{{Short description|Flash storage specification}} {{Distinguish|text = the Unix File System, a file system implementation in some Unix and BSD operating systems with the same abbreviation}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}} '''Universal Flash Storage''' ('''UFS''') is a flash storage specification for digital cameras, mobile phones and consumer electronic devices <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137200-c,unresolvedtechstandards/article.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209210001/http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137200-c,unresolvedtechstandards/article.html |archive-date=9 February 2008 |work=PC World |title=Nokia, Others Back Mobile Memory Standard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-announces-publication-universal-flash-storage-ufs-standard |title=JEDEC Announces Publication of Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Standard |publisher=JEDEC }}</ref>, positioned as a replacement for {{Not a typo|eMMCs}} and SD cards. It was designed to bring higher data transfer speed and increased reliability to flash memory storage, while reducing market confusion and removing the need for different adapters for different types of cards.<ref>{{cite news|last=Malykhina|first=Elena|title=Mobile Tech Companies Work On Flash Memory Standard|url=http://www.informationweek.com/mobile-tech-companies-work-on-flash-memo/201806565 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912190317/http://www.informationweek.com/mobile-tech-companies-work-on-flash-memo/201806565 |archive-date=12 September 2012|access-date=19 September 2012|newspaper=Information Week|date=14 September 2007}}</ref> The standard encompasses both packages permanently embedded (via ball grid array package) within a device ({{Not a typo|'''eUFS'''}}), and removable UFS memory cards.

== Overview == UFS uses NAND flash. It may use multiple stacked 3D TLC NAND flash dies (as of {{CURRENT YEAR}} TLC or QLC usually used for UFS) with an integrated controller.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/13891/toshiba-samples-ufs-3-storage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203081746/https://www.anandtech.com/show/13891/toshiba-samples-ufs-3-storage |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 February 2019 |title=Toshiba Begins to Sample UFS 3.0 Drives: 96L 3D TLC NAND, Up to 2.9 GB/s |website=Anandtech |date=23 January 2019 |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref>

The proposed flash memory specification is supported by consumer electronics companies such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix.<ref>{{cite news|last=Modine|first=Austin|title=Flash memory makers propose common card|url=http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/09/14/flash_memory_makers_propose_ufs/|access-date=19 September 2012|newspaper=The Channel|date=14 September 2007}}</ref> The electrical interface for UFS uses the M-PHY,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mipi.org/about-mipi/industry-associations/jedec-solid-state-technology-association/ |title=JEDEC Solid State Technology Association &#124; MIPI Alliance |access-date=15 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928215748/http://www.mipi.org/about-mipi/industry-associations/jedec-solid-state-technology-association |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> developed by the MIPI Alliance, a high-speed serial interface targeting 2.9&nbsp;Gbit/s per lane with up-scalability to 5.8&nbsp;Gbit/s per lane.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mipi.org/|title=MIPI|website=MIPI}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/eu/application/ufs.html |title=Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Eco-System &#124; TOSHIBA Semiconductor & Storage Products Company &#124; Europe(EMEA) |access-date=26 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222124341/http://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/eu/application/ufs.html |archive-date=22 December 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> UFS implements a full-duplex serial LVDS interface that scales better to higher bandwidths than the 8-lane parallel and half-duplex interface of {{Not a typo|eMMCs}}. Unlike eMMC, Universal Flash Storage is based on the SCSI architectural model and supports SCSI Tagged Command Queuing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.design-reuse.com/articles/30845/universal-flash-storage-mobilize-your-data.html |title=Universal Flash Storage: Mobilize Your Data |website=Design Reuse |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref> The standard is developed by, and available from, the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association.

