SM8466: Silicon Motion working on the first PCIe 6.0 SSD controller 7 comments
Image: Silicon movement
In an interview, the founder and CEO of SSD controller manufacturer Silicon Motion (SMI) gave a glimpse into the future. While the SM2508 controller with PCIe 5.0 is hesitantly coming to market, work is already underway on the SM8466 with PCIe 6.0. However, this is aimed at the enterprise segment.
The Silicon Motion SM8466, as the upcoming controller is called, is more of a successor to the SM8366, aimed at data centers with 16 channels and over 3 million IOPS.
However, Wallace C. Kou didn’t reveal much about the SM8466 in an interview with China Flash Market. This is still in the development phase and will use a 4nm process. That’s all for information. Expect this to be part of Silicon Motion’s enterprise solutions, dubbed “MyTitan.”
PCIe 6.0 is already a problem for others too
Last summer, Micron announced that it was working on the first PCIe 6.0 SSD. It remains to be seen whether the data controller comes from the company or not. At SK Hynix there was at least a teaser for the first PCIe 6.0 SSD.
With PCIe 6.0, around 30 GB/s is possible
With PCIe 6.0, data throughput doubles compared to PCIe 5.0 to nearly 8 GB/s per lane and direction. For a typical x4 interface on SSD, that means about 32 GB/s raw, so 26 GB/s net, as Micron promises, is no longer an issue. The fastest SSDs with PCIe 5.0 x4 currently exceed the 15 GB/s mark. However, it will likely be later in the year before PCIe 6.0-equipped SSDs go into mass production; after all, other system components must also be ready for this.
The SMI controller was recently delayed
As for the efficient SM2508 controller, which should declare war on the Phison E26 on consumer SSDs, a lot of patience will be required. The chip was initially expected to appear in 2023. But it only recently appeared on the first SSDs in China. In this country we have to wait even longer, because buyers like the Biwin Black Opal X570 Pro are not expected to arrive at retailers until March. Phison recently presented the successor to the E26.
Silicon Motion has so far missed out on the PCIe 5.0 era, at least in the consumer sector. The manufacturer also faces strong competition in the enterprise sector, since Phison offers an extensive range with the Pascari platform.
Topics: NVMe PCIe 6.0 Flash Memory Silicon Motion SSD SSD Controller Storage Source: China Flash Market
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