Lite-On Introduces World's First TLC NAND-Based SSD With Advanced LDPC Tech

Lite-On Storage, a leading developer of enterprise flash storage technology, today introduced its CV2 family of solid state drives during a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Solid state drives are faster and more affordable than ever. Lite-On also improves their reliability with its CV2 family armed with next-generation low-density parity-check (LDPC) technology.

Lite-On's CV2 is the first SSD powered by Marvell's four-channel 88SS1074 controller, enabling support for 256-bit AES encryption, an ultra-low-power DEVSLP state for extended battery life in mobile devices, and the latest flash memory interfaces. Lite-On's firmware engineers take that cutting-edge feature set and tune it, optimizing every aspect of the storage platform.

The 88SS1074 is matched up to triple-level-cell Toshiba A19 NAND in capacities of 128, 256, and 512GB. By implementing the controller's LDPC error-correcting technology, Lite-On extends the CV2's endurance as much as 33%, hitting reliability levels previously only attainable with MLC flash. The result is an SSD rated for 2,000 program-erase cycles and protected by a three-year warranty.

"The solid state storage market is in the process of adopting LDPC codes to improve the retention ratings of tomorrow's NAND," says Darlo Perez, Managing Director at Lite-On. "By adding this functionality to our CV2 today, we're able to offer an economical SSD with triple-level-cell flash that's incredibly reliable."

High performance naturally shares the spotlight, given Marvell's dual-core processor and Lite-On's unique expertise in proprietary firmware design. Sequential read performance tops out at 500 MB/s over SATA 6Gb/s, while random 4KB throughput hits the 100,000 IOPS mark. Blazing-fast writes are achieved by intelligently treating certain memory cells as premium single-level-cell NAND for maximum speed. Then, during idle time, data in those cells is stashed away to fully exploit the capacity benefits of TLC flash.

"Lite-On and Marvell share a common mission to advance the storage industry by developing solutions with unparalleled performance, reliability, and cost efficiency," said Rajan Pai, General Manager & Vice President, Storage Business Unit at Marvell.. "We are excited to partner with Lite-On to launch our fifth generation SSD controller and the world's first TLC-based SSD with LDPC error correction technology."

CV2 SSDs are equally at home in desktop PCs and notebooks thanks to low power consumption. The aforementioned DEVSLP state is an integral part of that, cutting use to mere milliwatts whenever possible. Before this feature existed, solid state drives commonly drew hundreds of milliwatts in active idle. The CV2 saves power under load too, since its 88SS1074 controller is manufactured using the latest 28nm lithography. Advanced write algorithms developed by Lite-On further improve the drive's efficiency, completing work quickly to minimize consumption.

Advances in manufacturing technology are responsible for facilitating higher-capacity SSDs at lower prices. The challenge becomes keeping their ones and zeros straight as more bits are stored in each memory cell. Today's BCH error-correcting codes do a fair job of maintaining reliability, even faced with modern TLC NAND. But LDPC is universally accepted as the future, and Lite-On is leading the charge forward with its CV2 SSD family. The CV2 is built on Marvell's newest mainstream processor and outfitted with an advanced implementation of LDPC. So, even as you enjoy enthusiast-class responsiveness at value-oriented prices, you can be sure the most cutting-edge storage technology is keeping your data safe.

Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 01:08 pm CDT