=== Software support === The Linux kernel supports UFS.<ref>{{cite web |title=Universal Flash Storage |url=https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/scsi/ufs.txt |website=The Linux Kernel Archives |access-date=13 November 2022}}</ref> OpenBSD 7.3 and later support UFS.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ufshci(4) - OpenBSD manual pages |url=https://man.openbsd.org/ufshci.4 |access-date=15 April 2024 |website=man.openbsd.org}}</ref> Windows 10 and later support UFS.<ref>{{Cite web |last=lorihollasch |date=15 November 2023 |title=Features Supported by StorUFS - Windows drivers |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/storage/storufs-feature-support |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=learn.microsoft.com }}</ref>

== History == In 2010, the Universal Flash Storage Association (UFSA) was founded as an open trade association to promote the UFS standard.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In September 2013, JEDEC published JESD220B UFS 2.0 (update to UFS v1.1 standard published in June 2012). JESD220B Universal Flash Storage v2.0 offers increased link bandwidth for performance improvement, a security features extension and additional power saving features over the UFS v1.1.

On 30 January 2018 JEDEC published version 3.0 of the UFS standard, with a higher 11.6 Gbit/s data rate per lane (1450 MB/s) with the use of MIPI M-PHY v4.1 and UniProSM v1.8. {{anchor|uMCP}}At the MWC 2018, Samsung unveiled embedded UFS ({{Not a typo|eUFS}}) v3.0 and uMCP (UFS-based multi-chip package) solutions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Evolving Mobile Solutions: Samsung at MWC 2018 |url=http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/insights/news-events/evolving-mobile-solutions-samsung-at-mwc-2018/ |publisher=Samsung }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=eUFS |url=http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/estorage/eufs/ |publisher=Samsung.com }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Samsung Starts Producing First 512-Gigabyte Universal Flash Storage for Next-Generation Mobile Devices |url=http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/insights/news-events/samsung-starts-producing-first-512-gigabyte-universal-flash-storage-for-next-generation-mobile-devices/ |publisher=Samsung }}</ref>

On 30 January 2020 JEDEC published version 3.1 of the UFS standard.<ref name="jedec.org">{{Cite web |url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-publishes-update-universal-flash-storage-ufs-standard |title=JEDEC Publishes Update to Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Standard |publisher=JEDEC |access-date=31 January 2020}}</ref> UFS 3.1 introduced '''Write Booster''', '''Deep Sleep''', '''Performance Throttling Notification''' and '''Host Performance Booster''' for faster, more power efficient, and cheaper UFS solutions. The Host Performance Booster feature is optional.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/15456/faster-cheaper-power-efficient-ufs-storage-ufs-31-spec-published|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131200753/https://www.anandtech.com/show/15456/faster-cheaper-power-efficient-ufs-storage-ufs-31-spec-published|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 January 2020|title=Faster, Cheaper, Power Efficient UFS Storage: UFS 3.1 Spec Published|last=Shilov|first=Anton|website=www.anandtech.com|access-date=1 February 2020}}</ref> Before the UFS 2.2 standard and the UFS 3.1 standard, the SLC buffer feature was optional on UFS devices, which is a de facto feature on personal SSDs. The '''Write Booster''' feature was brought to UFS 2.2 in August 2020.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Udin |first1=Efe |title=UFS 2.2 standard is official: uses a new feature called WriteBooster |url=https://www.gizchina.com/2020/08/19/ufs-2-2-standard-is-official-uses-a-new-feature-called-writebooster/ |website=Giz China |access-date=26 June 2025 |date=19 August 2020}}</ref>

The "Write Booster" is a buffer with a higher speed than the persistent storage which temporarily stores new data before it is written to the persistent storage. It uses idle time, meaning time where no data is accessed by the device's operating system, to "flush" the buffer's contents to the persistent storage.<ref>[https://americas.kioxia.com/content/dam/kioxia/en-us/business/memory/mlc-nand/asset/KIOXIA_WriteBooster_Feature_Tech_Brief.pdf Understanding the WriteBooster Feature] - KIOXIA</ref>

In 2022 Samsung announced version 4.0 doubling from 11.6&nbsp;Gbit/s to 23.2&nbsp;Gbit/s with the use of MIPI M-PHY v5.0 and UniPro v2.0. UFS 4.0 introduces '''File Based Optimization'''.<ref> {{Cite web |last=Herreria |first=Anne |date=7 September 2022 |title=FBO Delivers Sustained Mobile Phone Performance |url=https://blog.westerndigital.com/fbo-file-based-optimization-sustained-mobile-phone-performance/ |access-date=24 July 2024 |website=Western Digital Corporate Blog }}</ref>

