Samsung produces fast 128GB ufs storage for smartphones

Samsung has started mass production of emmc memory based on the new universal flash storage 2.0 standard. It is a high-bandwidth memory with a capacity of 128GB. The announcement comes just before that of the new Galaxy S6 models.

Samsung’s ufs-embedded memory comes in versions with storage capacities of 128GB, 64GB and 32GB. That’s twice as much as the current line of emmc memory. Samsung supplies the memory on a new ePoP, which takes up 50 percent less space and can be placed directly on the chip. Samsung expects that ufs will serve the high-end market and that the current emmc will continue to be made for the midrange.

The advantage of ufs over emmc is, among other things, the use of a Command Queue via a serial interface, whereas emmc still has to make do with a parallel 8-bit interface. According to Samsung, the speed of ufs is 19,000 iops in random reading, 2.7 times faster than emmc version 5.0 and more than 12 times faster than with memory cards. Random write would come out at 14,000 iops. The sequential read and write speeds are also higher than with emmc version 5.0, while consumption would have decreased by half.

According to Samsung, the memory enables smooth playback of 4k content and flawless multitasking. The announcement comes just before Samsung will announce two Galaxy S6 models. That introduction is expected next week at the MWC in Barcelona.