PRESS RELEASE
Blunk Announces New Flash Translation Layer
Sacramento, CA (February 20, 2023) - Blunk Microsystems announces release of its fourth generation Flash Translation Layer (FTL) for NAND and NOR flash memory. Blunk’s software products are licensed as Standard C source code for RTOS applications and are used by embedded systems developers worldwide. Blunk has been a leader in embedded file systems since delivering the world’s first flash file system for NAND memory in 2002.
FTLs make flash memory ‘look’ like a hard disk to upper-level software. They perform i) dynamic virtual to physical mapping, since flash sectors cannot be updated in-place, ii) erase wear leveling, since uneven flash use causes early device failure, iii) read wear leveling, since repetitively reading the same flash address leads to bit errors, and iv) garbage collection, since dirty sectors can only be recovered by erasing large blocks.
FTLs are used below a file system such as Blunk’s Unix-like TargetXFS™ or FAT-compatible TargetFAT™. FTL performance is challenged when the volume contains a mix of ‘cold’ data (such as large executable files) and ‘warm’ data (such as frequently updated log files). This results in a large wear differential in the flash memory blocks.
The new FTL addresses this by i) steering ‘warm’ data writes to blocks whose wear count is low, ii) ‘cold data pasting’ which moves cold data from a low wear count block to a high wear count block, and iii) ‘cold data coalescing’ which moves cold data from multiple blocks onto a single block, because flash garbage collection is more efficient when cold and warm data are on separate blocks.
The new design provides better performance in all use cases. It was developed using TargetOS™-Lite, Blunk’s free RTOS and is easily ported to other RTOSes or used in polled mode, without an RTOS.
Blunk Microsystem’s FTLs and flash file systems are in use around the world - in consumer electronics, routers, cable boxes, industrial equipment, hundreds of millions of cell phones, and multiple satellites.
For more information, contact Blunk Microsystems at info@blunkmicro.com.
About Blunk Microsystems
Blunk Microsystems has provided high-performance embedded software for 32-bit processors since 1995. Products include kernels, advanced file systems, a graphics library, IPv4 and IPv6 certified TCP/IP stacks, USB host stack, web server, high-level source debugger, and an integrated GNU-based development environment.
Contact
Blunk Microsystems, LLC
3626 Fair Oaks Blvd. Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95864
T: +1 (408) 323-1758
E: info@blunkmicro.com
W: www.blunkmicro.com
TargetFAT and TargetXFS are trademarks of Blunk Microsystems, LLC.