Kioxia brings next-gen quad-level cell technology to UFS 3.1 embedded flash memory

PoC units have been seeded with OEM partners. Image source: Kioxia.

A Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 3.1 embedded flash memory proof of concept (PoC) device based on Kioxia’s new 4-bit per cell Quad-level-cell (QLC) Technology has been released.

Kioxia’s original UFS PoC device was a 512GB prototype that utilised the company’s 1 terabit (128GB) BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory with QLC technology.

The PoC device based on the new QLC technology was designed to meet the increasing performance and density requirements of mobile applications driven by higher resolution images, 5G networks, and 4K plus video etc.

Kioxia says it is sampling its 512GB QLC UFS PoC devices to select OEM customers so we may see it soon in next-generation smartphones, and hopefully without a stratospheric price.