UFS 3.0 will bring faster storage speeds to future smartphones

Carly Page
@CarlyPage_
01 February 2018

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STANDARDS OUTFIT JEDEC has published the spec Universal Flash Storage (UFS) version 3.0, which promises double the bandwidth and less power consumption.

UFS 3.0, which will crop up in future mobile devices, Chromebooks, VR headsets and automotive devices, doubles the per-lane performance of UFS 2.1 to 11.6GBPS, increasing the peak data transfer rate of a storage device to 23.2 Gbps.

The new flash storage standard also introduces a 2.5 V VCC power supply mode that enables lower power consumption and support for the latest types of NAND.

UFS 3.0 also includes two features introduced specifically for the automotive market: the ability to function at an extended temperature range (-40C, 105C) and refresh operation to boost reliability.

JEDEC also this week introduced an updated version of the UFS Card Extension, but, er, we'll let them tell you about that.

"UFS 3.0, UFSHCI 3.0 and the UFS Card Extension update offer a host of enhancements over the prior versions of these standards that will help product designers enable significant improvements in mobile devices and related applications," said Mian Quddus, chairman of the JEDEC Board of Directors and the JC-64 Committee for Embedded Memory Storage and Removable Memory Cards.

He added: "The addition of features specifically for the automotive market underscores the commitment of JEDEC members to continue to evolve the UFS ecosystem to meet the needs of the industry and, ultimately, the consumer."

It's likely going to be some time until companies implement UFS 3.0, but SamMobile speculates that Samsung likely will be among the first to adopt it.

It notes that Samsung started producing the industry's first UFS solution for use in automotive applications back in September last year based on the then most up-to-date UFS 2.1 standard, and was also the firm comapny to introduce 128GB embedded memory based on the UFS 2.0 standard in 2015. µ