CompactFlash From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CompactFlash
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CompactFlash

A 64MB CompactFlash Type I card
Media type
Mass storage device format
Encoding
Variousfile systems
Capacity
2 MB to 100GB
Developed by
SanDisk
Dimensions
43×36×3.3 mm (Type I) 43×36×5 mm (Type II)
Weight
10grammes (typical)
Usage
Digital cameras and other mass storage devices
Extended from
PCMCIA / PC Card
CompactFlash (CF) is amass storage device format used in portable electronic devices. For storage, CompactFlash typically usesflash memory in a standardized enclosure.
The format was first specified and produced bySanDisk in 1994.[1] The physical format is now used for a variety of devices.
CompactFlash became a popular storage medium for digital cameras. In recent years it has been widely replaced by smallerSecure Digital cards on the consumer end, but it is still a preferred format forD-SLR cameras, for its superior capacity and reliability.
Contents
[hide]
1 Description
2 Technical details
2.1 Speed
2.2 Capacities and compatibility
2.2.1 Filesystems
2.3 CF+ specification revisions
2.4 Type I and Type II
2.5 Microdrives
3 Compared to other portable storage
4 Counterfeiting
5 Other devices conforming to the CF standard
6 CompactFlash card manufacturers
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
[edit] Description

 
A 16-GB CompactFlash card installed in a 2.5" IDE port with adaptor
There are two main subdivisions of CF cards, Type I (3.3 mm thick) and the thicker Type II (CF2) cards (5 mm thick). The CF Type II slot is used byMicrodrives and some other devices. There are four main speeds of cards including the original CF, CF High Speed (using CF+/CF2.0), a faster CF 3.0 standard and a yet faster CF 4.0 standard that is being adopted as of 2007. The thickness of the CF card type is dictated by the precedingPCMCIA card type standard which was used for data storage in previous years.
CompactFlash was originally built aroundIntel'sNOR-based flash memory, but it has switched over toNAND.[2] CF is among the oldest and most successful formats, and has held on to a niche in the professional camera market especially well. It has benefited from having both a better cost to memory size ratio than other formats for much of its life, and generally having larger capacities available than other formats.
CF cards can be used directly in a PC Card slot with a plug adapter, used as an ATA (IDE) or PCMCIA storage device with a passive adapter or with a reader, or attached various other types of ports such asUSB orFireWire. As some newer card types are smaller, they can be used directly in a CF card slot with an adapter. Formats which can be used this way includeSD/MMC, Memory Stick Duo,xD-Picture Card in a Type I slot, andSmartMedia in a Type II slot, as of 2005. Some multi-card readers use CF for I/O as well.
Flash memory, regardless of format, can take only a limited number of erase/write cycles to a particular "sector" before that sector can no longer be written. Typically, the controller in a CompactFlash device attempts to prevent premature wearout of a sector by choosing the location for a piece of data at write time so as to spread out the writing over the device. This process is calledwear levelling.
[edit] Technical details

 
1 GB CF card in aNikon D200DSLR camera
NOR-based flash has lower density than newer NAND-based systems, and CompactFlash is therefore the physically largest of the three memory card formats that came out in the early 1990s, the other two beingMiniature Card (MiniCard) andSmartMedia (SSFDC). However, CF did switch to NAND type memory later on. TheIBMMicrodrive format implements the CF Type II interface, but is not solid-state memory.
CompactFlash defines a physical interface which is smaller than, but electrically identical to, theATA interface. That is, it appears to the host device as if it were ahard disk. The CF device contains anATA controller.
CF has managed to be the most successful of the early memory card formats, outlivingMiniature Card,SmartMedia, and PC Card Type I in mainstream popularity. The memory card formats that came out in the late 1990s through the early 2000s (SD/MMC, variousMemory Stick formats,xD-Picture Card, etc.) offered stiff competition. The new formats were significantly smaller than CF, in some cases by an even greater fraction than CF had been smaller than PC Card. These new formats would eventually dominate the memory card market for compact consumer electronic devices.
