Flash Cell Capacity Calculator

About this interactive

Two lessons, Flash and Multi-Level Cell and Flash and V-NAND, explain how flash got so dense. Bits per cell: a cell holds a level of charge, and the more levels it can tell apart, the more bits it stores. Each extra bit doubles the levels: a single-level cell (SLC) tells apart 2 levels for 1 bit, a multi-level cell (MLC) 4 levels for 2 bits, a triple-level cell (TLC) 8 for 3, a quad-level cell (QLC) 16 for 4. The lesson splits a 0 to 5 volt range into equal bands to show it; the more bands, the narrower each one, and the harder they are to tell apart. V-NAND: cells used to sit side by side in one flat layer. Standing them up in stacked columns puts many layers in the same footprint. Cells on a chip = layers x cells per layer. Bits = cells x bits per cell, and bytes = bits / 8. Type numbers in digits; commas are fine. Anything you miss shows the answer and how to work it out.

What you'll learn

Work out how many charge levels a flash cell must tell apart for its bits per cell (SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC and beyond), and the bits a cell stores from its levels
Calculate the cells and bits in a stacked V-NAND chip from its layers, its grid of cells per layer and its bits per cell

Key terms

Single Level Cell: A flash memory cell type that stores one bit of data per cell by distinguishing between two voltage levels.
Multi-Level Cell: A flash memory cell type that stores two bits of data per cell by dividing the voltage range into four distinct levels.
Triple Level Cell: A flash memory cell type that stores three bits of data per cell by dividing the voltage range into eight distinct levels.
Quad Level Cell: A flash memory cell type that stores four bits of data per cell by dividing the voltage range into sixteen distinct levels.
Vertical NAND: A flash memory architecture that stacks cylindrical memory cells vertically in columns rather than horizontally, dramatically increasing storage density on a single chip.

Topics

Flash Memory Multi Level Cell V Nand Storage Capacity Interactive Calculation

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