JEDEC Solid State Technology Association publishes Universal Flash Storage (UFS) version 3.1 (aka JESD220E), an update to the standard promising to increase performance, minimise power usage and potentially cut the costs of high-capacity storage devices.
Key updates to the standard include Write Booster (a SLC non-volatile cache to amplify write speeds), DeepSleep (a low-power state for lower-cost systems) and Performance Throttling Notification (allows the UFS device to notify the host when high temperatures throttle storage performance). A JESD220-3 Host Performance Booster (HPB) extension provides an option to cache the UFS device logical-to-physical address map to system DRAM, providing larger and faster caching and thus improving the read performance of the device.
The UFS standard will also continue to leverage specification from the MIPI Alliance for the Interconnect Layer. Specifically, UFS 3.1 references the MIPI M-PHY v4.1 physical layer specification and the MIPI UniPro v1.8 transport layer specification.
“The development of UFS 3.1 is a prime example of the ongoing commitment within JEDEC to continually improve and enhance JEDEC standards to meet the needs of the industry and, ultimately, the consumer,” JEDEC says. “The new features introduced with UFS 3.1 and UFS HPB will offer product designers greater flexibility in managing power consumption and enhancing device performance.”
