The MIPI Alliance, announced a major update to its MIPI M-PHY physical-layer interface for connecting the latest generation of flash memory-based storage and other high data rate applications in advanced 5G smartphones, wearables, PCs, industrial IoT, and automobiles.
Version 5.0 of the M-PHY interface adds a fifth gear—”High Speed Gear 5″ (HS-G5) at 23.32 Gigabits per second (Gbps) — enabling engineers to double the potential data rate per lane compared with the previous specification. M-PHY v5.0 also responds to a range of other ecosystem requirements for connecting flash memory storage, such as ongoing innovation of the JEDEC Universal Flash Storage (UFS) standard.
MIPI M-PHY v5.0 is designed to support the forthcoming MIPI UniPro v2.0 and JEDEC UFS releases. In addition to doubling the data rate to a maximum of 23.32 Gbps per lane to satisfy the storage ecosystem’s growing data rate requirements, v5.0 introduces several new capabilities intended to optimize the M-PHY interface:
- Data rates have been optimized for target applications, simplifying Phased Lock Loop (PLL) implementation and eliminating design complexity.
- High-speed startup reduces latency, for example, when accessing flash memory on power up.
- Eye monitoring visualizes signal health, enhancing debug functionality.
- New attributes for equalization and other electrical updates to HS-G5 improve the suitability of M-PHY for ultra-high data rate applications.
“The significant data rate and flexibility updates delivered in MIPI M-PHY v5.0 are the product of real-world feedback from the large base of implementers in a broad ecosystem,” said Joel Huloux, chairman of MIPI Alliance. “Many of the enhancements in v5.0 come from our close relationship with the JEDEC UFS community, and such cross-industry collaboration is key to fueling and aligning innovation to better serve the global flash memory storage market.”