[edit] Speed
Flash memory devices arenon-volatile andsolid-state, and thus are more robust than disk drives. Cards consume around 5% of the power required by small disk drives and still have reasonable transfer rates of over 30 MB/s for the more expensive 'high speed' cards.[3]
Card speed is usually specified in "x" ratings, e.g. 8x, 20x, 133x. This is the same system used forCD-ROMs and gives the data rate as a multiple of the data rate of the first CD-ROMs (i.e. the data rate of an audio CD). The base rate is 150kB/s, so for example, 20x = 20 * 150 kB/s = 3.0 MB/s. They operate at 3.3volts or 5 volts, and can be swapped from system to system. CF cards with flash memory are able to cope with extremely rapid changes in temperature. Industrial versions of flash memory cards can operate at a range of −45 to +85°C.
[edit] Capacities and compatibility
As of 2008[update], CompactFlash cards are generally available in capacities from about 512MB to 100GB, with perhaps the most popular choices in Europe and North America being between 1 GB and 16 GB. Lower capacity cards, below 512 MB, are becoming rare in stores as higher capacity cards are readily available at the same price. The largest CompactFlash cards commonly available currently are the 32 GB models from various manufacturers —SanDisk launched its 16 GB Extreme III card at the 2006Photokina trade fair,Transcend announced its 32 GB card onJanuary 15,2008.[4] Samsung launched 16, 32 and 64 GB CF cards soon after.Pretec announced 48 GB cards in January 2008 and 100GB cards in September.[5][6][7] These cards, and almost all cards over 2 GB, require the host device to support theFAT32 file system (if the camera is using aFAT file system). The largest cards, however, are usually not among the fastest ones.
[edit] Filesystems
There are varying levels of compatibility among FAT32-compatible cameras. While any camera that is claimed to be FAT32-capable is expected to read and write to a FAT32-formatted card without problems, some cameras are tripped up by cards larger than 2 GB that are completely unformatted, while others may take longer time to apply a FAT32 format. For example, the FAT32-compatibleCanon EOS-1Ds will format any unformatted card withFAT16, even ones larger than 2 GB.
Indeed, there is a FAT32 bottleneck because of the manner in which many digital cameras update the file system as they write photos to the card. Writing to a FAT32-formatted card generally takes a little longer than writing to a FAT16-formatted card with similar performance capabilities. For instance, theCanon EOS 10D will write the same photo to a FAT16-formatted 2 GB CompactFlash card somewhat faster than to a same speed 4 GB FAT32-formatted CompactFlash card, although the memory chips in both cards have the same write speed specification.[8]
The cards themselves can of course be formatted with any type of file system such asJFS and can be divided into partitions as long as the host device can read them. CompactFlash cards are often used instead of hard drives in embedded systems,dumb terminals and various small form-factor PCs that are built for low noise output or power consumption. CompactFlash cards are often more readily available and smaller than purpose-builtsolid-state drives and can be used to obtain fasterseek times than hard drives.
[edit] CF+ specification revisions
When CompactFlash was first being standardized, even full-sized hard disks were rarely larger than 4GB in size, and so the limitations of the ATA standard were considered acceptable. However, CF cards since the original Revision 1.0 have been able to have capacities up to 137 GB. While the current revision 4.1 from 2004 works only in ATA mode, future revisions are expected to implementSATA.
Revision 2.0 added an increase in speed to 16MB/s data-transfer, according to the CompactFlash Association (CFA).
Revision 3.0 supports up to a 66 MB/s data transfer rate, along with a number of other features.
Revision 4.0 supports IDE Ultra DMA 133 for a maximum data transfer rate of 133 MB/s.
[edit] Type I and Type II
The only difference between the two types is that the Type II devices are 5 mm thick while Type I devices are 3.3 mm thick.[9] The vast majority of all Type II devices are Microdrives and other miniature hard drives. Flash based Type II devices are rare but a few examples do exist.[10][11] Even the largest capacity cards commonly available are Type I cards. Most card readers will read both formats, with the exception of some early CF based cameras or poorer quality USB card readers where the slot is too small.
[edit] Microdrives

 
IBM 1 GB Microdrive
Main article:Microdrive
Microdrives are tinyhard disks—about 25 mm (1 inch) wide—packaged with a CompactFlash Type II form factor and interface. They were developed and released in 1999 byIBM in a 170 megabyte capacity. IBM then sold its disk drive division, including the Microdrive trademark, toHitachi in December 2002. There are now other brands of Microdrives (such as Seagate, Sony, etc), and, over the years, these have become available in increasing capacities (up to 8 GB as of late 2001).
