Arasan Announces eMMC 5.0 Total IP Solution at Mobile World Congress

Upcoming eMMC 5.0 specification will double performance of the eMMC interface.

Barcelona, Spain -- February 28, 2013 -- Arasan Chip Systems, Inc. (“Arasan”), a leading provider of Total IP Solutions, announced today 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, Vice President 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.”

Availability

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.

About Arasan

Arasan Chip Systems is a leading provider of Total IP Solutions for mobile storage and connectivity applications. Arasan’s high-quality, silicon-proven, Total IP Solutions include digital IP cores, analog PHY interfaces, verification IP, hardware verification kits, protocol analyzers, software stacks and drivers, and optional customization services for MIPI, USB, SD, SDIO, MMC/eMMC, CF, UFS, xD and many other popular standards. Arasan’s Total IP products serve system architects and chip design teams in mobile, gaming and desktop computing systems that require silicon-proven, validated IP, delivered with the ability to integrate and verify both digital, analog and software components in the shortest possible time with the lowest risk.

Unlike many other IP providers, Arasan’s Total IP Solution encompasses all aspects of IP development and integration, including analog and digital cores, hardware development kits, protocol analyzers, validation IP and software stacks and drivers and optional architecture consulting and customization services. Based in San Jose, CA, USA, Arasan Chip Systems has a 16 year track record of IP and IP standards development leadership.

About eMMC

Designed for a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, mobile phones, handheld computers, navigational systems and other industrial uses, eMMC is an embedded non-volatile memory system, comprised of both flash memory and a flash memory controller, which simplifies the application interface design and frees the host processor from low-level flash memory management. This benefits product developers by simplifying the non-volatile memory interface design and qualification process – resulting in a reduction in time-to-market as well as facilitating support for future flash device offerings. Small BGA package sizes and low power consumption make eMMC a viable, low-cost memory solution for mobile and other space-constrained products.