Software and hardware design challenges due to the dynamic raw NAND market

This white paper will highlight the difficulties in developing and maintaining firmware (bootloaders), middleware (OS/application drivers) and hardware IPs for interfacing with raw NAND devices. Determining raw NAND geometry, NAND command set and ECC requirements across NAND manufacturers and NAND product lines, combined with short life cycle of raw NAND, brings significant challenges to both software and hardware designers. Various approaches to resolve the issue will be discussed. Managed NAND as an alternative solution will also be examined.