The Open-Channel interface
exports the SSD’s physical geometry
directly to the host system
Open-Channel* is a standard hardware interface for SSDs that enables either application-specific host FTLs or tight integration of Flash Management functions into host system software. Based on a paradigm of moving Flash Management functionality from the SSD to the host, an Open-Channel device exports mappings of the actual physical geometry of the SSD to the host system. This provides developers with a platform to design custom tailored host FTLs or integrate system software stacks to achieve levels of parallelism (bandwidth) and deterministic latency not possible with conventional FTL SSDs.
*Open-Channel Solid State Drives NVMe
Specification Revision 1.2, April 2016