SSDs provide compact and durable storage options for in-vehicle infotainment systems If the car audio system can play multiple CDs, such a car entertainment system used to be an advanced system configuration. Today's in-vehicle infotainment systems are complex embedded subsystems that combine such diverse functions as MP3 music playback, GPS navigation, voice recognition, hands-free cellular connection, DVD video and even Internet browsing. As in-vehicle infotainment systems enter a wider range of multimedia applications, its storage subsystem is playing an increasingly critical role. Music and video files must be stored and quickly accessed. The large-scale map data files of the 3D GPS system must be quickly searched and displayed, and audio files for voice recognition need to be synthesized and stored. Most infotainment systems currently in use rely on ruggedized hard drives to store data. These devices generally provide 40GB to 50GB capacity. As a solid and mature technology, hard drives offer several attractive advantages. At a price per GB, they present a cost-effective solution for designers. In applications that can overcome the inherent seek and spin latency of hard drives (for example, most read accesses are sequential), hard drives can deliver large amounts of data in a short time. However, in the increasingly complex in-vehicle infotainment system, other factors play an increasingly important role in the selection of storage subsystems. In many applications, the huge data storage space available on hard drives provides little benefit for designers of in-vehicle infotainment systems. This is because most systems require only 4GB to 8GB of memory to meet current multimedia applications. Moreover, the automotive industry has high expectations for reliability and strict requirements for ruggedness, which leads to its strong preference for storage subsystems that are highly resistant to shock, vibration, high temperature, and humidity. Compact package In light of these trends, a new generation of industrial-grade small-size solid-state drives (SSDs) provides in-vehicle infotainment system designers with a very attractive storage option. These products are available in integrated or discrete versions. SST's NANDrive product line and other integrated NAND modules combine an integrated ATA controller with one or more NAND flash die in a single package. These devices provide complete IDE flash drive functionality and compatibility, and are packaged in a compact 12mm x 18mm x 1.4mm BGA package. The designer simply installs the BGA on the system motherboard. When booting, the system treats the device as a system drive via the ATA or IDE interface. As a storage solution based entirely on silicon and containing no mechanical moving parts, these drives provide designers with a better opportunity to meet the stringent shock and vibration specifications of the automotive industry. From a performance perspective, the small size SSD not only eliminates the seek process (an average of 13ms) that the disk storage system must perform, but also provides up to 30Mbps read and write performance. The quality of the current generation of NANDrive devices meets the requirements of the industrial temperature range, and provides up to 8GB of storage space, which can provide higher density in the future. Smaller size The two main advantages of small size SSDs are smaller size and high performance. Over the past decade, auto manufacturers have introduced more and more electronic subsystems to automobiles, so reducing the size of electronic devices has become an increasingly priority task. For example, the current average automobile integrates 30 to 50 microcontroller-based systems. Although hard drive manufacturers continue to make progress in reducing product size, current drives still require much more space than alternative products. For example, the standard 40GB hard drive is 70mm x 100mm x 9.5mm, while the industrial version NANDrive is 12mm x 24mm x 1.4mm. In terms of weight reduction, NANDrive, which weighs only 0.8g, is less than one percent of the weight of a hard drive. Improved data integrity Data integrity and extended IC durability are the most critical storage subsystem considerations. Today's small-sized SSDs offer a variety of features suitable for these requirements. For example, to compensate for random read errors that may occur when using NAND flash memory, SSDs provide embedded error checking and correction (ECC) circuits designed to ensure the accuracy of data as it enters and leaves the memory. For example, NANDrive provides an 8-bit hardware ECC engine. Bad-block management poses another challenge. Unlike NOR flash memory, the design of NAND IC allows several bad blocks. In order to manage these defects, the firmware-based bad block management function is activated when the small-sized SSD is initialized, locates these bad blocks, and maps them outside the storage array. The firmware then directs the controller to prevent it from using these specified blocks. When additional bad blocks are found, the firmware updates the map to ensure that these blocks are not used. MLC system architecture The durability of write operations constitutes another obstacle to the use of small-sized SSDs in the automotive market. Flash memory ICs suffer from limitations in the durability of write operations: after repeated erase and write cycles, the memory no longer retains data. The more complex the IC architecture and the smaller the memory cell size, the lower the durability of the IC. For example, single-level-cell (SLC) flash memory devices are generally specified at 100,000 cycles. Devices using a more complex multi-level cell (multi-level cell, MLC) architecture, such as those currently used in portable consumer equipment, are generally specified at 10,000 cycles. Small-sized SSD manufacturers have begun to use only SLC flash memory in SSDs for the automotive market to mitigate this risk. In addition, by using wear leveling in the device's firmware, durability can be extended. The wear leveling algorithm matches the age counter with the logical and physical sector maps on the flash media, thereby tracking memory usage by block or page. For each write and erase action, the age counter is incremented. These complex algorithms direct the controller to direct memory writes to smaller blocks, thereby automatically balancing memory usage. This technology uses all sectors of the flash memory to allow them to reach the write limit at the same time, thereby maximizing SSD durability. Discrete and integrated SSD Automakers who choose small-sized SSDs face another choice. They can buy integrated solutions that are plug-and-play, or build their own discrete devices using ATA flash controllers. Many factors will influence this choice. In a discrete solution, a car manufacturer or subsystem supplier will buy controllers and NAND storage ICs from different suppliers and mount these ICs on the board. Each system relies on an embedded flash file system block to manage the handshake mechanism between the host and flash memory. When the supply of flash memory is tight, this method can make use of more suppliers, so it is more flexible. However, it also brings more complicated inventory management problems. Moreover, with the evolution of NAND flash memory technology and the increase of suppliers, the compatibility problem between the controller and the memory has become another potential problem. The integrated solution simplifies the procurement and design process because it combines the integrated ATA controller with one or more NAND flash die in a multi-chip package and optimizes the controller for the storage IC in the drive . These plug-and-play solutions facilitate the procurement from a single vendor, thereby simplifying the inventory management process. Moreover, they can also use stacked packaging methods to significantly save space. Discrete solutions using ICs from multiple vendors may take up twice as much space as an integrated small SSD. Because integrated solutions are packaged in a single package, they also provide advantages in reliability. Because there is only one chip on the board, integrated SSDs have fewer failure points than discrete solutions, and can better meet the shock and vibration requirements of the automotive environment. As far as NANDrive is concerned, the entire series has been extensively tested and certified in the industrial temperature range of -40 ° C to + 85 ° C. Electronic Vape E Bottle,E-Cigarette Oil Bottle,E-Cigarette Disposable Vape Oil Bottle,Portable Electronic Cigarette Oil Bottles Shenzhen Niimoo Innovative Technology Co., Ltd , https://www.niimootech.com