RoHS Recast Compliant
Serial ATA Flash Drive
SAFD18S4 Product Specifications
May 2nd, 2013
Version 1.5
Apacer Technology Inc.
9/F, No. 100, Hsin Tai Wu Rd., Hsichih, Taipei Hsien 221, Taiwan
Tel: +886-2-2696-1666 Fax: +886-2-2696-1668
www.apacer.com
Apacer Technology Inc.
4
th
Fl., 75 Hsin Tai Wu Rd., Sec.1, Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan 221
Tel: +886-2-2698-2888 Fax: +886-2-2698-2889
www.apacer.com
Serial ATA Flash Drive
APS1845Xxxxx-PXX
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© 2013 Apacer Technology Inc. Rev. 1.5
Features:
Standard Serial ATA 2.6 (Gen. 2)
– Serial ATA 2.6 (Gen. 2)
– SATA
Ⅱ
, 3.0 Gbps
– ATA-compatible command set
Capacities
– 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 GB
Performance*
– Burst read/write: 300 MB/sec
– Sustained read: up to 165 MB/sec
– Sustained write: up to 150 MB/sec
Intelligent endurance design
– Built-in hardware ECC, enabling up to
16/24 bit correction per 1K bytes
– Static wear-leveling scheme together
with dynamical block allocation to
significantly increase the lifetime of a
flash device and optimize the disk
performance
– Flash bad-block management
– S.M.A.R.T.
– Power Failure Management
– ATA Secure Erase
– TRIM
NAND Flash Type: SLC
Endurance
– 4GB: 320 TBW
– 8GB: 640 TBW
– 16GB: 1,280 TBW
– 32GB: 2,560 TBW
– 64GB: 5,130 TBW
Temperature ranges
– Operation: 0°C to 70°C (32 ~ 158°F)
– Extended: -40°C to 85°C (-40° ~ 185°F)
– Storage: -40°C to 100°C (-40° ~ 212°F)
Supply voltage
– 5.0 V
±
5%
Power consumption (typical)*
– Active mode: 335 mA
– Idle mode: 95 mA
Form factor
– JEDEC MO-297
– Only 4mm in thickness
– Dimensions (54 x 39.8 x 4, unit: mm)
Connector
– 7-pin SATA signal connector
– 15-pin SATA power connector
Shock & Vibration**
– Shock: 1500 G
– Vibration: 15 G
RoHS Recast compliant***
Write Protect (optional)
– Enabled by onboard hardware switch
*Varies from capacities. The values addressed here are typical and may vary depending on settings and platforms.
**Non-operating
***Complies with 2011/65/EU standard.
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Table of Contents
1. Product Description................................................................................................. 3
1.1
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................3
1.2
Functional Block Diagram..........................................................................................................................3
1.3 ATA Mode Support ....................................................................................................................................4
1.4
Capacity Specification.................................................................................................................................4
1.5
Performance.................................................................................................................................................4
1.6
Pin Assignments ..........................................................................................................................................5
2. Software Interface .................................................................................................... 7
2.1
Command Set ..............................................................................................................................................7
3. Flash Management................................................................................................... 8
3.1
Error Correction/Detection........................................................................................................................8
3.2
Bad Block Management..............................................................................................................................8
3.3
Wear Leveling..............................................................................................................................................8
3.4
Power Failure Management .......................................................................................................................8
3.5
ATA Secure Erase .......................................................................................................................................8
3.6
S.M.A.R.T. ...................................................................................................................................................9
3.7
TRIM............................................................................................................................................................9
4. Environmental Specifications ............................................................................... 10
4.1
Environments.............................................................................................................................................10
4.2
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)....................................................................................................10
4.3
Certification and Compliance ..................................................................................................................10
4.4 Endurance ...................................................................................................................................................10
5. Electrical Characteristics ...................................................................................... 12
5.1
Operating Voltage .....................................................................................................................................12
5.2
Power Consumption..................................................................................................................................12
6. Physical Characteristics........................................................................................ 13
6.1
Dimensions .................................................................................................................................................13
6.2 Write Protect Switch (optional).................................................................................................................14
7. Product Ordering Information............................................................................... 15
7.1
Product Code Designations ......................................................................................................................15
7.2
Valid Combinations...................................................................................................................................16
Serial ATA Flash Drive
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1. Product Description
1.1 Introduction
Apacer’s SAFD18S4 is a solid-state disk (SSD) drive that contains a controller, embedded firmware, and flash
media along with a male connector. Compliant with SATA II standard, the drive conforms to most mainstream
host system platforms with SATA-compliant interfaces, making it the primary storage solution for replacing
traditional hard disk drive.
