Universal Flash Storage (UFS2.0)

Are you buying a mobile or tablet? One of the major specifications that you look at is the storage. The need for memory in embedded products is vital. So, memory is a must in embedded products. We always here of eMMC card that is used in these systems. The memory that we are talking about here is NAND type and this is the type of memory that is used for storage as it is the cheapest memories available. The newest memory interface that the latest processors have to connect memory interfaces is UFS.

UFS is a universal flash storage interface in processors for connecting external memory. UFS is a next generation JEDEC flash memory standard. UFS is a successor to eMMC standard that is commonly used. The removal memory in the embedded systems are interfaces using this interface. The previous eMMC standard uses parallel interface where as the UFS uses serial differential interface for connectivity. The serial differential interface is basically a LVDS signalling method used. On most of the latest mobile processors, you find the UFS interface. The UFS is basically a full-duplex interface. As the interface is full-duplex, this will have separate lines for read and write making it the fastest interface.With UFS we can say that the speed/performance of SSD is combined with storage capacity of eMMC. The speed of UFS based memories can be up to 1200MBps.So, we can achieve the same speed with UFS as well.

The present version of UFS is 2.0. 

Why is UFS preferred?

1. The sequential read/write speeds are high (Faster response times)

2. Lower power consumption.

3. Higher storage bandwidth (Memory density)

4. Lesser space required on PCB for routing

5. Bi-directional transfer

6. The commands are queued which helps for parallel processing

7. Lower latency than eMMC interface

The latest Snapdragon 820 processors have the UFS2.0 interface.