While these drives fit into and work in any CF II slot, they draw more current on average (500 mA maximum) than flash memory (100 mA maximum) and so may not work in some low-power devices (for example,NEC HPCs). Being a mechanical device a Microdrive is more sensitive to physical shock and temperature changes than flash memory. But Microdrives are not subject to the write cycle limitation inherent to flash memory.
The populariPod mini,Nokia N91,iriver H10 (5 or 6GB model) and theRio Carbon use a CF Microdrive to store music.
[edit] Compared to other portable storage
CF cards are considered more rugged and durable to many "in the field" photographic shocks, impacts and accidents. CompactFlash cards are capable of withstanding more physical damage in comparison to other, flimsier designs. Recently a CompactFlash card was found to be still working after spending two years inside a camera that was submerged in shallow water.[12]
Due to their compatibility with IDE/ATA they are used in many embedded systems as solid-state drives. In early 2008 the CFA demonstrated CompactFlash cards with a built inSATA interface.[13] At least one company, Addonics, makes adapters to allow CF cards to be connected toPCI,IDE, 44-pin laptop mini-IDE, andSATA connections[14], allowing a CF card to act as asolid-state drive with virtually any operating system or BIOS, and even in aRAID configuration.
CompactFlash does not have any built inDRM or cryptographic features like on someUSB flash drives and other card formats. The lack of such features contributes to the openness of the standard since other memory card standards with such features are subject to restrictive licensing agreements.
CF cards are available at higher storage capacities than some smaller flash memory cards
CompactFlash lacks the mechanical write protection switch that some other devices have, as seen in acomparison of memory cards with exception of industrial CF-card models (AC60 Turbo/ AC73 and AC75 series) made by CoreSolid Storage[1]
In the case of improper insertion, a card can potentially cause damage to the device receiving the card. However, this rarely happens as slots are usually designed to prevent this from happening.[citation needed]
CompactFlash's large dimensions in comparison to other cards limits its feasibility in very slim devices. The large card slot consumes devices' valuable internal space, especially inpoint and shoot digital cameras.
[edit] Counterfeiting
There is extensive marketplace competition for sales of all brands of flash memory. As a resultcounterfeiting is quite widespread. Under their own brand, or while imitating another, unscrupulous flash memory card manufacturers may sell low-capacity cards formatted to indicate a higher capacity, or else use types of memory which are not intended for extensive rewriting.[15][16]
[edit] Other devices conforming to the CF standard
The CompactFlash format is also used for a variety of Input/Output and interface devices. Since it is electrically identical to thePC card, many PC cards have CF counterparts. Some examples include:
Ethernet
Bluetooth
Modem
Wi-Fi
Digital Camera
GPS
Barcode scanner
RFID
Magnetic stripe reader
Super VGA display adapter
Serial port andUSB 1.1 host adapters
readers for various otherFlash media
[edit] CompactFlash card manufacturers
Apacer
A-DATA
Canon
FujiFilm
Kingston Technology
Kodak
Lexar
Memorex
Olympus
Panasonic
PNY
Ritek
Sandisk
Samsung
Sony
Toshiba
Transcend
Verbatim Corporation
UMAX
[edit] See also
Comparison of memory cards
Microdrive
PC card
Random access memory
[edit] References
^Digiprint Uk
^http://www.karlfoster.com/text/DP_flashmemory.doc
^SanDisk Extreme IV review
^Transcend Releases Largest-Ever 32GB 133X CompactFlash Card
^Pretec releases 64 GB and 100 GB CF card
^64 GB compact flash from Samsung
^Pretec intros 16GB / 24GB / 48GB CompactFlash cards - Engadget
^Rob Galbraith DPI: CompactFlash Performance Database updated
^CompactFlash Frequently Asked Questions
^Delkin Devices ship 224MB CF type II: Digital Photography Review
^Lexar Media announces 8GB CompactFlash type II
^Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca
^Submerged camera holds functional memory card two years after accident - Engadget
^ "Compact Flash and Secure Digital Adapters". Addonics. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
^eBay.ie Guides - FAKE SanDisk Extreme Compact Flash Cards Exposed
^July 2007 - Counterfeit SanDisk Cards
[edit] External links
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
CompactFlash
CompactFlash Association
CompactFlash Association, CompactFlash Frequently Asked Questions
Rob Galbraith DPI: CF Performance Database
CompactFlash connector description and pin layout
CompactFlash pinout
CompactFlash Connector Schematic and complete Pinout
Compact Flash Disassembly Photos
