Intel, Micron Announces High-speed NAND Chip

Developed by Intel and Micron, the new NAND flash chip can read and write data 5 times faster.

Intel and Micron say they have developed a NAND flash chip that reads/writes data 5x faster than conventional NAND flash chips.

The 8Gb single-level cell chip, designed with 50nm process technologies, sports read and write speeds of 200MB/s and up to 100MB/s, respectively, vs.40Mb/s and <20MB/s for conventional SLC NAND. It leverages the ONFI 2.0 specification and a four-plane architecture, according to the companies.

The international companies explained various benefits of high-speed NAND that includes 2-4x faster data read/write speeds in hybrid hard drives vs. conventional hard drives, and 5x faster transfer of high-def movies in digital video cameras and video-on-demand services. Also, high-speed NAND will better support the new USB 3.0 interface that aims to achieve 10x bandwidth of USB 2.0, or 4.8GB/s.

NAND chip samples are now at OEMs and controller manufacturers, with Intel and Micron working with partners to build and optimize corresponding system technologies that eventually take advantage of its improved performance capabilities.

Production is slated for Summer 2008.