Tokyo: Kioxia Corporation, a leader in memory solutions, has announced the commencement of shipments for evaluation samples of embedded flash memory that comply with the next-generation UFS 5.0 standard, currently being standardized by JEDEC.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, UFS 5.0 is engineered to satisfy the performance requirements of next-generation mobile devices, including high-end smartphones equipped with on-device artificial intelligence capabilities. The standard incorporates M-PHY version 6.0 and UniPro 3.0 for its protocol. This technology supports the new HS-GEAR6 mode, which allows a theoretical interface speed of up to 46.6 gigabits per second (Gbps) per lane, offering approximately 10.8 gigabytes per second (GB/s) of effective read/write performance in a two-lane configuration.

The evaluation units feature Kioxia's newly developed in-house UFS 5.0 controller and its 8th-generation BiCS FLASH, available in capacities of 512 gigabytes (GB) and one terabyte (TB). The package has been redesigned to a compact 7.5 millimetre (mm) x 13 mm size, enhancing board space efficiency and design flexibility.

Kioxia stated that the samples are being distributed to customers who are developing UFS 5.0-compatible host systems to facilitate performance evaluation and interoperability testing. Shipments of the 512 GB evaluation samples began on February 24, with one TB samples scheduled for release in March. The company clarified that these samples are intended for functional evaluation only, and their specifications will differ from those of commercial products.

Kioxia remains committed to introducing new flash memory technologies into its UFS products to accommodate the growing demand for larger capacity and higher performance in the mobile market.