- Intel 520 SSD based on SandForce controllers - Intel will increase SSD volume up to a terabyte - Rambus acquires developer of solid-state memory - AMD talk about possible processors development direction -

Today computer news : 2012 - 02 - 08

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DATE:2012-02-07

Yesterday Intel company introduced the  solid-state drives 520, previously known under the code Cherryville, which are built on the controller SandForce SF-2281 with SATA-600.

Intel and SandForce started working in this area one and a half years ago, resulting in 520 Intel drives not only have substantially revised firmware for SandForce controller, but also original PCB design.

MLC memory chips are produced in a joint venture of Intel and Micron on 25 nm technology.  It is expected that further optimization of firmware used by Intel will be partially available to other manufacturers, applying to the series of controllers SandForce SF-2281, therefore, the cooperation will benefit both companies and other market participants.  

Drives Intel 520, except for the 480 GB capacity models are offered in versions with a  7 mm body height, and a version with a standard 9.5 mm height.  This allows their use in ultrabooks.  

The range and the main technical characteristics of Intel 520 drives are listed in the table above.  If you are using SATA-600 interface serial data read speed up to 550 MB / s write speed - 520 MB / s.  Speed , reading arbitrary data blocks of 4 KB is equal to 50 000 IO operations per second write speed - 80,000 transactions per second.  After more than 5000 individual tests, Intel supplies the drives with a five-year warranty.  

Recommended prices are: $ 149 for 60GB, $ 229 for 120GB, $ 369 for 180 GB, $ 509 for 240 GB and $ 999 for 480 GB.  In U.S. retail Intel 520 drives are seen at $ 20 more than the recommended level.  On average, products are more expensive than competitors' Intel-based controllers SandForce by 17-50%.

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DATE:2012-02-07

Associates yesterday found that the processor giant (Intel) in a joint venture with Micron has already mastered the production of solid-state memory chips on 20 nm technology density 128 Gb.  By the end of the year,  the company can provide solid state drives with up to 1 TB.

Intel have their own development in this area, and a high concentration of various resources in the hands of one company can count on strong market share of solid-state drives.

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DATE:2012-02-07

Rambus company , which many call patent troll ( live by the past patent achievements ), yesterday announced the purchase of a $ 35 million Unity Semiconductor, which has 147 patents for the developments in various fields.

The main interest for Rambus memory is solid-state type CMOx , which promises to be faster and cheaper than the widely used now, NAND, and also offers higher reliability, and density information recording. The thinning of NAND flash memory manufacturing process has the ability to reduce its service life durability.  Perhaps the transition to CMOx memory for the whole industry will be one solution to this problem.

The memory type CMOx oxygen ions migrate between the conductive and insulating layers of metal oxide, changing the state from a logical 0 to 1.  State management is made by an external electric field. The development Unity of this memory type is engaged from the beginning of this century.

Curiously, Unity Semiconductor last year signed a cooperation agreement with Micron.  

The acquisition of Unity Semiconductor company Rambus has already been approved by all interested parties and considered closed.  Unity development team moved to Rambus, where it will continue to develop technologies production of a new ROM generation.

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DATE:2012-02-07

AMD Guide explain changes in the current strategy, which involves the ability to integrate third-party products with different architectures in its own processors.  

AMD Chapter  Rory Reid, reported about the possibility of integrating third-party development in AMD processors, he cited the example of a partnership with some major tablets producer, smart phones, laptops, desktops, and smart TVs.  Especially for such a partner, AMD can create a processor that combines x86-compatible architecture with an alternative.

Frankly, after these statements come to mind mainly two players: Apple and Samsung.  As you know, the first use in smart phones and tablets are specially designed processor with ARM-architecture, which are produced at the Samsung facilities  .  Why Apple may need a processor that combines elements of both architectures are difficult to predict.  Note that Intel and NVIDIA are going to integrate in their processors for smart phone modems, allowing to work in wireless networks.  For AMD it would be the easiest and most obvious option of cooperation with third-party chips developer.  

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