New 512GB device brings the higher bit density of QLC to UFS

KIOXIA Europe GmbH has announced that it has begun mass-producing the industry's first UFS Ver. 4.0 embedded flash memory devices with 4-bit-per-cell QLC technology.

QLC UFS delivers a higher bit density than traditional TLC UFS, making it excellent for mobile applications that need higher storage capacities. Advancements in controller technology and error correction have enabled QLC technology to accomplish this while maintaining competitive performance. The company's new 512GB QLC UFS attains sequential read speeds of up to 4,200MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 3,200MB/s, taking full advantage of the UFS 4.0 interface speed.

The device is ideal for smartphones and tablets, and other next-generation applications where higher storage capacity and performance are key considerations, including PCs, networking, AR/VR, IoT, and AI.

Key Features include support for High-Speed Link Startup Sequence (HS-LSS) features, enhanced security, and support for Extended Initiator ID (Ext-IID).

The company was the first to introduce UFS technology and continues to develop new innovative flash products. The new QLC UFS Ver. 4.0 device integrates the company's innovative BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory and a controller in a JEDEC standard package. UFS 4.0 incorporates MIPI M-PHY 5.0 and UniPro 2.0 and supports maximum theoretical interface speeds of up to 23.2Gbps per lane or 46.4Gbps per device. UFS 4.0 is backward compatible with UFS 3.1.

"KIOXIA first sampled 512Gbps QLC UFS 3.1 in 2022, and we are very excited to bring the first QLC UFS Ver. 4.0 version to mass production, expanding our UFS Memory product range while showing our commitment to storage technology development and enabling customers to meet growing storage demands," comments Axel Störmann, chief technology officer and VP at KIOXIA Europe GmbH. "QLC technology delivers higher densities and cost efficiencies, and is, as a result, especially suited for data-intense applications that are demanding superior interface performance."