February 2016
18
C
hips
& C
omponents
the flash drive as close as possible or accept-
able to the end of the lifetime and to integrate
health information into own service plans.
Hyperstone flash memory controllers con-
tain dedicated firmware (hyMap) to handle
the flash memory. Above and beyond a bridge
between a disk interface and a flash memory
interface, it is the key element for managing
the flash media in order to ensure and maxi-
mize its performance, reliability, robustness
and endurance. Based on a new development,
customers and storage system vendors are
enabled to integrate their own proprietary IPs,
which may become key product differentiators.
The Application Programming Interface (API)
provides a possibility to extend the standard
firmware and add own additional features to
handle other sensitive aspects of the applica-
tion (for example security features), through
a set of routines, protocols and tools. It allows
adding customer firmware extensions (CFE) to
an existent Hyperstone firmware implementa-
tion. This is done by building (compiling and
linking) an independent binary file, which is
able to communicate with a host software and
with the basic flash firmware.
Custom applications can be developed inde-
pendently of the Flash Memory controller
firmware. As a result, the CFE will be part of
the firmware code and will be integrated along-
side the other firmware features. The API can
be used to provide access to additional hard-
ware interfaces through the host interface in
order to implement customized application
features. The source code can be changed indi-
vidually, always belongs to the user and does
not need to be transferred to Hyperstone for
compilation. The key advantages for the cus-
tomer can be summarized in the following set
of added values: full control of application IPs,
full control of releases, no source code trans-
fer to third party houses, unique differentiator
through application IPs, fast software develop-
ment, API function support from Hyperstone,
and Firmware Field Update (FFU).
The U9 USB 3.1 controller complements the
Hyperstone product portfolio of Flash storage
controllers as USB 3.1 is a suitably alternative
to CF, SD, eMMC or SATA systems. Together
with hyMap® - Hyperstone’s Flash-Translation
layer (FTL), and the hyReliability feature set,
U9 optimally ensures and balances reliabil-
ity, endurance and performances. Based on
several configuration options, storage system
integrators can decide about most suitable and
most cost efficient Flash technologies and tune
storage system behavior to application require-
ments. Finally, by offering an API, Hyperstone
promotes a new feature and value added appli-
cation development based on the existing flash
support infrastructure and ecosystem.
n
Figure 3. API Block Diagram
Table 2. Comparison of selected flash storage for removable and embedded flash media
(*) except for CFAST
Hall-Stand 4A-101
Mouser stocking Intel Celeron processor N3000 series
Mouser Electronics is shipping the Intel Celeron Processor N3000
Series, the next-generation Intel Architecture system-on-chip based
on Intel’s 14nm process technology. Formerly known as Braswell,
these 64-bit processors integrate graphics, memory controller, and
I/O interfaces into a single SoC solution that balances cost, perfor-
mance, and power.
Hall-Stand 5-385
TI: AutoTune technology dynamically tunes stepper motors
Texas Instruments enhanced its high-performance stepper motor-
driver family with three new devices for 24-V stepper motors. Two
devices offer TI’s patented AutoTune technology to eliminate stepper
motor tuning and two integrate current sensing to support differen-
tiated 3D printers, robotics, factory automation equipment, curren-
cy-counting machines and more.
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