Figure 1. SK hynix’s booth at FMS 2023 featured some of the company’s latest products and technologies

As the world’s largest memory and storage trade show, the annual Flash Memory Summit (FMS) is renowned for exhibiting revolutionary high-speed memory and SSD products. At FMS 2023 held August 8^th-10^th at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California, SK hynix continued this legacy of innovation by showcasing groundbreaking memory solutions under the slogan “United Through Technology”. During the event, executives from SK hynix gave a keynote speech to share the companies’ developments in the memory sector.

Leading 4D NAND Solutions Key to the Multimodal AI Era

Figure 2. SK hynix’s EVP and Head of NAND development Jungdal Choi and EVP and Head of Solution Development Hyun Ahn during their keynote speech

On August 8^th, SK hynix’s EVP and Head of NAND development Jungdal Choi along with EVP and Head of Solution Development Hyun Ahn gave a keynote speech titled “Industry-Leading 4D NAND Technology and Solutions Enabling the Multimodal AI¹ Era”.

¹Multimodal AI: Combines various data types (image, text, speech, numerical data, etc.) with multiple intelligence processing algorithms to achieve higher performance levels.

Choi revealed that the company is currently developing the world’s first 321-layer NAND product, the fifth generation of 4D NAND. Choi said that the new product, which is the first in the industry to exceed 300 layers, is set to help the company solidify its technological leadership in NAND. Meanwhile, Ahn introduced the company’s ultra-high performance UFS 4.0 and PCIe 5^th generation (Gen5) SSD products for use in data centers and PCs. The continuous development of SSD products is essential as they are set to become an essential storage solution for application with multimodal AI, which analyzes and calculates vast amounts of data on various platforms. The pair concluded by stating that SK hynix is committed to supporting multimodal AI and other advanced technologies by developing next-generation PCIe Gen6 SSDs and UFS 5.0 memory-based products.

Breaking Barriers: Unveiling Pioneering 4D NAND & SSD Solutions

Figure 3. SK hynix’s product line-up, including its 4D NAND solutions, were on display

SK hynix is continually looking to advance its 4D NAND technology in terms of performance and reliability. The company’s development of the industry’s first 96-layer 4D NAND based on charge trap flash² (CTF) in 2018 became a launchpad for further innovations, leading to the development of its 238-layer 4D NAND four years later in another industry first. Continuing this line of industry firsts, SK hynix showcased samples of its 321-layer 1 Tb 4D NAND, which offers a 59% improvement in productivity compared with the previous generation 238-layer, 512 Gb NAND chips. This improvement was realized by technological developments that enabled the stacking of more cells and a larger storage capacity on a single chip, thereby increasing the total capacity of a single wafer.

The groundbreaking 321-layer NAND product was later presented at SK hynix’s booth along with other NAND solutions, including the company’s PCle³ Gen5 enterprise SSD (eSSD) called PS1030 which utilizes V7 NAND. The PS1030, which was applied to a supermicro server for the demonstration, delivers the fastest sequential read speed in the industry—14,800 MB/s. It also offers a random read performance of 3,300 kIOPS⁴, highlighting its specifications as a high-performance eSSD.

²Charge trap flash (CTF): Unlike floating gate, which stores electric charges in conductors, CTF stores electric charges in insulators, which eliminates interference between cells, improving read and write performance while reducing cell area per unit compared to floating gate technology.

³Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCle): A serial-structured, high-speed input/output interface used on the motherboard of digital devices.

⁴Thousand Input/Output Operations Per Second (kIOPS): A measure of how many read and write operations a storage device can perform in a second.

Visitors to the SK hynix booth could also see another one of the company’s SSDs, the PCIe Gen4 PC811.  Applied to a PC for the demonstration, the PC811 is SK hynix’s first V8 NAND-based mainstream client SSD (cSSD). Other SSDs on show included its high-speed Platinum P41, ultra-low power Gold P31, and the company’s first portable SSD for consumers, SK hynix Beetle X31.

Unleashing the Power of HPC With KV-CSD

Figure 4. SK hynix’s Woosuk Chung, team leader for the Computational Storage department, held a session on KV-CSD, which was also displayed at the company’s booth

SK hynix also held the second demonstrations of its pioneering Key Value Store Computational Storage Device (KV-CSD) following on from its debut at last year’s FMS. Co-developed with U.S.-based Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the KV-CSD is a next-generation intelligent storage product which improves write and read capabilities for high performance computing (HPC).

The impact of the KV-CSD was discussed in a session on August 10^th by SK hynix’s Woosuk Chung, team leader for the Computational Storage department. Titled “Architecture of a Query Accelerating KV-CSD in a HPC System”, the talk revealed how the new KV-CSD overcomes the limitations of software key-value stores.

