NAND Flash memory: The driving technology in digital storage - Overview and challenges

Summary form only given. Nand Flash memory is the NVM technology of choice for solid storage devices. This talk will give an introduction to Flash Non Volatile Memory (NVM). For completeness the talk will also present Nor Flash as well as the roles for Nand and Nor Flash. The second part of the talk will be focused on issues related to reliability and endurance, and current solutions and future challenges. Despite the advantages, NAND-based storage systems are not without challenges. For the next decade, Flash storage systems are expected to provide solutions with reduced product costs, further improved read/write performance at low power consumption, as well as better data integrity for the users. Growth in storage demand is phenomenal, which leads to the adoption of more aggressive technology to keep cost reasonable. This further leads to using smaller cells (~10nm in geometry), as well as more bits/cell to improve storage density, as well as cost. Newer physical storage media requires closer system-level interaction to make the system feasible for reliable data storage solution. State-of-the-art error correcting coding (ECC) solution, as well as advanced memory signal processing (MSP) techniques, will be deployed to make future flash media reliable for all data storage customers. In addition, new system solutions will provide the NAND-based storage system longer endurance and better data retention. The talk will conclude with a discussion of challenges that require significant research.