Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)
Department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Committee Chair
Aleksandar Milenković
Committee Member
David Coe
Committee Member
Rahul Bhadani
Research Advisor
Aleksandar Milenković
Subject(s)
Flash memories (Computers), Computer interfaces, NANDWorks
Abstract
NAND flash memory is the basis for modern digital storage, but direct access to raw flash functionality remains difficult due to limitations in available interface tools. Industrial characterization systems can issue low-level commands but are prohibitively expensive for most researchers and students. USB-based bit-banging tools lack the timing fidelity needed for certain experiments. This thesis introduces NANDWorks, a testbed based on the Raspberry Pi 4 that provides direct access to ONFI-compatible NAND flash devices via GPIO bit-banging in Linux user space, building on prior work for the Terasic DE1-SoC platform. NANDWorks has a layered software stack that includes a hardware abstraction layer, ONFI command sequencing, a C++ API, a command-line driver, and an embedded LuaJIT scripting interface, and can be assembled from low-cost, readily available components. Evaluation included a structured test suite, performance profiling, and logic analyzer captures. Experiments on real NAND devices demonstrate the capability of NANDWorks without specialized equipment.
Recommended Citation
Scheidker, Mark, "NANDWorks : a low-cost testbed for interfacing ONFI-compatible NAND flash memory devices" (2026). Theses. 813.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/813