Link_A_Media Devices announces customizable controller platform for enterprise, client, hybrid and consumer SSD apps

SANTA CLARA, USA: Link_A_Media Devices (LAMD), a leader in the development of custom System on a Chip (SoC) solutions for the data storage market, announced the availability of its 6G SATA and PCIe, FlashLINK2 SSD controller technology platform. Using the FlashLINK2 platform, LAMD can develop and ship samples of a new, custom SSD controller product, complete with NAND management and host interface firmware, in as little as five months.

The FlashLINK2 is a highly scalable platform, capable of supporting a broad spectrum of SSD applications ranging from 2 Channels for Hybrid Hard Disk Drive and Consumer products to 16 Channels for the enterprise segment. It combines a highly robust data recovery sub-systems, based on LAMD’s second generation proprietary Adaptive DSP Error Recovery technology, with a data transport sub-system and user-customizable host interface block to deliver leading-edge Read/Write transfer speeds and throughput (IOPS), as specified below.

The Adaptive DSP Error Recovery is specifically designed to increase the endurance of current and future generation MLC NAND devices to meet the lifetime requirements of enterprise-class usage while maintaining high performance throughout the drive’s life. It achieves these key system objectives through the use of proprietary adaptive signal estimation methods and powerful on-the-fly error correction technology.

The FlashLINK2 platform comes with complete, qualified NAND management and host interface firmware to support all NAND Flash supplier interfaces, along with hardware design that uses patented micro architectures for error-correction decoder and sophisticated power management to deliver low power consumption.

According to Gartner Inc.’s latest research*, the enterprise SSD market will grow from 1.3 million units shipped in 2010 to over 11.6 million units in 2015, a CAGR of 54 percent. MLC flash based enterprise SSDs are predicted to be the fastest growing segment within this market.

“The endurance, performance and data integrity requirements for MLC flash based enterprise controllers are very stringent,” said Joseph Unsworth, Research Director for NAND and SSD at Gartner. “MLC flash technology is an imperative for driving enterprise SSD adoption through lower prices and companies that can provide solutions that are easy to integrate and have compelling benefits and cost structure will be increasingly attractive.”

“We are very pleased to announce the availability of our proven FlashLINKTM2 SSD controller platform, which features our endurance enhancing technologies to enable the widespread adoption of next generation MLC Flash in data storage devices,” said Dr. Hemant Thapar, CEO, Link_A_Media Devices. “Our versatile platform is designed to enable our customers to suitably add their own hardware or firmware blocks to create custom controller products and deliver differentiated NAND-based system-level storage solutions. LAMD’s FlashLINK2 platform is significant because it enables manufactures to get to market quickly with a reliable, MLC flash based SSD.”

The FlashLINK2 SSD technology platform is comprised of customizable hardware intellectual property (IP) blocks and firmware modules, implementing a complete 6Gbps end-to-end NAND Flash controller. Unique FlashLINK2 platform technology dramatically improves the endurance, reliability, cost and performance of NAND Flash storage for all applications (enterprise, client (PC, notebook) and embedded mobile storage). LAMD is currently shipping MLC enterprise level products to a major OEM drive manufacturer.