Toshiba launches new mini NVMe SSD design

     Toshiba has introduced a new design for NVMe SSDS that are small enough to replace soldable BGA SSDS. The new XFMEXPRESS form factor allows for two or four PCIe lanes while taking up much less space than the smallest M.2 22x30mm card size. The XFMEXPRESS card measures 18x14x1.4mm, making it larger and thicker than a microSD card. The floor area is up to 22.2x17.75x2.2mm. In comparison, BGA SSDS come in standard sizes of 11.5x13mm with a PCIe x2 interface or 16x20mm with a PCIe x4 interface.

     XFMexpress is designed to bring the benefits of replaceable storage to devices that typically feature BGA SSDS or EMMC and UFS modules. For consumer devices, this opens the way for aftermarket capacity upgrades, and for embedded devices that need servicing, this can allow for smaller overall sizes. Device manufacturers also gain some supply chain flexibility, as storage capacity can be adjusted later in the assembly process. XFMexpress is not intended to be used as an externally accessible slot, such as an SD card; Swapping out the XFMexpress SSD requires opening the casing of the device on which it is installed, but unlike the M.2 SSD, the XFMexpress slot and retention mechanism themselves do not require tools.

     XFMEXPRESS hopes to allow similar performance to BGA SSDS. The PCIe x4 host interface is not usually a bottleneck, especially in the near future, BGA SSDS are starting to adopt PCIe gen4, which the XFMEXPRESS connector can support. Instead, these small-size SSDS are typically calorically restricted, and the XFMEXPRESS connector is designed to allow the metal cover to easily dissipate heat as a heat sink. Toshiba partnered with Japan Avionics Industry Corporation (JAE) to develop and manufacture the XFMEXPRESS connector.