Samsung Develops SSD with SATA Mini-Card Design for Netbooks

Jun 25, 2009 15:47 Nikkei Electronics Asia

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it is now sampling an SATA-interface mini-card solid state drive (SSD) for use in the expanding netbook marketplace. The SATA mini-card SSD expands the use of SSDs as both a primary storage medium, and as a complementary drive to boost the performance of PCs with dual drive capabilities.

Samsung's new mini-card form factor, with a highly robust interface, makes an already rugged SSD even less susceptible to damage from jarring, jostling and dropping.

Featuring a mini-PCI Express (PCIe) form factor with a SATA 3.0Gbps interface, the mini-card SSD is claimed to be nearly 80% smaller than the conventional 2.5-inch hard disk drive (HDD). The small form factor of the SSD makes it suitable for the tighter constraints of most netbooks. In addition, it can be used in printers and various handheld terminals including ruggedized mobile devices.

The SATA mini-card SSD form factor can be used in a combination comprising the SSD as main memory and HDD as supporting storage space. This new approach is expected to increase the adoption of SSDs in a broader range of applications.

The company is working to standardize the new mechanical form factor and its pin layout specifications at JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council). With possible revisions by OEM manufacturers, standardization could be expected as early as Q3 of this year.

The SATA mini-card SSD will be produced using 40nm process technology, and is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB densities. The SSD has a sequential read rate of 200MBps and writes data sequentially at 100MBps. The mini-card SSD is only 30mm wide and 51mm high. The drive weighs up to 8.5g and measures up to 3.75mm thick. The energy-efficient SSD consumes only 0.3W of power.

The SSD is available with optional full disk encryption to thwart theft or any unwanted access to a netbook or other device.

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