[hide]
v • d • e
Memory cards
CompactFlash (CF) •JEIDA •Memory Stick (MS/MS-PRO) •miCard •Microdrive (MD) •PC Card •SmartMedia (SM) •SxS •Universal Flash Storage (UFS) •USB •xD-Picture
MMC/SD
MultiMediaCard (MMC) •Secure Digital (SD) •miniSD •microSD
Memory card reader
Comparison of memory cards •SD Card/MultiMediaCard Family Comparison
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompactFlash"
Categories:Computer memory |Solid-state computer storage media
Abstact
With mobile networks has been escalating and the business support increasingly enriched, have phone calls from simple tools development as set PDA, interactive games, high-resolution camera, Mobile audio-visual integration of all functional communications, data processing tools, the need to run and storage space wealthy, This right cell phone storage capacity poses a severe test. At present, mobile phones with built-in storage capacity to upgrade the limited space, 64MB is high on the configuration. Phone Memory of the solution is through external memory card to improve the mobile phone's storage capacity to support 2.5 G , 3G data audio and video business development needs, thereby creating an enormous phone memory card market.
The biggest memory card application areas has been the digital camera field, With the cell phone market to the needs of storage capacity is becoming increasingly urgent, especially smart phones and multimedia mobile phone sales continued to grow. It is expected the mobile phone market in 2007 will become the main memory card market, 2008 phone memory card will account for a market share of the entire memory card market by 68.7%. Currently used for cell phone memory card is the main RS-MMC, miniSD and Sony Memory Stick3 species Sandisk by the 2004 introduction of the new T-Flash card is currently the smallest size, one was launched on the Motorola Star and the three large phone support, market prospects uncertain. Micro hard disk in just three paragraphs and a few other satellite phone began configuration, as with other memory card can not compare with the large capacity, will also be in the cell phone memory card market will occupy share. Currently mobile phone memory card market by SanDisk, Sony, Toshiba, three stars, Hitachi and other companies to firmly take hold, But second-line manufacturers is growing quickly, the market share continues to grow. Memory card will gradually become the standard configuration cell phone, but a different memory card not in the same cell phone users to achieve compatibility specifications of the memory card supporters are working hard for the cell phone manufacturers agree, phone memory card market competition is becoming increasingly fierce.
The survey found that China 's market launch of the memory capacity of mobile phones generally too small, equipped with a memory card phone numbers rarely, much room for growth. MMC cards currently holds the dominant market share of 52.4%, followed by the SD Card, to 33.3%, Finally, MS, to 14.3%. China 's mobile phone market will continue to use card-based MMC. Nokia While expressing support for the SD Card, but primarily for the North American and Japanese markets. In the Chinese market will continue to MMC cards mainly. Motorola in the Chinese market using the MMC card phone over to the SD card number. MMCA in the lobby, domestic mobile phone manufacturers tend to use MMC cards. Therefore, the Chinese mobile phone market MMC cards will still hold the advantage. Phone memory card will become the standard configuration cell phone, with a memory card slot of the total cell phone in 2005 climbed to 250 million. Memory card with your phone account for the 2006 global handset volume of the 30%. Phone memory card capacity is rising, volume and weight has been reduced.
China has become a global phone manufacturing center, and is also bound to become a global mobile memory card an important market. Report through a lot of internal data, the actual research and information network, on the memory card and phone memory card market for a detailed explanation. The report detailed analysis of the specifications of the cell phone memory card performance, market conditions, competition and the future trend of development, as well as mobile phone memory card market factors, development trend analysis and forecast, the last of the current mainstream manufacturers were introduced. Meanwhile reports of Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, memory card manufacturers and channels to a comprehensive understanding of the current mobile phone memory card market situation, competition pattern and trend of development assistance, particularly to the Chinese mobile phone memory card market understanding, to formulate a competitive strategy and direction with reference value.
