What is the mission of the ONFI Workgroup?
The ONFI Workgroup strives to create a common industry standard for the interface used to communicate with NAND Flash components. This increases the supply base for standard components, reduces design time and improves time-to-market for a wide range of NAND-based applications.
Is this another card standard?
No, ONFI is not another card standard. It defines the interface to the NAND Flash component itself, while cards often have a controller in addition to the Flash component.
However, ONFI has also defined a connector specification for NAND modules (similar to DRAM DIMMs) for use in applications like caching and SSDs in PC platforms, as well as a managed NAND specification, BA NAND.
Does ONFI have any plans to include more member companies in the organization?
The group is actively recruiting and accepting new members. Member benefits include access to draft specifications, participation in workgroups and the ability to influence decision making at the board level. In exchange, member companies contribute resources that jointly advance ONFI efforts.
How will the ONFI standard help speed time-to-market for NAND-based products?
ONFI improves the time-to-market in two principal ways:
ONFI simplifies Flash controller design by improving the uniformity of the NAND component interface.
ONFI reduces design time for Flash components in end-use applications and enables the use of a new generation of NAND components by eliminating the need for design or firmware changes.
How will developers, OEMs and ODMs benefit from the work done by the ONFI Workgroup?
These groups will benefit from improved uniformity in the behavior of various Flash components offered by multiple sources. OEMs and ODMs will also benefit from the substantial performance increases offered by ONFI 2.1—a 200 MB/s interface that offers four times the performance of legacy NAND.
What types of products will ONFI 2.1 be used in?
ONFI improves embedded integration of Flash into a range of products including those that use Flash components today, such as mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, notebooks, etc. However, it is likely that the benefits of ONFI 2.1 will first be realized in PC platforms. With the significantly faster speeds that ONFI 2.1 delivers, SSDs and caching solutions will deliver substantive benefits on PC platform workloads.
For more information on products based on ONFI, contact the product suppliers directly. View our Membership page for links to all current member companies.
Why was ONFI formed to do this work instead of the work being done in another industry standards organization?
ONFI was formed because the founding companies recognized there was a need in the industry for an open solution to enable more efficient use of a range of NAND devices in product designs.
The ONFI founders felt that an agile, dedicated, single-purpose group would deliver a viable solution more quickly than some of the larger multi-purpose industry organizations. The benefit of a single-purpose and dedicated group can be seen in the rapid development of the ONFI 1.0 specification, which was published less than eight months after the group’s formation.
Now that ONFI has developed the baseline specifications, we're partnering with JEDEC to enhance the reach of the specifications.
Who's involved in your partnership with JEDEC to expand the reach of the ONFI specifications?
ONFI is working with JEDEC through a joint task group. Participation in the joint task group is open to all ONFI and JEDEC members.
