Samsung Electronics has begun mass producing the industry's first 4-bit (QLC, quad-level cell) 4-terabyte (TB) SATA solid-state drive (SSD) for consumers. Based on 1-terabit (Tb) V-NAND with performance equivalent to the company's 3-bit design, Samsung's QLC SSD is expected to bring a new level of efficiency to consumer SSDs, Samsung said. With its new 1Tb 4-bit V-NAND chip, Samsung will be able to efficiently produce a 128GB memory card for smartphones that will lead the charge toward higher capacities for high-performance memory storage. Typically, as data stored within a memory cell increases from three bits to four, the chip capacity per unit area would rise and the electrical charge (used to determine information from a sensor) would decrease by as much as 50% making it considerably more difficult to maintain a device's desired performance and speed. However, Samsung said its 4-bit 4TB QLC SATA SSD maintains its performance levels at the same level as a 3-bit SSD, by using a 3-bit SSD controller and TurboWrite technology, while increasing drive capacity through the use of 32 chips, all based on 64-layer fourth-generation 1Tb V-NAND. The 4-bit QLC SSD enables a sequential read speed of 540 MB/s and a sequential write speed of 520 MB/s, and comes with a three-year warranty. Samsung plans to introduce several 4-bit consumer SSDs later in 2018 with 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities in the widely used 2.5-inch form factor.

Winbond Electronics' W25N01JW is a high-performance, 1.8V serial NAND flash memory IC delivering a data-transfer rate of 83MB/s via a quad serial peripheral interface (QSPI). The new high-performance serial NAND technology also supports a two-chip dual quad interface which gives a maximum data transfer rate of 166MB/s. The Winbond 1.8V W25N01JW chip can replace SPI NOR flash memory in automotive applications, such as data storage for instrument clusters or the center information displays (CIDs), the company indicated. This is important for automotive OEMs because the adoption of more sophisticated graphics displays in the instrument cluster, and larger display sizes of seven inches and above in the CID, is increasing system memory requirements to capacities of 1Gbit and higher, the company continued. At these capacities, serial NAND flash has a markedly lower unit cost than that of SPI NOR flash, and occupies a smaller board area per megabit of storage capacity. The W25N01JW also meets strict automotive requirements for quality and reliability, Winbond noted. Built with single-level sell (SLC) memory technology, and implementing 1-bit error correction code (ECC) on all read and write operations, it complies with the endurance, retention and quality requirements of the AEC-Q100 standard and relevant JEDEC specs. The W25N01JW is available for sampling today in a capacity of 1Gbit. A two-chip implementation in dual-quad I/O mode provides 2Gbits of memory capacity and a maximum data transfer rate of 166MB/s. The chip is available in industrial grade and in an extended-temperature automotive grade version operating at up to 105-degrees C.

Samsung Electronics has introduced the 860 PRO and 860 EVO solid state drives (SSD), the most up-to-date additions to the company's SATA interface lineup. Building on the launch of the 850 PRO and 850 EVO - the industry's first consumer SSDs with V-NAND technology - the 860 PRO and 860 EVO achieve industry-leading performance for SATA SSDs, offering enhancements in speed, reliability, compatibility and capacity, the vendor said. The 860 PRO is available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities, with the 4TB memory storage holding up to 114 hours and 30 minutes of 4K Ultra HD video. The 860 PRO is available in a widely compatible 2.5-inch form factor, which is ideal for PCs, laptops, workstations and NAS, said Samsung. The 860 EVO comes in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities, in a 2.5-inch for PCs and laptops, as well as mSATA and M.2 form factors for ultra-slim computing applications. The 860 EVO has up to six times longer sustained performance than its predecessor due to enhanced Intelligent TurboWrite technology, with read and write speeds of up to 550 MB/s and 520 MB/s, respectively, according to the company. The 860 PRO and 860 EVO SSDs are available with manufacturer's suggested retail prices starting at US$139.99 and US$94.99, respectively.