The report not only comprehensive summation of the 2006 Chinese mobile phone memory card market development status, for the future development trends of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the combination, and gives the strategies and proposals :
1 、 Scientific Design, prudent implementation of a market survey, the accurate assessment of the Chinese mobile phone memory card market size and structure, of the main brand competition in the market pattern of fine characterization that enables customers to the Chinese mobile phone memory card market is a comprehensive, accurate;
2 、 Through scientific sampling, and thorough implementation of consumer behavior survey Memory cards for mobile phones users and potential users of consumer behavior conducted an in-depth study help major manufacturers and potential entrants better insight into user needs, as amended products, channels, price and marketing strategy;
3 、 The report focuses on the analysis of mobile phone memory card leading manufacturers and product development strategy, also focused on the analysis of annual growth in 2006 with good memory card manufacturers in the correlation analysis;
4 、 Comprehensive analysis of the future impact of China's mobile phone memory card market is the key element as well as market trends make qualitative and quantitative analysis of the combination of forecast help major manufacturers and potential entrants to scientifically assess market opportunities
We titled "2006-2007 Chinese mobile phone memory card market trends report," according to the state Commission Statistical Bureau, the State Development and Reform Commission, China's Ministry of Commerce, General Administration of Customs, the State Ministry of Information Industry, the National Commercial Information Center, National Economic Prosperity Monitoring Center, the online research centers in Zhongguancun, the State Ministry of Information Industry announced and provide a lot of information and the right combination of mobile phone memory card manufacturers, distributors and other industry enterprises interviews, and the cell phone consumer surveys. Report based on the global mobile memory card market, the China mobile phone memory card industry development status of supply and demand, Sub-sectors, such as industry competition pattern of research and analysis focused on the handset memory card market sales situation, Present Chinese mobile phone memory card industry is facing the impact of the enterprises countermeasures. Comprehensive reports of cell phone memory card industries and sales channels, analysis and other important consumer segment, phone industry to national policy on the judgment and policy trends, China's mobile phone enterprises in the fierce market competition insight into the initiative, according to the market demand for timely adjustments to business strategy, as strategic investors choose appropriate investment opportunities and the leadership of the company to do strategic planning provided accurate information and market intelligence branches The basis for decision-making, while the banking sector credit was also of great reference value.
Chapter One Summary on Mobile Phone Memory Card Market
Section one Current situation
1, Great potential in the market
IT industry as the external products, Memory Card 2006 has never been so much as by the concerns of consumers. With large storage capacity, small size, portable, safe and relatively stable performance characteristics Memory Card has become the consumer
The rapid growth of market demand naturally attracted to the growing number of brands to join, but the opportunities and challenges coexist forever. Consumers face large-capacity, high stability, good compatibility of the harsh requirements of the mainstream manufacturers to do some more successful, Market performance is at least tell us so. H & Q advice from the market survey, at this stage a major market share is still concentrated in areas such as Sandisk, Lexar, Kingston and other mainstream manufacturers to the hands of the top ten brand sales occupy the country's total sales of more than 90%.
2, Capacity pushing channel
First, even greater capacity 1GB memory card into the mainstream market at this stage. Since the second half of 2006 products of various types of digital video entertainment scratch wave cause consumers to large storage capacity demand for the product has increased significantly. Based on this upstream manufacturers change the supply strategy, coupled with the use of price means manufacturers of major and even a 2 GB GB products, MB memory card from GB to the rapid completion of this transition.
And large capacity, memory card products sales channels have begun to change. Unlike the previous single IT channels, and home appliances stores, supermarkets, and even network model diversified channels were introduced, further promoting the sales market but also for the vast number of consumers with the convenience to a large extent. Needs to be pointed out is that the IT channel still plays a leading role, while the development of new channels into the later.
Finally, I must mention the memory card market will become more serious fakes parallel phenomenon, its basic form is smuggled underground factories or assembly. They appear to a large extent hampered the smooth development of the market, but also enable Sandisk. Jinshidu other mainstream manufacturers suffered huge losses brand, the memory card market integration and norms become urgent.
