Toshiba announces DDR memory for SSDs

MEMORY MANUFACTURER Toshiba has announced that it has developed double data rate (DDR) flash memory for use in solid state drives (SSDs).

The firm claims that the 32nm DDR Toggle Mode NAND flash chips will allow higher transfer rates and lower power consumption. The chips will be fabbed in both single level cell (SLC) and multi level cell (MLC) versions.

Cheaper MLC based flash memory modules will come in densities of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB, while the enterprise oriented SLC modules will be available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities. Toshiba is claiming that the chips are rated at 133 megatransfers per second (MT/s) compared to current generation SLC chips that manage a mere 40 MT/s.

As the chips do not use an asynchronous bus, there's no need for a clock signal, which lowers the power draw. Thanks to on-die termination, Toshiba claims that it has managed to decrease crosstalk, a common problem as speeds increase.

The company teased customers with the claim that its next generation DDR flash modules will pack three times the performance of what it announced today, though wouldn't say when those will tip up.

There's no word on who will use these chips but Toshiba's announcement could be the start of SSDs becoming even faster, though perhaps not cheaper. µ