M-Systems releases mDiskOnChip G3 for embedded systems

STMicroelectronics unveils the first 512Mbit and 1Gbit NAND-Flash chips

Hitachi introduces new 2.5" Travelstar 4K40 series

MSI unveils K8D Master 3 motherboard for two Opterons and 24GB RAM

M-Systems releases mDiskOnChip G3 for embedded systems

M-Systems released mDiskOnChip G3 solution for embedded systems. Being a NAND-Flash drive supporting MLC technology, it´s designed for routers, switches, wireless gateways, digital photo and video cameras.

The main difference of mDiskOnChip G3 from similar solutions is the support of almost all processor architectures used in portable systems, including ARM, MIPS, Power PC and x86, as well as OS like Microsoft Windows CE.NET, Linux and VxWorks. The device utilizes the same technologies as those in Mobile DiskOnChip G3, in particular x2 (MLC in terms of M-Systems) and TrueFFS (the industrial standard increasing flash chip lifetime and defining error recognition and correction algorithms). Besides, eXecute In Place (XIP) feature enables to boot from the flash disk.

So, at the moment M-Systems DiskOnChip series includes mDiskOnChip G3 and DiskOnChip Millennium Plus supporting cascade memory upgrades up to 256MB, modular uDiskOnChip USB (16-512MB), DiskOnChip 2000 series in standard 32-bit DIP packages (16MB to 1GB).

STMicroelectronics unveils the first 512Mbit and 1Gbit NAND-Flash chips

STMicroelectronics launched the mass production of 1Gbit and 512Mbit NAND-Flash chips that are company´s first NAND-Flash products. According to the press release, NAND1G and NAND512 will be available in two modifications, with 1.8V and 3.0V voltages (NAND01GR3A, NAND512R3A and NAND01GW3A, NAND512W3A, respectively.)

Chips are organized as 32 pages x 4096 x 8192 blocks that make up the single address space. Block deletion performance is 2ms, page size is 528 bytes (512 + 16 free) or 264 Words (256 + 8 free) depending on chip bus (x8 or x16). Free bytes are stored to mark bad blocks, ECC or program flags. Each block endures up to 100,000 rewrite cycles, data storage time is 10 years.

Hitachi introduces new 2.5" Travelstar 4K40 series

According to TrendFocus, the marketing company, 2.5" 40GB HDDs were about 44% of the notebook hard drives market in 2003 and continue to be the most popular, so their share might reach 60% this year, most likely, due to 20GB drives share reduction. According to Hitachi GST (Hitachi Global Storage Technologies), this was the reason for the company to develop and introduce the new 2.5" Travelstar 4K40 series. As you know, Hitachi is already shipping 2.5" Travelstar 80GN and 4K80 with 60GB and 80GB capacities, but is going to bet on 40GB models most.

Travelstar 4K40 doesn´t feature higher RPM or a new interface, but still offers some technological innovations:

• Single-disk design, 2 circutry chips instead of 4;
• Better shock protection comparing to other 2.5"/4200RPM drives
• Head lifetime increased to 600,000 load/unload cycles
• Improved head chassis design claimed to reduce data loss probability

Hitachi Travelstar 4K40 main specs are summarized below:

Mass shipments of 40GB Hitachi Travelstar 4K40 are scheduled to April with MSRP of $139.

MSI unveils K8D Master 3 motherboard for two Opterons and 24GB RAM

Micro-Star International unveiled its new K8D Master 3 (MS-9161) motherboard on AMD-8131+AMD-8111 chipset for 2 x Opteron processors and supporting 800MHz FSB. The board designed for clusters and supports 24GB Registered ECC DDR266/333/400 (in 12 sockets).

Other features 64-bit Gigabit Ethernet, 3 x 64-bit / 100MHz PCI-X (incl. Zero Channel RAID), 2 x 32-bit PCI, 8MB ATI Rage XL, SCSI, 4 x SATA (RAID 0, 1, 0+1) (Silicon Image chip; K8D Master 3-FA4R(M)); optional 1 x Ultra 320 SCSI (Adaptec; K8D Master 3-FS(M)).

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