Fortunately, subsequent to Jinshidu represented by some manufacturers began to crack down on the tremendous efforts invested, a certain extent, to preserve its own brand image, to strengthen consumer confidence in the brand and maintaining brand image, expand the market has given a great impetus.
Overall, despite the 2006 memory card market as a whole experienced a full year of rapid development, But nature is still at an early stage, the consumers of various memory card cognitive performance of generally low, simply use different specifications for a limited understanding of the differences. This stage, the standard memory card technology has become the focus for manufacturers, a wide range of digital memory card endless. For example, the earliest MMC , SD , CF, the brand of our own research and Memory Stick, XD. thereafter to narrow the size of the MiniSD, MMC plus and MMC mobile, Memory Stick Duo, and the latest releases in the MicroSD, SDHC. Memory Stick M2.
From 2005 onwards, digital consumer products category increasing popularity, Digital makes products related accessories flash memory cards began to get the majority of the concerns of consumers. And the comparison with 2005, 2006, the flash memory card market has become more noisy, on the one hand, than the number of manufacturers has increased more in 2005, although the traditional large Jinshidu (KingSton) ADATA Weigang so as to the more obvious advantages to occupy a larger share of the market, but other manufacturers scattered attention. The other hand, flash memory card market quite a mixed bag of people, a large number of the fake products, bringing consumers a crisis of confidence.
3、 Mobile phone has entered into memory time
To further understand the 2006 handset memory card market conditions, H & Q Beijing consulting firm on the market as a whole for the attention to the investigation and involves the consumption demand concerns market competition concerns, and so on. Digital audio-visual world has become an indispensable part of the cell phone. Camera function preservation Jazz Setting the charming scenery; CD-playback functions satisfy mobile movies or music appreciation demand; support Java platform for the fans to experience the game anywhere fluid titillation ... All this shows the unlimited phone in the brilliant future prospects. However, if the lack of a memory card for cell phone memory expansion, phone the above functions as "castles in the air" -- not a reality. Indeed, with the cell phone digital audio-visual functions are becoming more and more powerful, external memory card has become an essential cell phone accessories Cell phones are truly enter into "storage times."
1 、 Memory has become the mainstream
Currently, the market can support the expansion of the mobile phone has dozens, such as Motorola "," the Nokia N series handsets, Lenovo ET980, Xiaxin E850, the majority of whom were among the most popular cell phone. Entering the South Pacific or communications stores and sales staff will first recommend to you with the expansion of mobile phone cards. According to Link Di-xin, sales personnel, the current memory card phone has become the mainstream, with the expansion of functional cell phone best sellers. buy more to the crowd of young people and business people mainly.
With business intelligence, photographic camera, MP3, MP4, and other functions continuously integrated into the cell phone. Cell phones are not limited to the phone messages, but more like a personal information terminal products. And for the common cell phone memory, the memory of so many words, images, video and other multimedia information can certainly meet, to a mobile phone equipped with a dedicated memory card will be very necessary. DoPod 830 bought by Mr. Zhou has been expanded with fond of the phone, He said frequent business activities require greater capacity for the expansion of mobile phone cards, as the computer's hard disk, the greater the better.
2 、 Demand is increasing
It is precisely because of cell phone users in the cell phone function of the demand for music, making phone memory card with the "battlefield." Normally, the cell phone broadcast music files such as MP3 music format of the document, despite the compressed into a smaller length, But usually an MP3 songs at least Jizhao size. Therefore, if equipped with a cell phone in a G memory card, at least you can store more than 300 songs. cell phone memory card of the role is evident. In addition, English, games, ring tones and documents, such as MMS, everything can be loaded cell phone storage Carriles, for any given cell phone users.
Furthermore, in view of the mobile phone business will use more and more. For example, online games, mobile banking, mobile phones in real-time chat, phone shopping. and the completion of these operations will require the installation of more mobile phone applications and operating procedures with the space, and the memory card will be the realization of these data applications business technology base. External storage via cell phone phone cards to help complete certain value-added services, while mobile phone led the rapid development of value-added business, other memory card market to bring about revolutionary change, presage phone memory card market even broader space for development.
