Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Flash chips for flash cars: SanDisk dives under your bonnet

Your motor's no data centre, but fast-forward a few years....

SanDisk has made its flash products car-friendly, devising SD cards and embedded flash drives (EFD) that auto-makers can stuff into their infotainment systems.

The iNAND embedded flash drives store up to 64GB of data, not much by data centre standards, and the little beggars should cope with rough driving conditions better than any spinning disk drive, optical or otherwise.

SanDisk says satnav maps should load faster, touch screens be more responsive, and connected cars connect more reliably with its automotive flash kit.

It claims its products:

  • Work in temperatures from -40oC to 85oC
  • Has up to two boot/two user partitions
  • Meets AEC-Q100 specifications
  • Has enhanced power immunity

The automotive EFD complies with the eMMC 4.51 HS200 specification. Its performance in data centre terms is abysmal – up to 30 sequential writes/sec and up to 120MB/s sequential read – but you don’t need that much for a satnav device; think in terms of single-tasking devices with noddy processors.

The Storage Vulture says...

This won't last. Cars are bound to become mini-connected data centres in their own right with flash memory becoming the default storage resource, and satnav systems connected to the other IT systems in the car looking after engine management, braking, suspension, communications, and so on.

The big deal is making sure the devices and their connectors can work in any conditions met on the road, meaning when it is as cold as the Arctic, as hot as summer in Morocco, and as bumpy as an English B-road – pothole hell these days. ®

 

Similar topics

Similar topics

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like