Samsung announces faster eMMC 5.1 flash memory chips

Today, Samsung announced its first flash memory chips based on the newly approved eMMC 5.1 standard. eMMC is an embedded version of the MultiMediaCard standard, which packages the NAND memory and controller into a single chip. This technology is found in all smartphones and tablets on the market today. Earlier this month, Samsung began mass producing the industry’s first combined DRAM and eMMC ePOP memory package.

Samsung states that its eMMC 5.1 chip will be available in 64GB, 32GB and 16GB densities, just like its existing eMMC 5.0 options. The 64GB eMMC 5.1 memory module features a maximum speed of 250 MB/s for sequential data reading and 125 MB/s for sequential writes. For comparison, eMMC 5.0 allows for reads at 250 MB/s and writes at 90 MB/s, so the writing speed has been improved. Furthermore, random read performance has been boosted from 7,000 IOPS to 11,000 IOPS and random write performance reaches 13,000 IOPS, up from 7,000 IOPS.

Samsung also boasts that its eMMC 5.1 chips will feature eMMC’s first command queue function, allowing for multiple commands to be queue up in advance rather than sending new commands only once the previous one has been completed. Samsung’s solution also includes “Secure Write Protection”, that ensures only designated users will be able to access secured areas of the memory.

Essentially, eMMC 5.1 provides slightly faster data transfer speeds and will smooth out performance in some situations on your mobile device, particularly when it comes to saving high definition video content and moving big chunks of data around.