which should improve the performance of Smartphones utilizing it tremendously. The new UFS memory also features a 50 percent reduction in energy consumption, contributing to improved battery life.

According to Jee-ho Baek, Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing at Samsung Electronics, “With our mass production of ultra-fast UFS memory of the industry’s highest capacity, we are making a significant contribution to enable a more advanced mobile experience for our consumers. In the future, we will increase the proportion of high-capacity memory solutions, in leading the continued growth of the premium memory market.”

Image source:techhive.com

On the random writes side, the much faster UFS embedded memory attains (up to) 14,000 IOPS, which is 28 times faster than the add-in memory cards. This enables Samsung’s new UFS memory to support seamless playback of Ultra HD video, as well as allowing for smooth multitasking. The new UFS embedded memory is being offered in capacities of 128GB, 64GB and 32GB. This is twice the capacity of Samsung’s eMMC family, which remains viable for mid-market and value-level smartphones, as the UFS embedded memory is adopted by the flagship models.

Samsung’s UFS embedded memory package, as a new ePoP (embedded package on package) solution, is able to be mounted directly on top of a logic chip, which requires only 50% of the space of the separate chips, and provides much greater flexibility to Samsung’s global customers in developing their next-generation smartphones.