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Product Design for

the 21st Century

Simplify Embedded
NAND Flash Design
Scott Nelson High density NAND with an optimized controller
Director of Marketing eases embedded design challenges
Memory Products
Toshiba America

N
AND Flash is fast becoming the preferred LBA-NAND™ is a single-package solution that com-
Electronic data storage solution for a wide range of bines high-density NAND with a memory controller
Components, Inc. that handles all NAND management functions. It
electronic products because of its solid-state
features a standard NAND physical interface supported
performance, high capacities, fast access time,
low power requirements and excellent shock by many existing microprocessors and custom ASIC
“One of Toshiba's embedded controllers. LBA-NAND is a single-package MLC
resistance. At the same time, the design com-
NAND solutions, LBA- NAND™ plexity of integrating NAND in embedded applica- NAND Flash solution that uses logical block address-
ing, a common approach used in hard disk drives that
tions has increased significantly as physical geometries
simplifies design and eliminates
have decreased, Multi-Level Cell (MLC) technology gives each sector or block of storage a unique address
the need for the host to handle has been widely adopted, and flash manufacturers haveand presents the system processor with a clean, easy to
NAND management functions. It added proprietary features. use interface. As a result, it’s easier than ever to use
significantly eases the hardware In today’s typical embedded flash designs, data NAND flash in embedded designs.
integrity and NAND management tasks have often Hardware design is nearly as easy as interfacing with
and software design effort and a hard disk drive. There’s no need for a separate
been administered by an external flash controller or the
speeds time to market.” host CPU. One of the design challenges when using NAND Flash controller to perform Flash manage-
an external NAND controller is the lag-time between ment functions. As an added benefit, LBA-NAND
the availability of the next-generation NAND and the devices are preformatted, eliminating the need to
• Eliminates the need for an development of corresponding third-party controllers.write flash device initialization software, and removing
external Flash controller, saving a manufacturing step.
Or if the designer relies on the built-in capabilities of
the host processor, the ECC may not match what is On the software side, developers no longer need to
PCB real estate and controller
recommended for the latest generation NAND. implement software algorithms for error correction,
acquisition cost To eliminate these issues and simplify design of block management and wear-leveling. These functions
embedded flash storage subsystems, Toshiba has are handled by the LBA-NAND controller, thereby
• Minimizes software development developed several embedded NAND solutions. Toshiba’s eliminating the need for a NAND Flash file system
or Flash translation layer. All that’s
• Geometry-independent addressing What is LBA-NAND ? ™ needed is a device driver to control the
simplifies product upgrades and LBA-NAND.
increases in memory capacity There’s no need to update host con-
™
LBA-NAND trollers and related drivers every time the
Host NAND goes through a die shrink, or
• Ships preformatted NAND NAND MLC
storage capacity needs to be increased.
interface Controller NAND
processor
As a result, LBA NAND can be used eas-
• Available in 2GB1, 4GB and 8GB ily with an off-the shelf microprocessor
capacities or DSP. As electronic devices steadily
• Single-package Flash Solution add memory capacity, Toshiba is helping
— Logical Block Addressing (LBA) developers shorten product development
1
When used herein in relation to memory density, gigabyte and/or — ECC, Block Management, Wear-leveling Functions schedules by simplifying the integration
GB means 1,024x1,024x1,024 = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Usable — Multi-Level Cell Technology (MLC)
capacity may be less. For details, please refer to specifications of embedded NAND.
— NAND Controller with Common Interface

LBA-NAND™ is Toshiba’s trademark for a NAND interface controller and NAND flash memory that applies the LBA logical address access method.

For more information about Toshiba Embedded Memory Solutions, go to

embeddednand.toshiba.com