High-Performance Mobile and Automotive Solutions

Figure 5. SK hynix’s mobile and automotive solutions

SK hynix also exhibited its technologies for the mobile and automotive sectors at FMS 2023. The company’s line-up of V7 512 Gb universal flash storage⁵ (UFS) products was on display, including those based on UFS 2.2, UFS 3.1, and UFS 4.0—the latest specification which offers enhanced bandwidth speed and efficiency. Additionally, the company’s universal multichip package⁶ (uMCP), which combines its mobile DRAM LPDDR and UFS, was also presented at the booth.

Moving to solutions for the automotive market, SK hynix’s LPDDR5X mobile DRAM and HBM2E DRAM were among the products displayed as they are essential components of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)⁷. The HBM2E highlights SK hynix’s strength in the automotive sector as it is the only company to develop HBM products specifically for the industry. As well as ADAS, SK hynix’s automotive solutions support other functions. For example, its eMMC 5.1 embedded multimedia card is utilized for in-car connectivity, while its UFS 3.1-based and SSD products are applied for in-vehicle infotainment and storage, respectively.

⁵Universal Flash Storage (UFS): A breakthrough type of flash memory that can simultaneously read and write data. Due to its low-power consumption, high-performance and reliability, UFS is widely applied in mobile devices.

⁶Universal multichip package (uMCP): A multi-chip package that combines DRAM and NAND flash into one product.

⁷Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): A system that utilizes various technologies to help drivers in routine navigation and parking without fully automating the process.

Never Standing Still

SK hynix always has one eye on the future, and this was exemplified during its successful time at FMS 2023. Despite already offering a range of industry-leading solutions, the company will not rest on its laurels as it aims to further improve it line-up of NAND and other high-performance memories in the future.

The post FMS 2023: SK hynix Showcases World’s First 321-Layer NAND Samples & Storage Solutions first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

• Obtains internationally-recognized ASPICE Level 2 Certification through collaboration with Siemens
• Aims to meet growing demand from automotive chip market, improve profitability with NAND solutions globally recognized

Seoul, June 20, 2023

SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) announced today that it has received the automotive ASPICE¹ Level 2 certification, marking the first case that a Korean semiconductor company wins the recognition.

¹ASPICE (Automotive Software Process Improvement & Capability dEtermination): A guideline for automotive software development that was introduced by European carmakers to evaluate reliability and capabilities of a auto part supplier.

The certification, essential for automotive NAND solution products, is expected to lead to an increased supply and stronger profitability of the company’s NAND solution products such as Universal Flash Memory and Solid State Drive, of which combined market is expected to grow by more than an average 20% every year, the company said.

With introduction and adoption of electric vehicles and autonomous driving system, the importance of technology in the areas of electric and electronic parts of vehicles is also growing.

Particularly, with systems for Advanced Driver Assistance System and Infotainment getting more sophisticated, the importance of software quality management as well as compatibility and stability is growing, requiring auto part suppliers to obtain the ASPICE Level 2 or the equivalent.

To win the certification, SK hynix combined its digital transformation technology with Siemens’ certification solution, which helped result in optimization and success of a stable and efficient system for the overall research and development process ranging from design of software for vehicles and engineering of products to workflow.

The latest achievement follows obtainment of an ISO 26262: 2018 FSM(Functional Safety Management²) in November 2021 as SK hynix continues to deliver accomplishments in the automotive memory business with commitment to safety and reliability.

² ISO 26262: 2018 FSM (Functional Safety Management): An international standard for functional safety in automotive semiconductors set by the International Organization for Standardization.

SK hynix will now aim for the ASPICE Level 3 certification with a more advanced software development process.

“Our achievement comes at a time when product competitiveness of automotive memory solution is more important than ever,” Ahn Hyun, head of solution development, said. “We will aim higher and continue our efforts for development and stronger product competitiveness of automotive memory chips.”

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”), flash memory chips (“NAND flash”) and CMOS Image Sensors (“CIS”) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.

Media Contact

SK hynix Inc.
Global Public Relations

Technical Leader
Kanga Kong
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

Technical Leader
Joori Roh
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

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As a breakthrough generation of flash memory that has separate paths for reading and writing data, Universal Flash Storage (UFS) is capable of simultaneously transferring data in both directions. It is one of several standards of flash memory¹ storage for embedded systems², and it also refers to products made for this standard.

¹Flash memory: A non-volatile storage medium that can erase and rewrite data.
²Embedded systems: Computer systems that fulfill a specific purpose. These systems are used to power devices such as smartphones, GPS navigations, TVs, wearables, and digital cameras.

In the video above, you can see a road sign that says “one-way eMMC.”

Like UFS, embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC)³ is one of the standards for flash memory storage devices. For eMMC products, the direction of data can only be changed when either the host or the device sends data and the other side receives all of it, signifying that data cannot be sent from both sides at the same time. This is explained by the “one-way eMMC ” road in the video where cars on one side must finish getting through before cars on the other side can use the road.

³Embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC): A small storage device made up of NAND flash memory and a simple storage controller.