3 、 Competition is being fiercer
Memory size constraints cell phone has become the future development of key functions, Some manufacturers in the mobile phone functional "building blocks" At the same time, increasingly thought breakthrough storage capacity bottlenecks, making photographs video, CD players and other functions have a broader "stage." No doubt, the most direct solution is to follow digital cameras and PDAs, built-in extension to a mobile phone users, to adapt to different data storage needs. Judging from the current market with the existing music phone, more than 30% of music mobile phones are equipped with expansion cards, and the allocation of expansion cards music phone is continuously increasing proportion; open for the installation of the smartphone operating system. its message more powerful processing capability, the general configuration of its own has a larger memory space, Currently over 20% of smartphone can configure external memory card.
In the cell phone memory card capacity on the battle of Nokia and three satellite competitions has been white-hot state. Currently, with 4 GB of capacity expansion card, the Nokia N91 has been listed. 3 Star launched in 8GB capacity expansion card phone i300X, recently released a 16 GB capacity expansion card phone. It is understood that the mobile phone which can store 1,600 MP3 songs, 16 films, more than 20,000 photos to be the world with the largest storage space for multimedia handsets. In addition, as cell phone music has already become the in-depth development of the market, the SPM. Domestic mobile phone and Motorola have also joined the expansion card to the competition.
Comparison of memory cards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to:navigation,search
This table provides summary of comparison of variousflashmemory cards,as of 2008.
Contents
[hide]
1 Common information
2 Physical details
3 Technical details
4 Consumer details
5 Compatibility
6 References
7 External links
[edit] Common information
Card family
Standards organizations
Varieties
Entry date
Picture[1]
Major features
CompactFlash
SanDisk
I
1994
  Thinner (3.3 mm), flash based only, sizes available up to 100GB
II
Thicker (5.0 mm), older flash based, but usuallyMicrodrives, sizes available up to 8GB
SmartMedia
Toshiba
3.3V / 5V
1995

Very thin (0.76 mm), sizes available up to 128MB
MultiMediaCard
Siemens AG,SanDisk
MMC
1997
  Thin and small (24 mm x 32 mm x 1.4 mm), sizes available up to 4GB
RS-MMC/MMC Mobile
2003/2005
  Compact size (24 mm × 18 mm × 1.4 mm), sizes available up to 2GB
MMCplus
2005
Compact size (24 mm × 32 mm × 1.4 mm), faster, optional DRM, sizes available up to 2GB
MMCmicro
2005
Sub compact size (14 mm × 12 mm × 1.1 mm), optional DRM,
Memory Stick
Sony/SanDisk
Standard
1998
  Thin and narrow (50 mm x 21.5 mm x 2.8 mm), optional DRM, available up to 128MB
PRO
2003
Thin and narrow (50 mm x 21.5 mm x 2.8 mm), faster, optional DRM, Memory up to 4GB
Duo
2003

Compact size (31 mm x 20 mm x 1.6 mm), optional DRM, Memory up to 128MB
PRO Duo
2002-06
  Compact size (31 mm x 20 mm x 1.6 mm), optional DRM, available up to 16GB
PRO-HG Duo
2007-08
Compact size (31 mm x 20 mm x 1.6 mm), faster , optional DRM, available up to 8GB
Micro (M2)
2006-02
  Sub compact size (15 mm x 12.5 mm x 1.2 mm), optional DRM, available up to 16GB
Secure Digital
Panasonic,SanDisk,Toshiba
SD
1999
  Small (32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1 mm), DRM, sizes available up to 32GB
miniSD
2003
  Compact size (21.5 mm x 20 mm x 1.4 mm), DRM, available up to 2GB
microSD
2005

Sub compact size (11 mm x 15 mm x 1 mm), DRM, available up to 16GB[2]
SDHC
2006
  Physically the same as SD, but offers higher capacity and transfer speed, available up to 32GB
miniSDHC
2007
Physically the same as miniSD, but offers higher capacity and transfer speed, available up to 8GB
microSDHC
2007
Physically the same as microSD, but offers higher capacity and transfer speed, available up to 16GB[3]
xD
Olympus,Fujifilm
Standard
2002-07
  Thin and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm), available up to 512MB[1]
Type M
2005
  Thin and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm) but slower read / write, available up to 2GB[2]
Type H
2005
  Thin and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm) and faster than previous two versions, available up to 2GB[3]
USB flash drive
Various
USB 1.1 / 2.0
2001
Universally compatible across all computer platforms, but larger size suits them better to file transfer/storage instead of use in portable devices, available up to 64GB
[edit] Physical details
Note that a memory card's dimensions are determined while holding the card with contact pins facing up. Horizontal measurement is width, vertical measurement is length, depth is thickness. For most cards length is larger than width, although this is not always the case. Also, most cards include a direction arrow to aid insertion; such an arrow should also be facing "up".