As of Q1 2025, UFS 4.1 introduces '''Zoned Storage for UFS'''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Чорновий |first=Михайло |date=14 August 2024 |title=SK Hynix released a new UFS 4.1 and ZUFS 4.0 memory. It is optimized for AI and will be in the Galaxy S25 |url=https://hi-tech.ua/en/sk-hynix-released-a-new-ufs-4-1-and-zufs-4-0-memory-it-is-optimized-for-ai-and-will-be-in-the-galaxy-s25/ |access-date=17 August 2024 |website=hi-Tech.ua }}</ref>

== Version comparison ==

=== UFS === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- ! scope="col" | Version ! scope="col" | Introduced ! scope="col" | Bandwidth per lane ! scope="col" | Maximum lanes ! scope="col" | Maximum bandwidth ! scope="col" | M-PHY version ! scope="col" | UniPro version |- ! scope="row" | 1.0<ref>{{Cite web |title=JEDEC Announces Publication of Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Standard {{!}} JEDEC |url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-announces-publication-universal-flash-storage-ufs-standard |access-date=8 January 2025 |website=www.jedec.org}}</ref> | 2011-02-24 | rowspan="2" | {{Nowrap|300 MB/s}} | rowspan="2" | 1 | rowspan="2" | {{Nowrap|300 MB/s}} | rowspan="2" | 1.0 | rowspan="2" | 1.4 |- ! scope="row" | 1.1<ref>{{Cite web |title=JEDEC Updates Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Standard {{!}} JEDEC |url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-updates-universal-flash-storage-ufs-standard |access-date=8 January 2025 |website=www.jedec.org}}</ref> | 2012-06-25 |- ! scope="row" | 2.0<ref>{{Cite web |title=JEDEC Publishes Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Standard v2.0 {{!}} JEDEC |url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-publishes-universal-flash-storage-ufs-standard-v20 |access-date=8 January 2025 |website=www.jedec.org}}</ref> | 2013-09-18 | rowspan="3" | {{Nowrap|600 MB/s}} | rowspan="8" | 2 | rowspan="3" | {{Nowrap|1200 MB/s}} | rowspan="3" | 3.0 | rowspan="3" | 1.6 |- ! scope="row" | 2.1<ref>{{Cite web |title=JEDEC Updates Universal Flash Storage (UFS) and Related Standards {{!}} JEDEC |url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-updates-universal-flash-storage-ufs-and-related-standards |access-date=8 January 2025 |website=www.jedec.org}}</ref> | 2016-04-04 |- ! scope="row" | 2.2<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNIVERSAL FLASH STORAGE, UFS 2.2 {{!}} JEDEC |url=https://www.jedec.org/standards-documents/docs/jesd220c-22 |access-date=8 January 2025 |website=www.jedec.org}}</ref> |2020-08 |- ! scope="row" | 3.0<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-publishes-universal-flash-storage-ufs-ufshci-version-30-and-ufs-card|title=JEDEC Publishes Universal Flash Storage (UFS & UFSHCI) Version 3.0 and UFS Card Extension Version 1.1|website=www.jedec.org |access-date=31 January 2018}}</ref> |2018-01-30 | rowspan="2" | {{Nowrap|1450 MB/s}} | rowspan="2" | {{Nowrap|2900 MB/s}} | rowspan="2" |4.1 | rowspan="2" |1.8 |- ! scope="row" | 3.1<ref name="jedec.org"/> |2020-01-30 |- ! scope="row" | 4.0<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-updates-universal-flash-storage-ufs-and-supporting-memory-interface|title=JEDEC Updates Universal Flash Storage (UFS) and Supporting Memory Interface Standard|website=www.jedec.org |access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref> |2022-08-17 | rowspan="2" | {{Nowrap|2900 MB/s}} | rowspan="2" | {{Nowrap|5800 MB/s}} | rowspan="2" | 5.0 | rowspan="2" | 2.0 |- ! scope="row" | 4.1 (Pro)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec%C2%AE-announces-updates-universal-flash-storage-ufs-and-memory-interface|title=JEDEC® Announces Updates to Universal Flash Storage (UFS) and Memory Interface Standards|website=www.jedec.org |access-date=8 February 2025}}</ref> |2025-01-08 |- ! scope="row" | 5.0<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec%C2%AE-announces-updates-universal-flash-storage-ufs-and-memory-interface-0|title=JEDEC® Announces Updates to Universal Flash Storage (UFS) and Memory Interface Standards |website=www.jedec.org |access-date=26 February 2026}}</ref> | 2026-02-26 | {{Nowrap|5400 MB/s}} | 10800 MB/s | 6.0 | 3.0 |}

