Memory controller architectures: A comparative study

Abstract

This paper clarifies the differences between six memory architectures, which are Flex-OneNAND, Open NAND Flash Memory (ONFI 3.1), Embedded Multi-Media Card (eMMC v.5.0), Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC v.1.0) WideIO, and Universal Flash Storage (UFS). The paper shows the impact of such discriminating differences on choosing the most suitable architecture for certain application. The comparison is done in terms of most important features to microelectronics industry point of view. The comparison shows that the highest speed is given by HMC v.1.0 which reaches 15GBps supported with power management per link. On the other hand, Flex-OneNAND provides single flash chip with ultra-high density of NAND and simplified interface of NOR with the simplest architecture at very attractive price points. WideIO offers more bandwidth at lower power. Regarding the lowest power consumption, eMMC is sparkling. UFS combines the speed of SSD with the slim form factor and low power of eMMC. ONFI supports increased performance through parallelism using multiple logic units and interleaved addressing. This comparison is very powerful for designers to decide which memory controller is suitable for their applications and satisfies their requirements.