Failsafe flash translation layer management for flash memory

17th April 2019

HCC-Embedded

Alex Lynn

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It has been announced by HCC Embedded (HCC) that its failsafe flash translation layer (SafeFTL) has been tested and verified for the entire range of automotive-grade SPI NAND flash memory products from Micron Technology. Automotive designers integrating Micron SPI NAND flash into automotive systems can use HCC’s SafeFTL to ensure the reliable storage of data to the NAND flash.

HCC tested Micron’s 1Gb, 2Gb, 4Gb, and 8Gb flash devices with both 1.8 and 3.3V interfaces. These devices operate across a temperature range of -40 to +105°C. To test the memory devices, HCC mounted them on a Secure Digital (SD) form factor board for an easy, straightforward interface to development boards with SD card slot support for SPI communication.

“HCC has a 15-year track record in failsafe NAND flash management and fail safety, and we’ve put in the extra time and effort to test the Micron automotive NAND devices individually to validate them for use with our SafeFTL product,” said HCC CEO Dave Hughes. “Automotive engineers, and any engineers looking for reliable storage solutions using SPI NAND flash, can use our field-proven failsafe flash translation layer to bring added reliability to their designs.”

SafeFTL is designed for integration with any embedded system, independent of RTOS, to allow an array of NAND flash devices (or a single device) to be seen as a dependable logical array of sectors by the host application. This is typically, but not necessarily, a file system. When used in combination with HCC’s various failsafe file systems, a complete and reliable storage solution can be presented to automotive applications.

Further, using HCC’s deterministic SafeFTL, the operations on the flash can be managed by the host system to guarantee deterministic execution time such that there are no unexpected stalls when managing the NAND flash.