Today, the amount of data to be processed is continuing to expand due to the ever-increasing resolutions of videos and images taken by mobile devices. Moreover, data processing needs to be even faster as we approach a hyper-connected society made possible through digital technologies like the metaverse and cloud computing. Such changes demand a storage standard that has better performance capabilities than the existing eMMC—something that can go beyond the limitations of a one-way road.

Thus, UFS comes in. With UFS, both the host and device are able to send data in both directions at the same time, just like a two-way road. In addition, UFS speeds up performance as it is capable of handling multiple I/O commands simultaneously.

SK hynix has released its UD310 and UD220 memory solutions based on UFS 3.1 and UFS 2.2 specifications, respectively. Not only are they both smaller and more energy efficient than previous products, but they also offer faster reading and writing speeds. After SK hynix developed the world’s highest 238-layer NAND in August 2022, the company is seeking ways to apply this advanced technology to future versions of UFS.

As a global technology company that develops and produces some of the world’s most advanced NAND products, SK hynix is leading the future of memory and storage devices.

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Solution products based on 128-layer 1Tb 4D NAND
(Clockwise from top left) 16TB E1.L eSSD, 2TB cSSD, 1TB UFS 3.1

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SK hynix delivered the engineering samples of its Terabyte-level high-density solutions based on the 128-layer 1Tb (Terabit) CTF (Charge Trap Flash) based 4D NAND Flash to major customers this month. These include ▲ 1TB UFS 3.1, ▲ 2TB cSSD (client SSD), and ▲ 16TB E1.L eSSD (enterprise SSD).
SK hynix succeeded in the mass production of the 128-layer 1Tb TLC NAND for the first time in the industry in June 2019. A small chip size of the SK hynix’s 4D NAND allows ultra-low power and ultra-thin solution products of TB level of capacity.

Ultra-thin (1.0mm) 1TB UFS 3.1 for 5G Smartphones

Ultra-thin (1.0mm) 1TB UFS 3.1 for 5G smartphones

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In November this year, SK hynix provided engineering samples of its 1TB UFS 3.1, based on the 128- layer 1Tb 4D NAND, to major smartphone manufacturers. As the number of chips required to realize 1TB product has halved compared with using 512Gb NAND, the 1TB could be produced with a package thickness of only 1mm, which is optimal for ultra-thin 5G smartphones. Smartphones equipped with this product are expected to be mass-produced around the second half of the next year.

This product adopted a new feature called Write Booster, which is the industry’s new standard, and SK hynix’s in-house controller and firmware, doubling the sequential write performance. Thanks to this, one 4K UHD film of 15GB (gigabyte) can be downloaded in only 20 seconds.

2TB cSSD with the Industry’s Highest Power Efficiency

2TB cSSD with the industry’s highest power efficiency

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2TB cSSD targets slim laptops and gaming PCs that require higher specifications. In this product, the 128-
layer 1Tb TLC NAND Flash which realized a data transfer rate of 1,200Mbps (Megabits/sec) at only 1.2V is combined with SK hynix’s own controller where Hardware Automation technology was applied, delivering the best performance in PCIe Gen3 platforms.

The 2TB sample delivered to customers this time realized the industry’s best power efficiency by lowering 6W in the previous 96-layer SSD product to 3W. After customer qualification, this product is expected to be used by major PC manufacturers from the first half of 2020.

16TB E1.L eSSD, a standard form factor for Next-Generation Data Centers

16TB E1.L eSSD, a standard form factor for next-generation data centers

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Meanwhile, SK hynix’s 16TB eSSD in new standard E1.L form factor, based on the cost competitive 128-
layer 1Tb TLC NAND, is a PCIe standard product supporting the latest NVMe 1.4 protocol. It is expected that the mass-production of this product will begin from the second half of next year. This product can store more than 1,000 4K UHD movies of 15GB each. Moreover, by applying SK-hynix’s in-house controller and firmware, this product features a sequential read of 3,400MB/s and a sequential write of 3,000MB/s.

As the enterprise PCIe SSD market is expected to grow by average 53% annually until 2023, SK hynix is concentrating more on this market. With this effort, SK hynix’s market share in PCIe enterprise SSD in the second quarter of this year was 10.3%, significantly increasing from 1.8% of the same period of the last year. (The market growth rate and market share are based on TRENDFOCUS)

“128-layer 1Tb 4D NAND boasts the industry’s highest density, best performance, and even cost competitiveness,” said Vice President Han Joo Na, Head of NAND Development Strategy. “By accelerating the business of 128 layer NAND solutions, which provides high productivity and investment efficiency, SK hynix is reinforcing its competitiveness of the NAND business.”

World’s first 128-layer 1Tb 4D NAND Flash by SK hynix

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The post SK hynix Delivers Engineering Samples of Terabyte-Level Solutions Based on a 128-Layer 4D NAND first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.