SAFD18S4 drive is designed with a powerful single-chip controller, offering capacities of up to 64 gigabytes
and providing full support for the SATA
Ⅱ
high-speed interface standard. It can operate at sustained access
rates of up to 160 megabytes per second while operating at relatively low power consumption, this SATA SSD
is an ideal replacement for conventional hard disk drive in industrial computing applications.
In addition, SAFD18S4 adopts the Apacer-specific global wear-leveling scheme to allow uniform use of all
storage blocks, ensuring that the lifetime of a flash media can be significantly increased and the disk
performance is optimized as well. SAFD18S4 provides the S.M.A.R.T. feature that follows the SATA Rev. 2.6,
ATA/ATAPI specifications and uses the standard SMART command B0h to read data from the drive. This
feature protects the user from unscheduled downtime by monitoring and storing critical drive performance.
1.2 Functional Block Diagram
SAFD18S4 drive includes a single-chip SATA
Ⅱ
Controller and the flash media, as well as the SATA standard
interface. The controller integrates the flash management unit with the controller itself to support multi-channel,
multi-bank flash arrays. Figure 1-1 shows the functional block diagram.
Figure 1-1 Apacer SAFD18S4 block diagram
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1.3 ATA Mode Support
SAFD18S4 provides ATA mode support as follows:
Up to PIO mode-4
Up to Multiword DMA mode-2
Up to UDMA mode-5
1.4 Capacity Specification
Capacity specification of SAFD18S4 product family is available as shown in Table 1-1. It lists the specific
capacity, the default numbers of logical cylinders and heads, and the number of logical sectors per track for
each product line.
Table 1-1 Capacity specification
Capacity Total Bytes* Cylinders
Heads Sectors Max LBA*
4 GB 4,011,614,208 7,773 16 63 7,835,184
8 GB 8,012,390,400 15,525 16 63 15,649,200
16 GB 16,013,942,784 16,383 16 63 31,277,232
32 GB 32,017,047,552 16,383 16 63 62,533,296
64 GB 64,023,257,088 16,383 16 63 125,045,424
*Display of total bytes varies from file systems.
**Cylinders, heads or sectors are not applicable for these capacities. Only LBA addressing applies.
LBA count addressed in the table above indicates total user storage capacity and will remain the same throughout the lifespan of
the device. However, the total usable capacity of the SSD is most likely to be less than the total physical capacity because a small
portion of the capacity is reserved for device maintenance usages.
1.5 Performance
Performance of SAFD18S4 is shown in Table 1-2.
Table 1-2 Performance specification
Capacity
Performance 4 GB 8 GB 16 GB 32 GB 64 GB
Sustained Read
(MB/s) 145 155 155 160 165
Sustained Write
(MB/s) 50 105 105 145 150
Note: Performance varies from flash configurations or host system settings.
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1.6 Pin Assignments
Table 1-3 describes the SAFD signal segment, and Table1-4, power segment.
Figure 1-2 SATA Connectors
Table 1-3: Signal segment Table 1-4: Power segment
Name
Type
Description
Pin Signal/Description
S1 GND
P1 Unused (3.3V)
S2 RxP
+ Differential Receive Signal
P2 Unused (3.3V)
S3 RxN
- Differential Receive Signal
P3 Unused (3.3V)
S4 GND
P4 Ground
S5 TxN
- Differential Transmit Signal
P5 Ground
S6 TxP
+ Differential Transmit Signal
P6 Ground
S7 GND
P7 5V
P8 5V
P9 5V
P10 Ground
P11 Reserved
P12 Ground
P13 Unused (12V)
P14 Unused (12V)
P15 Unused (12V)
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Figure 1-3 SATA Cable/Connector Connection Diagram
The connector on the left represents the Host with TX/RX differential pairs connected to a cable. The
connector on the right shows the Device with TX/RX differential pairs also connected to the cable. Notice also
the ground path connecting the shielding of the cable to the Cable Receptacle.