=== UFS Card === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" ! scope="col" | Version ! scope="col" | Introduced ! scope="col" | Bandwidth per lane ! scope="col" | Maximum lanes ! scope="col" | Maximum bandwidth ! scope="col" | M-PHY version ! scope="col" | UniPro version |- ! scope="row" | 1.0<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-publishes-universal-flash-storage-ufs-removable-card-standard|title=JEDEC Publishes Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Removable Card Standard {{!}} JEDEC|website=www.jedec.org |access-date=30 October 2017}}</ref> |2016-03-30 |rowspan="2" |600 MB/s |rowspan="3" style="text-align: center;" |1 |rowspan="2" |600 MB/s |rowspan="2" |3.0 |rowspan="2" |1.6 |- ! scope="row" | 1.1<ref name=":0" /> |2018-01-30 |- ! scope="row" | 3.0<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-advances-universal-flash-storage-ufs-removable-card-standard-30 |title=JEDEC Advances Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Removable Card Standard 3.0| website=www.jedec.org |access-date=31 July 2021}}</ref> |2020-12-08 |1200 MB/s |1200 MB/s |4.1 |1.8 |- |}

== Implementation == * UFS 2.0 has been implemented in Snapdragon 820 and 821. Kirin 950 and 955. Exynos 7420. Nvidia Jetson AGX Xavier SOMs * UFS 2.1 has been implemented in Snapdragon 712 (710&720G), 730G, 732G, 835, 845 and 855. Kirin 960, 970 and 980. Exynos 9609,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/exynos/products/mobileprocessor/exynos-9609/|title=Exynos 9609 Mobile Processor: Specs, Features {{!}} Samsung Exynos|website=Samsung Semiconductor |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> 9610,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/exynos/products/mobileprocessor/exynos-7-series-9610/|title=Exynos 9610 Processor: Specs, Features {{!}} Samsung Exynos|website=Samsung Semiconductor |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> 9611,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/exynos/products/mobileprocessor/exynos-9611/|title=Exynos 9611 Mobile Processor: Specs, Features {{!}} Samsung Exynos|website=Samsung Semiconductor |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> 9810 and 980.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/exynos/products/mobileprocessor/exynos-980/|title=Exynos 980 5G Mobile Processor: Specs, Features {{!}} Samsung Exynos|website=Samsung Semiconductor |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> * UFS 3.0 has been implemented in Snapdragon 855, 855+, 860, 865, Exynos 9820–9825,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/exynos/products/mobileprocessor/exynos-9-series-9820/ |title=Exynos 9 Series 9820 Processor: Specs, Features |publisher=Samsung |access-date=14 November 2018 }}</ref> and Kirin 990.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/14851/huawei-announces-kirin-990-and-kirin-990-5g-dual-soc-approach-integrated-5g-modem|title=Huawei Announces Kirin 990 and Kirin 990 5G: Dual SoC Approach, Integrated 5G Modem|last=Cutress|first=Ian|date=6 September 2019|website=AnandTech|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906140013/https://www.anandtech.com/show/14851/huawei-announces-kirin-990-and-kirin-990-5g-dual-soc-approach-integrated-5g-modem|archive-date=6 September 2019}}</ref> * UFS 3.1 has been implemented in Snapdragon 855+/860, Snapdragon 865, Snapdragon 870, Snapdragon 888, Exynos 2100, Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 7s gen 2.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qualcomm Snapdragon 888: specs and benchmarks|url=https://nanoreview.net/en/soc/qualcomm-snapdragon-875|access-date=22 February 2021|website=NanoReview.net }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Exynos 2100 5G Mobile Processor: Specs, Features|url=https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/exynos/products/mobileprocessor/exynos-2100/|access-date=27 June 2021|website=Samsung.com }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Exynos 2200 {{!}} Processor {{!}} Samsung Semiconductor|url=https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/exynos/products/mobileprocessor/exynos-2200/|website=www.samsung.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/87-64361-1/87-64361-1_REV_B_Snapdragon_7s_Gen_2_Mobile_Platform_Product_Brief.pdf|title=Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 Mobile Platform }}</ref> * UFS 4.0 has been implemented in Google Tensor G5, MediaTek Dimensity 9200, MediaTek Dimensity 8300 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.<ref>{{cite web |title=Snapdragon-8-Gen-2-Product-Brief.pdf |url=https://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/Snapdragon-8-Gen-2-Product-Brief.pdf |publisher=Qualcomm |access-date=19 November 2022}}</ref>

