Silicon Motion's AI Strategy

Silicon Motion's comprehensive AI strategy spans the entire spectrum from enterprise core to edge applications with tailored SSD controllers that support the entire AI data pipelines across diverse markets, including data centers, enterprises, AI consumer edge devices, the artificial intelligence of things (AIoT), and automotive.

AI storage for the core and the enterprise

For the data center, Silicon Motion offers both large capacity QLC SSDs and high performance, compute focused TLC SSDs to manage high volumes of structured and unstructured data generated for AI data pipelines, minimizing IO blender effect that results from multi-tenancy and simultaneous SSD access of different pipeline stages.

Silicon Motion's comprehensive portfolio to address AI data growth goes beyond SSDs and controllers, however. Silicon Motion's MonTitan Enterprise SSD Development platform provides purpose-built firmware, hardware and ASIC technologies that work synergistically to address customer needs, including robust data integrity and privacy capabilities, as well as performance / watt, which has become a key benchmark, especially in data center AI.

The MonTitan Enterprise SSD Development Platform

MonTitan is a high-performance, user-programmable PCIe Gen5 development platform, and is available with Silicon Motion's production-ready SM8366 Flash controller ASIC, Turnkey and Layered Enterprise firmware, and SSD Reference Design Kits to enable customers' rapid time-to-market design providing the best TCO.

Controller innovation

The SM8366 is MonTitan platform's high performance, dual ported Enterprise and Data Center PCIe Gen5 x4 NVMe controller containing 16 channels and supporting up to 2400MT/s. The SM8366 provides industry leading fast sequential (>14.2 GB/s) and Random (>3.5M IOPS) SSD performance and contains a scalable Single / Dual Channel 40bit DDR4-3200 / DDR5-4800 DRAM interface.

The SM8366 is provided in a 21mm x21mm FCBGA package enabling a single chip and FW stack to be used across all new EDSFF form factors. MonTitan supports the NVM Express 2.0b, and OCP Data Center NVMe SSD 2.5 specifications with firmware optimized for power and performance in standard form factors including E1.S (9.5/15/25 mm), E3.x, and U.2/3. Its SSD Reference Design Kit (RDK) supports up to 128TB with QLC NAND. The platform also includes enterprise firmware to optimize data placement, including Silicon Motion's patented PerformaShape™ and NANDCommand™ technologies.

Proprietary algorithms

PerformaShape is a multi-stage shaping algorithm configured in firmware that optimizes SSD performance on a per user defined QoS set bases. Combined with using true HW isolation technology, it enables the SM8366 controller ensure maximum bandwidth performance while maximizing user defined individual performance elements (QOS, Latency, RR/RW, power).

The NANDCommand capabilities of the SM8366 enhance enterprise NAND functionality through its fifth generation LDPC engine, machine learning, real-time media scan, data retention, and endurance extension algorithms. These algorithms are combined with high performance soft-decoding, multi-pass and multi-plane handling, buffer management, and read/write partitioning for effective command of next generation low latency TLC/QLC NAND.

With 16 channels running up to 2,400 MT/sand having DDR5 DRAM interfaces, the MonTitan platform and the SM8366 can deliver 3.5 million IOPS of random performance, which is 20% to 30% better than other off-the-shelf suppliers' specifications.

MonTitan addresses the IO blender effect with its focus on control plane efficiency and coherency with key hardware accelerators and processing elements, which makes it perfect for AI data pipelines and for data centers, as it isolates guaranteed traffic in different stages of the AI data pipelines which is critical for maximizing GPU utilization.

Data protection

Aside from addressing key AI data pipelines performance requirements, the MonTitan platform also includes capabilities to ensure data integrity, including dual-engine inspection of encryption or scramblers, while all on-chip memory and DRAM interfaces are protected by SECDED ECC. Other data security features include support for NIST/FIPS (USA) standards and AES-XTS/SM4 Data at Rest protection.

At the platform level, MonTitan employs Caliptra's RoT capabilities, as well as supporting the SHA2/3 and SM3-based hash functions using the RSA/ECDSA/PQC/SM2 asymmetric algorithm to enable post-quantum encryption.

Silicon Motion's MonTitan Enterprise SSD Development platform is designed to address the storage challenges in the data center and emerging HPC, edge computing, and AI applications so that SSDs can meet key metrics organizations are looking for at every stage of the AI data pipelines.

Intelligent AI storage from the core to the edge

As AI continues to generate massive amounts of data, efficient and high-capacity storage solutions are crucial. As a market leader in NAND storage and controllers, Silicon Motion offers a comprehensive AI strategy that spans the entire spectrum—from enterprise core to edge applications. Our solutions are tailored for diverse markets, including data centers, enterprises, AI consumer edge devices, AIoT, and automotive, ensuring fast, secure, and energy-efficient data management.

• Transforming AI Data Pipelines with Advanced SSD Technology (Part1)
• Transforming AI Data Pipelines with Advanced SSD Technology (Part2)