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2. Software Interface
2.1 Command Set
Table 2-1 summarizes the ATA commands supported by SAFD18S4.
Table 2-1: Command set
Code
Command
Code
Command
E5
h
Check Power Mode
F3
h
Security Erase Prepare
06h
Data Set Management
F4
h
Security Erase Unit
90
h
Execute Device Diagnostic
F5
h
Security Freeze Lock
E7
h
Flush Cache
F1
h
Security Set Password
EA
h
Flush Cache EXT
F2
h
Security Unlock
E
c
h
Identify Device
70h
Seek
E3
h
Idle
E
f
h
Set Features
E1
h
Idle Immediate
C6
h
Set Multiple Mode
91h
Initialize Device Parameters
E6
h
Sleep
C8
h
Read DMA
B0
h
SMART
25
h
Read DMA EXT
E2
h
Stan
d
by
C4
h
Read Multiple
E0
h
Standby Immediate
29
h
Read Multiple EXT
C
a
h
Write DMA
20
h
Read Sector
35
h
Wri
te DMA EXT
24
h
Read Sector EXT
C5
h
Write Multiple
40
h
Read Verify Sectors
39
h
Write Multiple EX
T
42
h
Read Verify Sectors EXT
30
h
Write Sector
10h
Recalibrate
34
h
Write Sector EXT
F6
h
Security Disable Password
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3. Flash Management
3.1 Error Correction/Detection
SAFD18S4 implements a hardware ECC scheme, based on the BCH algorithm. It can detect and correct up to
16 bits or 24 bits error in 1K bytes.
3.2 Bad Block Management
Current production technology is unable to guarantee total reliability of NAND flash memory array. When a
flash memory device leaves factory, it comes with a minimal number of initial bad blocks during production or
out-of-factory as there is no currently known technology that produce flash chips free of bad blocks. In addition,
bad blocks may develop during program/erase cycles. When host performs program/erase command on a
block, bad block may appear in Status Register. Since bad blocks are inevitable, the solution is to keep them
in control. Apacer flash devices are programmed with ECC, block mapping technique and S.M.A.R.T to
reduce invalidity or error. Once bad blocks are detected, data in those blocks will be transferred to free blocks
and error will be corrected by designated algorithms.
3.3 Wear Leveling
Flash memory devices differ from Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) in terms of how blocks are utilized. For HDDs,
when a change is made to stored data, like erase or update, the controller mechanism on HDDs will perform
overwrites on blocks. Unlike HDDs, flash blocks cannot be overwritten and each P/E cycle wears down the
lifespan of blocks gradually. Repeatedly program/erase cycles performed on the same memory cells will
eventually cause some blocks to age faster than others. This would bring flash storages to their end of service
term sooner. Wear leveling is an important mechanism that level out the wearing of blocks so that the
wearing-down of blocks can be almost evenly distributed. This will increase the lifespan of SSDs. Commonly
used wear leveling types are Static and Dynamic.
3.4 Power Failure Management
Power Failure Management plays a crucial role when experiencing unstable power supply. Power disruption
may occur when users are storing data into the SSD. In this urgent situation, the controller would run multiple
write-to-flash cycles to store the metadata for later block rebuilding. This urgent operation requires about
several milliseconds to get it done. At the next power up, the firmware will perform a status tracking to retrieve
the mapping table and resume previously programmed NAND blocks to check if there is any incompleteness
of transmission.
3.5 ATA Secure Erase
ATA Secure Erase is an ATA disk purging command currently embedded in most of the storage drives.
Defined in ATA specifications, (ATA) Secure Erase is part of Security Feature Set that allows storage drives to
erase all user data areas. The erase process usually runs on the firmware level as most of the ATA-based
storage media currently in the market are built-in with this command. ATA Secure Erase can securely wipe out
the user data in the drive and protects it from malicious attack.
