Micron Debuts World’s First Quad-Port SSD to Accelerate Data-Rich Autonomous and AI-Enabled Vehicle Workloads
April 09 2024 - 1:00AM
Embedded World --
Micron
Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), today announced it is sampling the
automotive-grade Micron 4150AT SSD, the world’s first quad-port
SSD,1 capable of interfacing with up to four systems on chips
(SoCs) to centralize storage for software-defined intelligent
vehicles. The Micron 4150AT SSD combines market-leading features
such as single-root input/output virtualization (SR-IOV), a PCIe®
Generation 4 interface and ruggedized automotive design. With these
features, the automotive-grade SSD provides the ecosystem with data
center-level flexibility and power.
“As storage requirements race to keep up with rich in-vehicle
experiences featuring AI and advanced algorithms for higher levels
of autonomous safety, this era demands a new paradigm for
automotive storage to match,” said Michael Basca, Micron vice
president of embedded products and systems. “Building on our
collaboration with the innovators redefining next-generation
automotive architectures, Micron has reimagined storage from the
ground up to deliver the world’s first quad-port SSD — the Micron
4150AT — which provides the industry flexibility and horsepower to
roll out the transformative technologies on the horizon.”
Micron’s 4150AT SSD brings enterprise-class speeds to consumer
vehicles, with random read and write speeds above 600,000
input/output operations per second (IOPS) and above 100,000 IOPS,
respectively, for a 4-kilobyte transfer.2 This high performance
allows the drive to efficiently manage data streams from multiple
SoCs at once, making it an ideal solution for vehicles that must
increasingly multitask to handle diverse systems, from advanced
driver-assistance systems (ADAS) to in-vehicle infotainment (IVI)
to AI-enabled cabin experiences.
Micron built its 4150AT SSD to provide powerful, customizable
features inspired by the design of data center SSDs but tailored to
the unique challenges of next-generation automotive architectures
including:
- Multi-port
capability: The first SSD across any end market with four
ports,3 the Micron 4150AT SSD can connect up to four SoCs, bringing
unmatched flexibility and creating a single source of truth. For
example, an automotive OEM can connect one port to an ADAS system
and another to an IVI system, allowing each to store private data
while accessing a common set of critical map data and reducing cost
per gigabyte of storage. This boosts performance and dissolves
bottlenecks as both can access shared data simultaneously and
alleviates the need to keep redundant copies of data. The 4150AT’s
quad ports also reduce the need for extra storage devices. Since
existing solutions can typically connect to only one SoC on their
own, they tend to get placed locally with each automotive system —
leading to unused capacity; or alternatively, require OEMs to
utilize a costly automotive-grade PCIe switch to connect a drive to
multiple SoCs. By centralizing storage for multiple systems, the
SSD dramatically improves efficiency while streamlining
architecture.
- Virtualization:
The 4150AT’s SR-IOV capability provides high performance for heavy
multi-host workloads of up to 64 virtual machines (VMs). The unique
virtualization gives each SoC and its virtual machines an isolated
storage region for local processing while sharing a pool of
storage, maximizing efficiency. This support for multi-host
workloads is essential as today’s automotive SoCs increasingly use
VMs to multitask across different functions, from autonomous
driving to vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The SR-IOV capability
offers an advantage by directing input/outputs (I/Os) from the VMs
directly to the SSD hardware, contrasting with the typical
paravirtualization in which I/Os are routed through a software
hypervisor to the SSD, creating latency. By bypassing the software
layer, the drive improves random read performance up to three
times.4
- Boosted security:
Due to its unique virtualization, the 4150AT drive also enables
increased security for carmakers. Based on the SR-IOV
virtualization, the data of each VM is isolated from others in the
hardware to mitigate data or code leakage while curtailing hacking
attempts in one VM from compromising another — maintaining critical
data privacy and security.
- Customizable endurance
modes: Micron’s 4150AT SSD is built with its triple-level
cell (TLC) NAND but can be configured to support single-level cell
(SLC) and high-endurance (HE-SLC) data endurance groups too, which
respectively offer 20 times and 50 times the endurance of TLC, to
best meet unique data requirements. For example, the HE-SLC
endurance group can be used for heavy-write use cases such as
continuous black box data recording, in which cars must constantly
rerecord critical data from sensors, cameras and lidar. In such a
scenario where data is being programmed and erased every few
minutes, the HE-SLC mode offers the required endurance while
eliminating the need for more expensive volatile memory such as
DRAM.
-
Designed for the automotive industry’s
rigorous requirements: The Micron 4150AT SSD delivers
Automotive Safety Integrity Level B (ASIL-B) capability to support
safety system requirements and is offered in a ball grid array
package to help withstand the shock and vibration typical of
vehicles’ rugged environments. Like all of the solutions in
Micron’s automotive-grade portfolio, the drive is engineered to
withstand the extended temperature ranges found in vehicles.
Micron is now delivering samples of the 4150AT SSD to automotive
customers worldwide. The drive is offered in capacities up to 1.8
terabytes to enable efficient storage of AI algorithms, large
language models, advanced infotainment and telemetry data for the
next generation of vehicles. The company is showcasing a demo of
the SSD at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany from April 9-11 at
booth 5-109.
Resources
- Blog: How the World’s First Quad-Port SSD Will Revolutionize
Intelligent Vehicle Architectures
- Product page: Micron 4150AT
- Portfolio page: Automotive memory and storage solutions
About Micron Technology, Inc. We are an
industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions
transforming how the world uses information to enrich life for all.
With a relentless focus on our customers, technology leadership,
and manufacturing and operational excellence, Micron delivers a
rich portfolio of high-performance DRAM, NAND and NOR memory and
storage products through our Micron® and Crucial® brands. Every
day, the innovations that our people create fuel the data economy,
enabling advances in artificial intelligence and 5G applications
that unleash opportunities — from the data center to the
intelligent edge and across the client and mobile user experience.
To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), visit
micron.com.
© 2024 Micron Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Information,
products, and/or specifications are subject to change without
notice. Micron, the Micron logo, and all other Micron trademarks
are the property of Micron Technology, Inc. All other trademarks
are the property of their respective owners.
1 Based on results of Micron’s competitive intelligence2 Based
on the triple-level cell endurance group for the 4150AT SSD3 Based
on results of Micron’s competitive intelligence4 As compared to a
drive without SR-IOV supporting up to two VMs
Micron Media Relations Contact
Steffi Lau
Micron Technology, Inc.
+1 (408) 834-1618
steffilau@micron.com
Micron Investor Relations Contact
Satya Kumar
Micron Technology, Inc.
+1 (408) 450-6199
satyakumar@micron.com
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