== Complementary UFS standards == On 30 March 2016, JEDEC published version 1.0 of the UFS Card Extension Standard (JESD220-2), which offered many of the features and much of the same functionality as the existing UFS 2.0 embedded device standard, but with additions and modifications for removable cards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/news/pressreleases/jedec-publishes-universal-flash-storage-ufs-removable-card-standard|title=JEDEC Publishes Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Removable Card Standard {{!}} JEDEC|website=www.jedec.org|access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref>

Also in March 2016, JEDEC published version 1.1 of the UFS Unified Memory Extension (JESD220-1A),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/document_search?search_api_views_fulltext=jesd220-1a|title=Standards & Documents Search &#124; JEDEC|website=www.jedec.org}}</ref> version 2.1 of the UFS Host Controller Interface (UFSHCI) standard (JESD223C),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/document_search?search_api_views_fulltext=jesd223c|title=Standards & Documents Search &#124; JEDEC|website=www.jedec.org}}</ref> and version 1.1A of the UFSHCI Unified Memory Extension standard (JESD223-1A).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/document_search?search_api_views_fulltext=jesd223-1a|title=Standards & Documents Search &#124; JEDEC|website=www.jedec.org}}</ref>

On 30 January 2018, the UFS Card Extension standard was updated to version 1.1 (JESD220-2A),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/standards-documents/docs/jesd220-2|title=UNIVERSAL FLASH STORAGE (UFS) CARD EXTENSION, Version 3.0 &#124; JEDEC|website=www.jedec.org}}</ref> and the UFSHCI standard was updated to version 3.0 (JESD223D), to align with UFS version 3.0.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jedec.org/standards-documents/focus/flash/universal-flash-storage-ufs|title=UFS (Universal Flash Storage) &#124; JEDEC|website=www.jedec.org}}</ref>

== Rewrite cycle life == A UFS drive's rewrite life cycle affects its lifespan. There is a limit to how many write/erase cycles a flash block can accept before it produces errors or fails altogether. Each write/erase cycle causes a flash memory cell's oxide layer to deteriorate. The reliability of a drive is based on three factors: the age of the drive, total terabytes written over time, and drive writes per day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/storage-hardware/ssd-lifespan.html |title=SSD Lifespan: How Long Will Your SSD Work? |website=Enterprise Storage Forum |date=1 March 2019 |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref> This is typical of flash memory in general. For example, high-end smartphones, and devices such as set-top boxes may adopt UFS flash with high terabytes written.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Western Digital® iNAND® CH EM133 | url=https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/collateral/product-brief/product-brief-connected-home-inand-ch-em133-western-digital.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108210200/https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/collateral/product-brief/product-brief-connected-home-inand-ch-em133-western-digital.pdf | archive-date=8 January 2021}}</ref>

== See also == * Memory card * NVM Express (NVMe) * Solid-state drive

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://www.jedec.org/standards-documents/focus/flash/universal-flash-storage-ufs Current standards] of UFS and UFS Card * [http://www.flashmemorysummit.com/English/Collaterals/Proceedings/2013/20130814_T1_Jacobson.pdf Presentation] by Scott Jacobson and Harish Verma at Flash Memory Summit 2013

{{Memory Cards}}

Category:Solid-state computer storage Category:Computer-related introductions in 2016 Category:Mobile phone standards