On August 11, JEDEC released the latest JESD220F, the UFS 4.0 standard, which is an update to version 3.1 released in 2020. Developed for mobile devices requiring high performance and low power consumption, the UFS 4.0 standard is a high-performance interface that will bring significant bandwidth and data protection improvements.

UFS is a high-performance interface designed for computing and mobile systems that require minimal power consumption, such as smartphones and tablets. Its high-speed serial interface and optimized protocols significantly increase throughput and mobile system performance.

According to reports, through the UFS 4.0 and UFSHCI 4.0 standards, the following improvements have been made compared to the previous generation standards: using the M-PHY version 5.0 specification and the UniPro version 2.0 specification, the UFS interface bandwidth is doubled and supports up to 4.2GB/s read and write traffic; for the more demanding memory I/O mode, a multi-circular queue definition is introduced; the advanced RMPB interface can increase the bandwidth while protecting the security of the data.

The UFS 4.0 standard also offers several enhancements aimed at improving overall device functionality, power efficiency, and easy integration of future solutions: a more efficient VCC voltage of 2.5V is used instead of 3.3V in previous versions; with high-speed Link up, out-of-order data transfers, and BARRIER commands to improve system latency; simplify system integration by introducing a host-configurable timestamp, and enhanced M-PHY Eye Monitor device error history; retains compatibility with UFS 3.0 / 3.1 Standard backward compatibility to allow use in mixed system applications.

It is understood that in order to simplify design, reduce system cost and improve device performance, JEDEC also provides several supplementary standards, namely, JESD220-3A - UFS High Performance Accelerated Extension; JESD223E - UFS Host Controller Interface Version 4.0 (UFSHCI 4.0) ; JESD220-1A - UFS Unified Memory Extension Version 1.1; JESD223-1B - UFS Host Controller Interface, Support for Unified Memory Extension Version 1.1; JESD224 - UFS Test; JESD231 - UFS File-Based Optimization Extension Version 1.0.

At present, leading flash memory chip manufacturers such as Samsung, Kioxia, and Micron, as well as IP manufacturers represented by Synopsys, have expressed their strong support for the development of UFS 4.0 and are promoting the application of products as soon as possible.

Earlier this month, Samsung has stated that it will start mass production of UFS 4.0 flash memory, with a single-chip capacity of up to 1TB. The measured continuous read speed can reach 4200MB/s, and the continuous write speed can reach 2800MB/s, which is more than twice that of UFS 3.1.