- Samsung introduces industry-first UFS 5.0 storage: a fingernail-sized chip that can read up to 10.8 GB/s
- With capacities of up to 1TB on offer, it is a solid solution for replacing existing M.2 drives in laptops, handheld devices, gaming consoles, and other hardware.
- The chip is also relevant to AI, offering a significant increase in read speeds for on-device AI solutions, such as a 40% decrease in power consumption compared to UFS 4.1.
Samsung has unveiled what it says is the industry’s first look at UFS 5.0, a new storage standard for its customers.
The memory and storage giant unveiled its new storage chip on June 23, while also positioning its integrated storage standard as a major advancement for localized or on-device AI solutions.
Samsung claims its chips are based on the standard feature of a sequential read speed of up to 10.8 GB/s and a sequential write speed of up to 9.5 GB/s, making them more than twice as fast as the previously conventional UFS standard, which clocks in at 4.2 GB/s and 2.8 GB/s respectively.
Faster, less power-consuming flash in a more compact package
Samsung’s latest offering isn’t just an iterative upgrade to raw speeds compared to previous generations; lays the groundwork for devices yet to come as the world grapples with the need for on-device AI solutions, even as demand for more localized solutions eclipses expectations among many manufacturers.
With generative AI often leveraging fast NAND flash memory as a substitute for relatively more expensive DRAM, even as smartphones and computers are increasingly hit by rising prices for both components, Samsung’s UFS 5.0-based offering fills an important gap for many of its OEM customers, as well as its own line of smart devices.
“In the era of AI on devices, storage devices are evolving to become a key factor defining AI experiences,” said Jangseok Choi, head of memory product planning at Samsung Electronics.
“As we successfully move beyond the development stage of the industry’s first UFS 5.0 solution, Samsung is setting a new standard for storage on the move and will continue to drive innovation for the next-generation mobile platform market.”
As AI solutions range from hyperscalers to things smaller than smartwatches, Samsung’s offering becomes even more important. Its solution package is 16.7% smaller than the previous generation, measuring just 7.5mm x 13mm x 0.9mm, or smaller than most people’s fingernails.
Samsung’s biggest achievement, however, might be the 40% power efficiency it claims to deliver compared to its new chip’s predecessor, while delivering speeds that effectively make its solution viable for most local models.
With Samsung touting 5x faster random read speeds, it’s clear that its goal is to position its upcoming UFS module as a de facto solution for downstream AI inference, and it could pose a very real threat to some of the most powerful NVMe SSDs out there.
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