Small form factor XMC module delivers up to 2 TB of MLC/SLC NAND flash memory
HELI-EXPO 2017 (Booth #8751), DALLAS, TX – March 7, 2017 – – Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division today introduced the XMC-554, a rugged, high performance, reliable and power-efficient solid-state drive (SSD) solution that delivers up to 2 TB of MLC/SLC NAND flash memory. With an increasing number of sensors on airborne, land, and naval platforms, the challenge of storing large amounts of data without adding unwanted weight or power, the new XMC-554 is ideal for deployed aerospace and defense applications that require high-density data storage. Because it uses solid-state memory, the card eliminates the need for traditional rotating hard disk drives (HDD) or any other associated moving parts, such as fans. Compared to an HDD, this rugged COTS mezzanine module provides significantly lower power consumption and delivers an order of magnitude improvement in reliability when used in environments with high vibration, such as manned and unmanned rotor-wing platforms. Even better, thanks to the lower latency and higher data transfer rates provided by the MLC NAND devices, the XMC-554 also provides system integrators with a higher performance data storage solution than available from rotating disk alternatives. For secure environments that require encryption, the card’s mSATA SSD devices optionally support AES-256 encryption and ATA Secure Erase features to protect sensitive data. The XMC-554 is designed for use in data recording, video recording, mission data storage, map storage, database, and data logging applications.
“Our new XMC-554 data storage card delivers up to 2 TB of solid-state memory configured as SATA drives, ideal for replacing unreliable, power-hungry and heavy rotating hard drives on SWaP-constrained platforms, such as helicopters,” said Lynn Bamford, Senior Vice President, and General Manager, Defense Solutions division.
Available in a range of memory density configurations, from 128GB up to 2TB, the XMC-554 is highly reliable. It supports industry-standard NAND flash error-correcting code (ECC). It also supports wear leveling and bad block management. To reduce the risk of premature device failure due to frequent data overwrites on the same data, the card uses a wear-leveling algorithm to spread the program/erase cycles evenly across the media. The XMC-554 also tracks the write/erase the history of each flash block and will immediately retire blocks if the block fails during an erase or program operation, or if the wear cycle count exceeds the rated cycle count of the flash device.
Configured as two independent mSATA “drives”, the XMC-554 reserves ~20% of its total capacity for overprovisioning. It also includes advanced health and reliability features, such as Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) that enable the card to monitor and store critical performance and calibration parameters that aid the prediction of near-term degradation or fault conditions.
About Curtiss-Wright Corporation
Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a global innovative company that delivers highly engineered, critical function products and services to the commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets. Building on the heritage of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers, Curtiss-Wright has a long tradition of providing reliable solutions through trusted customer relationships. The company employs approximately 8,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.curtisswright.com.
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