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3.6 S.M.A.R.T.
S.M.A.R.T. is an abbreviation for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology, a self-monitoring
system that provides indicators of drive health as well as potential disk problems. It serves as a warning for
users from unscheduled downtime by monitoring and displaying critical drive information. Ideally, this should
allow taking proactive actions to prevent drive failure and make use of S.M.A.R.T. information for future
product development reference.
Apacer devices use the standard SMART command B0h to read data out from the drive to activate our
S.M.A.R.T. feature that complies with the ATA/ATAPI specifications. S.M.A.R.T. Attribute IDs shall include
initial bad block count, total later bad block count, maximum erase count, average erase count, power on
hours and power cycle. When the S.M.A.R.T. Utility running on the host, it analyzes and reports the disk
status to the host before the device reaches in critical condition.
Note: attribute IDs may vary from product models due to various solution design and supporting capabilities.
3.7 TRIM
TRIM, though in capital letters usually, is a memory computation command rather than an abbreviation. It is
mainly a SATA command that enables the operating system to inform the SSD (Solid State Drive) which
blocks of previously stored data are no longer valid, due to erases by the host or operating system, such as
file deletions or disk formatting. Once notified, SSD will begin the discard of the invalid LBAs and retain more
space for itself, in fact, the discarded is no longer recoverable.
When an LBA is replaced by the operating system, as with overwrite of a file, the SSD is informed that the
originally occupied LBA is determined as no longer in use or invalid. The SSD will not save those blocks in
garbage collected sectors. Noticeably, a file deletion command by host or operating system never actually
erases the actual content, rather, just the file is marked as deleted. This issue is even specifically noticeable
for flash based memory devices, such as SSDs. In fact, an SSD will keep garbage collecting the invalid,
previously occupied LBAs, if it is not informed that these LBAs can be erased. Thus, the SSD would
experience a significant performance downfall.
Serial ATA Flash Drive
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© 2013 Apacer Technology Inc. Rev. 1.5
4. Environmental Specifications
4.1 Environments
SAFD18S4 environmental specifications follow the US Military Standard MIL-STD-810F, as shown in below
table.
Table 4-1 SAFD18S4 environmental specifications
Environment Specification
0°C to 70°C (Operating), -40°C to 85°C (operating-extended)
Temperature -40°C to 100°C (Non-operating)
Vibration Non-operating : Sine wave,
15(G), 10~2000(Hz),
Operating : Random,
7.7(Grms), 20~2000(Hz)
Shock Non-operating: Acceleration, 1,500 G, 0.5 ms
Operating: Peak acceleration, 50 G, 11 ms
4.2 Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) is predicted based on reliability data for the individual components in
SAFD drive. The prediction result for the SAFD18S4 is more than 2,000,000 hours.
Notes about the MTBF:
The MTBF is predicated and calculated based on “Telcordia Technologies Special Report, SR-332, Issue 2”
method.
4.3 Certification and Compliance
SAFD18S4 complies with the following standards:
CE
FCC
RoHS Recast
MIL-STD-810F
4.4 Endurance
Terabytes Written (TBW) is an endurance rating system that indicates the maximum number of terabytes
written by the host to the drive. NAND flash has a limit on how many P/E cycles it can withstand before its
data retention becomes unreliable. Thus, key factors, such as Write Amplifications and the number of P/E
cycles, can influence the lifespan of the drive.
The TBW of the device are listed in the following table.
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Capacity TeraBytes Written
4 GB 320
8 GB 640
16 GB 1,280
32 GB 2,560
64 GB 5,130
Notes:
The measurement assumes the data written to the SSD for test is under a typical and constant rate.
The measurement follows the standard metric: 1 TB (Terabyte) = 1000 GB.
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© 2013 Apacer Technology Inc. Rev. 1.5
5. Electrical Characteristics
5.1 Operating Voltage
Table 5-1 lists the supply voltage for SAFD18S4.
