Arasan announces eMMC 5.0 total IP solution

SPAIN: Arasan Chip Systems Inc. has announced support for the upcoming eMMC 5.0 specification, which is proceeding to ratification within the JEDEC standards organization.

With its November Pro Class 2000 Flash Memory Devices, Samsung announced that it would be submitting the specifications to JEDEC for standardization.  The upcoming eMMC standard revision is expected to double the maximum speed of the current eMMC 4.51 devices from 200MB/s to 400MB/s. Responding to strong customer interest, Arasan has expanded its eMMC Total IP Solution to support the upcoming specification.

The eMMC Total IP Solution comprises digital and analog IP cores, software stack, firmware and a hardware validation platform.  The eMMC 5.0 IP core is derived from Arasan's market leading, silicon-proven eMMC IP product line. Unlike previous eMMC specifications, the 400MB/s interface will require analog PHY components.   Arasan's eMMC 5.0 Total IP Solution includes an analog PHY, licensed as GDSII, comprising the 3 DLLs required for tuning, strobe, and hold time management.

Also included are pads, derived from existing Arasan silicon-proven technology, which support the new performance levels at the required voltage levels.  Arasan's eMMC software stack has been upgraded to support the new specification requirements and a new firmware driver designed to support booting from an eMMC 5.0 device. Completing the Total IP Solution is the hardware validation platform.

Arasan's ability to ship a working hardware validation platform provides an invaluable head start for software development and interoperability testing.

"Arasan has a track record of participating in standards development and delivering IP at the earliest possible time to satisfy customer needs," said Andrew Haines, VP of Marketing for Arasan. "In the case of eMMC, we are seeing tremendous interest in the anticipated specification change from our customer base which is consistent with the substantial 37% year over year growth forecast by market researchers at  iSuppli."

Arasan's  is currently engaging with early adopters for licensing of analog and digital IP cores, Verilog HDL for verification, software stack and firmware and sales of the hardware validation platform.