Samsung, Toshiba Jointly Support New Toggle DDR 2.0 NAND Specs

Korean giant Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Japan’s Toshiba (News - Alert) Corporation have joined hands to develop second generation double data rate NAND flash memory with a 400 megabit-per-second (Mbps) interface. Without giving further details on memory capacity and availability of the new device, the Asian heavyweights said that the DDR 2.0 NAND memory will benefit a host of NAND-based mobile and consumer electronics applications, especially where there is consumer demand for an extra stretch in performance. Both the developers are optimistic that their support for the new standard will enable wide acceptance of this new high-speed memory technology.

The two companies have started participating in standardization efforts for DDR 2.0 through the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, formerly known as the Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council. Samsung (News - Alert) and Toshiba said they will focus on developing a 400-Mbps interface for the toggle DDR 2.0 specification, which provides a three-fold increase over toggle DDR 1.0, and a ten-fold increase over 40-Mbps SDR NAND in widespread use today, said the partners.

The current toggle DDR 1.0 specification applies a DDR interface to conventional single data rate NAND architecture. The resulting NAND chip has a 133-Mbps interface.

In a statement, Samsung’s Dong-Soo Jun, executive vice president of memory marketing, stated, "Our introduction of high-speed 30-nanometer class NAND late last year served as an initial pathway for stimulating acceptance of the new high-performance toggle DDR technology. " He added, "The rapid adoption of fourth generation (4G) smartphones, tablet PCs and solid state drives is expected to drive demand for a broader range of high-performance NAND solutions."

Similarly, Toshiba’s Masaki Momodomi, memory product technical executive, commented, "Toggle DDR provides a faster interface than conventional NAND using an asynchronous design, delivering the benefits of high-speed data transfer to a wider market, such as for solid state drive applications including enterprise storage, mobile phones, multimedia terminals and consumer products."

Meanwhile, driven by rising demand for NAND flash memory in existing and emerging applications, Toshiba, in collaboration with SanDisk Corp. (News - Alert) has begun the construction of Fab 5, the NAND flash memory fabrication facility in Yokkaichi, Japan. Initially, the memory devices fabricated here will be based on the state-of-the-art 20-nm process, followed by subsequent generations. According to Toshiba, the first phase of the project will be completed by early next year, while production will start in the middle of 2011.