Maxiotek Shows off New NVMe SSD Controllers

Maxiotek was at the Flash Memory Summit once again, this year with its new MAP100X series SSDs controllers on display, not just its MAS090X SATA product line. With PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe 1.3 interfaces and the company's latest Agile ECC2 technology and FlexNP technology, the controllers support 2D and 3D NAND in MLC, TLC, and QLC flavors from all major vendors, including one of the newest companies, YMTC.  

These NVMe controllers support ASPM, ASPT, and the L.1.2 low per standby mode and have dual CPU cores powering them. With so much computational power, they utilize controller-based RAID and end-to-end data protection for improved reliability. They can also support multiple hardware-based encryption and security options for enterprise applications.  

Performance being first, the MAP1001 is the top dog. It features a DRAM-based architecture to enable speeds of up to 3.5/3.0 GB/s read/write and deliver up to 800,000 / 600,000 read/write IOPS. Coming in a package size of BGA 15x15, the MAP1001 supports eight NAND channels with four chip enables each to reach capacities of up to 8TB.  The NAND interface operates at up to 800MT/s. Overall, it looks like this controller has enough oomph to keep up with the likes of Phison’s E12 and Silicon Motion’s SMI2262EN, although both companies have since progressed into the PCIe 4.0 realm.  

The MAP1003 NVMe controller can hit speeds of up to 2.4/2.0 GB/s of sequential read/write throughput and deliver up to 400,000/400,000 read/write IOPS. Like the MAP 1001, it utilizes a DRAM-based architecture. However, it supports only four NAND channels, which limits capacity to 2TB. But, while it isn’t quite as fast, a simpler architecture enables a smaller BGA 11x11 package size than the MAP1001.   

Finally, as the smallest NVMe option in Maxiotrek's catalog, the MAP1002 comes into play for those looking to save as much space as possible. Dropping in size thanks to a simpler four-channel architecture and DRAMless design, the MAP1002 comes in a very compact BGA 7.1x11 size. Performance-wise, the stats state the controller can hit the same 2.4/2.0 GB/s sequential read/write speeds as the MAP1003 and up to 400,000 read IOPS, too, but write IOPS come in at a slightly-lower 350,000 IOPS.  

Maxiotek hasn’t spearheaded the consumer market since it parted from JMicron, and very few products have come to light so far in the USA. All these controllers are available as turnkey solutions from consumer to industrial applications. Now that the company supports NVMe, we may see some new and interesting products come to light in the coming year.