Table 5-1 SAFD18S4 operating voltage
Parameter Conditions
Supply voltage 5V ±5% ( 4.75-5.25 V)
5.2 Power Consumption
Table 5-2 Power consumption (typical)
Capacity
Mode 4 GB 8 GB 16 GB 32 GB 64 GB
Active
(mA) 250 270 320 335 335
Stand By
(mA) 80 80 90 95 95
Note: Power consumptions may vary depending on settings and platforms
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6. Physical Characteristics
6.1 Dimensions
Unit:
㎜
Tolerance: ± 0.2
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6.2 Write Protect Switch (optional)
Description of Apacer Write Protect:
Apacer implements the Virtual Write scheme that allows write commands to go through the flash controller
and data temporarily stored. The OS can still function normally but no data has been actually written into the
flash. Since the Virtual Write scheme runs at device level, it requires no software or driver installation and is
independent from the host OS.
Write Protect switch
Enable
Disable
Note: DIP switch 1, 3, and 4 are defined as “reserved” for
this model.
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7. Product Ordering Information
7.1 Product Code Designations
A P S 184 5 X x x x x – P X X
Serial ATA Flash Drive
Apacer Product Code
MO-297 Form Factor
Solution version
Capacities:
004G = 4GB
008G = 8GB
016G = 16GB
032G = 32GB
064G = 64GB
Flash type
Ve
rsion Control
Temperature Range
Blank: Standard
W: Extended Temperature
Blank: No Write Protect
N: Write Protect
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7.2 Valid Combinations
SAFD18S4
Capacity
Standard Extended Temperature
4GB APS1845004G-PT APS1845004G-PTW
8GB APS1845008G-PT APS1845008G-PTW
16GB
APS1845016G-PT APS1845016G-PTW
32GB APS1845032G-PC APS1845032G-PCW
64GB APS1845064G-PC APS1845064G-PCW
SAFD18S4 with Write Protect
Capacity
Standard Extended Temperature
4GB APS1845N004G-PT APS1845N004G-PTW
8GB APS1845N008G-PT APS1845N008G-PTW
16GB
APS1845N016G-PT APS1845N016G-PTW
32GB APS1845N032G-PC APS1845N032G-PCW
64GB APS1845N064G-PC APS1845N064G-PCW
Note: Please consult with Apacer sales representatives for availabilities.
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© 2013 Apacer Technology Inc. Rev. 1.5
Revision History
Revision Description Date
0.1 Preliminary release 11/17/2011
1.0 Official release 12/02/2011
1.1 Revised capacity specifications 1/20/2012
1.2 Revised S.M.A.R.T information 03/23/2012
1.3 Updated Product Ordering Information due to firmware upgrade 08/24/2012
1.4 Added Write Protect option 09/27/2012
1.5 Updated Product Ordering Information due to firmware upgrade 05/02/2013
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© 2013 Apacer Technology Inc. Rev. 1.5
Global Presence
Taiwan (Headquarters)
Apacer Technology Inc.
4
th
Fl., 75 Hsin Tai Wu Rd., Sec.1
Xizhi, New Taipei City
Taiwan 221
R.O.C.
Tel: +886-2-2698-2888
Fax: +886-2-2698-2889
amtsales@apacer.com
U.S.A.
Apacer Memory America, Inc.
386 Fairview Way, Suite102,
Milpitas, CA 95035
Tel: 1-408-518-8699
Fax: 1-408-935-9611
sa@apacerus.com
Japan
Apacer Technology Corp.
5F, Matsura Bldg., Shiba, Minato-Ku
Tokyo, 105-0014, Japan
Tel: 81-3-5419-2668
Fax: 81-3-5419-0018
jpservices@apacer.com
Europe
Apacer Technology B.V.
Science Park Eindhoven 5051 5692 EB Son,
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-40-267-0000
Fax: 31-40-267-0000#6199
sales@apacer.nl
China
Apacer Electronic (Shanghai) Co., Ltd
1301, No.251,Xiaomuqiao Road, Shanghai,
200032, China
Tel: 86-21-5529-0222
Fax: 86-21-5206-6939
sales@apacer.com.cn
India
Apacer Technologies Pvt Ltd,
# 535, 1st Floor, 8th cross, JP Nagar 3rd Phase,
Bangalore – 560078, India
Tel: 91-80-4152-9061
sales_india@apacer.com
