In a 5G world, fast and secure connectivity is important. The JEDEC Universal Flash Storage (UFS) version 4.0 helps to ensure this is possible in our everyday devices. As an added security element, a Replay Protected Memory Block (RPMB) is included in UFS devices as a means to store encrypted data securely, only accessible by authentication.
It’s a longstanding cliché, but it is true that verification is a marathon. An integrated verification platform accompanied by a systematic verification methodology are the building blocks to manage the verification complexity of modern system-on-chip (SoC) designs. High performance simulation environment is the foundation however it is not enough to reach to the verification closure that requires regressing hardware in conjunction to real application scenarios and software.
Posted in Audio, Automotive, Camera, IoT, Mobile SoC, UFS, UVM
In today’s world of smartphones and tablets, high speed data at low power consumption is becoming increasingly important. MIPI M-PHY supports multiple applications with high data bandwidth and low power consumption which makes it a popular specification for mobile devices. Applications like JEDEC UFS 3.0 and MIPI UniPro 1.8 now support MIPI M-PHY 4.1 which provides high speed data at a rate of nearly 11Gbps (HS_G4). To learn more about latest UFS and UniPro specifications read our previous blog “High Speed Memory in Smart Phones: MIPI UniPro v1.8 for JEDEC UFS v3.0”. Data at such a high speed can lead to inter-symbol-interference (ISI). M-PHY provides a safety measure to prevent the loss of data at HS_G4. In this blog, we are going to talk about the ‘ADAPT’ feature and its advantages which were introduced in M-PHY 4.0.
Posted in Camera, Debug, Flash, Memory, MIPI, Mobile SoC, MPHY, UFS, Unipro
Flash storage is one of the most important component of a smart phone, and with every new version comes higher memory capacity and performance. The most rapidly adopted flash memory technology in recent years is Universal Flash Storage (UFS), with UFS v2.1 providing a maximum data rate of ~11Gbps. JEDEC has come up with the faster next-generation UFS v3.0 which uses MIPI UniPro v1.8 (Unified Protocol) and MIPI M-PHY v4.1 as interconnect layer.
Posted in Automotive, eMMC, Flash, Memory, MIPI, Mobile SoC, ONFi, UFS
Higher storage performance at a lower cost can create a bottleneck in the design of storage devices. In order to achieve higher performance, devices must use on chip DRAM, which adds to the overall cost. This is where Unified Memory Extension (UME), a JEDEC specification, comes into the picture. It is defined as extension to the JEDEC UFS (Universal Flash Storage) specification. JEDEC UFS device uses NAND flash technology for data storage. Unified Memory (UM) allows users to use part of the host memory as the device’s internal memory. Since the host memory is already available in large capacities, this mechanism provides a much bigger space for the device to use as a Write Buffer (WB) cache or to store information such as Logical to Physical (L2P) address translation tables. The UM area is physically located on the host side but ultimately belongs to the device, thereby replacing the device-integrated RAM, and reducing overall cost. Large space availability means the device can store larger amounts of WB of L2P table information resulting in higher storage performance.
Posted in Automotive, eMMC, Flash, Memory, MIPI, Mobile SoC, ONFi, SPI, Storage, UFS, Uncategorized, Unipro
Posted in ACE, AMBA, Automotive, CAN, CCI400, CHI, Data Center, Display, DisplayPort, eMMC, Ethernet AVB, FlexRay, HDCP, Interconnects, JESD, LIN, MIPI, PCIe, Processor Subsystems, UFS
If you are currently using or consider using JEDEC UFS protocol in your next design you might face several verification challenges. The following blog will talk about 7 of the biggest challenges of UFS stack verification. With the fact that people are moving to reduced pin count and increased speed, an MPHY based stack has picked up momentum and provides an increased number of new applications to leverage the UFS stack. The UFS protocol is being adopted rapidly due to its higher performance, efficiency, concurrent multi-tasking, usage of the complete band width, security, and reliability and longer power life.
Posted in Mobile SoC, MPHY, UFS, Unipro
Posted in Data Center, DDR, Debug, DFI, eMMC, events, Flash, HBM, HMC, LPDDR, Memory, ONFi, Storage, UFS
MIPI DevCon 2016 was successfully held at Mountain View, California on 14-15th Sep, 2016. Synopsys MIPI protocol experts were there demonstrating our MIPI design and verification solutions for wide spectrum of markets ranging from IoT, to mobile, automotive, and consumer. During the conference Synopsys had several presentations. One of the papers presented by Synopsys was based on a customer case study that provide an overview and successful adoption of the MIPI SoundWire VIP and Test Suites to achieve comprehensive verification and coverage closure on their latest MIPI design.
Posted in Audio, Automotive, C-PHY, Camera, CSI, D-PHY, events, I2S, I3C, Interface Subsystems, MIPI, Mobile SoC, MPHY, SlimBus, Soundwire, Test Suites, UFS, Unipro
In today’s connected world of smart devices, we want to access our data faster and at the same time we want it to be secured and protected from intruders. Flash memories are not only faster but secured and reliable also in its avatar as UFS – Universal Flash Storage. This blog provides an insight into various security modes of UFS devices and how to access them. It also points out how encryption is used to secure the data further.
