Paper Title: Improving the Performance of M.2 NVMe SSDs at Industrial Temperatures

Paper Abstract: NVMe possesses the characteristics of high bandwidth and low latency, and is thus ideal for IIoT and other embedded applications. This high performance storage device over the PCIe interface however has its disadvantage as well, which is heat dissipation. The accumulation of heat may decrease device performance or, at worst case, cause the device to cease functioning, especially in extremely temperature where heat dissipation is even more difficult. This article aims to address heat issues common in fanless embedded systems in industrial operating temperature range of -40°C to 85°C, enabling NVMe devices to reliably in harsh environments. When operating at high speeds in high-throughput scenarios, onboard thermal sensors on M.2 NVMe SSD can help detect abnormal temperature elevation and automatically enable a mechanism that adjusts performance to cool the controller. Additionally, the dynamic thermal throttling intelligently regulates speed and power to reduce heat without aggressive declines in performance, unlike other thermal solutions that cause abrupt drops and thus compromise stability.

Paper Author: Peter Huang, Senior Manager, Product Management, ATP Electronics

Author Bio: Peter Huang is Senior Manager of ATP Electronics’ Embedded SSD business unit. He is in charge of planning the company’s NAND flash product lines including PCIe NVMe, SATA, M.2, USB, and CompactFlash devices for embedded and industrial applications. He was previously Director of R&D for Silicon Power, where he was in charge of all products for industrial applications, including both NAND flash and DRAM. He has also held management positions at Innostor and Transcend. He earned his MSEE at the University of Utah and his BSEE at Chang Gung University (Taiwan).