 
Card  
Width, mm  
Length, mm  
Thickness, mm  
Volume, mm³  
Mass, g[4]  
CompactFlash, Type I
43.0
36.0
3.3
5108
3.3
CompactFlash, Type II
43.0
36.0
5.0
7740
SmartMedia
37.0
45.0
0.76
1265
2.0
MMC, MMCplus
24.0
32.0
1.4
1075
1.3[5]
RS-MMC, MMCmobile
24.0
16.0
1.4
538
1.3
MMCmicro
14.0
12.0
1.1
185
Memory Stick Standard, PRO
21.5
50.0
2.8
3010
4.0
Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo, PRO-HG
20.0
31.0
1.6
992
2.0
Memory Stick Micro "M2"
12.5
15.0
1.2
225
2.0
SD
24.0
32.0
2.1
1613
2.0
miniSD
20.0
21.5
1.4
602
1.0
microSD
15.0
11.0
1.0
165
0.27
xD
25.0
20.0
1.78
890
2.8
USB
varies
varies
varies
varies
varies
[edit] Technical details
Card
Varieties
Actual Maximum storage capacity,MB (megabyte)
Theoretical maximum capacity
Max Read Speed,MBytes/s
Max Write Speed, MBytes/s
Read/write cycles
Low-level access
Operating voltage, V[6]
Controller chip[7]
# of pins
CompactFlash
I
65536
137GB
133[8]
133[8]
NOR/NAND
3.3 and 5
Yes
50
II
12288
137 GB
133[8]
133[8]
SmartMedia
128
2
1,000,000
NAND
3.3 or 5
No
22
MMC
MMC
8192
128 GB
20
20
1,000,000[9]
3.3
Yes
7
RS-MMC
2048
2[10]
2[10]
3.3
7
MMCmobile
2048
15[11]
8[11]
1.8 and 3.3
13
MMCplus
4096[12]
52[13]
52[13]
3.3
13
MMCmicro
2048
1.8 and 3.3
13
Memory Stick
Standard
128
128 MB
2.5
1.8
3.3
Yes
10
Pro
4096
32 GB
20
20
3.3
PRO Duo
16000[14]
20
20
3.3
PRO-HG Duo
8000[15]
actual: 30[16] - theory: 60[17]
actual: 30[16] - theory: 60[17]
3.3
Micro (M2)
8192[18]
32GB
20
20
1.8 and 3.3
Secure Digital
SD
4 GB
20
20
3.3
Yes
9
miniSD
12
12
11
microSD
10
10
8
SDHC
32768[19]
2048 GB
20
20
3.3
Yes
9
miniSDHC
4096[20]
12
12
11
microSDHC
12288[21]
10
10
8
xD
512
512 MB
5
3
3.3
No
18
Type M
2048
8 GB
4
2.5
Type H
2048
8 GB
15
9
USB
"Full speed"
65536 (2007)
No Limit
1
1
5
Yes
4
"High speed"
40
40
[edit] Consumer details
Card
Write protection switch[22]
DRM
CompactFlash
No
No
SmartMedia
Partial, sticker
Partial (optional)
MMC, RS-MMC
No
No
MMCMobile
Yes, secureMMC
Memory Stick Standard, PRO
Yes
Optional,MagicGate
Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo
No
Optional,MagicGate
Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo
No
Optional,MagicGate
Memory Stick Micro "M2"
No
Optional,MagicGate
SD
Yes[23]
Yes,CPRM
miniSD
No
microSD
No
xD
Partial, sticker
Partial[24]
USB
Sometimes
No
[edit] Compatibility
The following chart gives details on availability of adapters to put a given card (horizontal) in a given slot or device (vertical). This table does not take into account protocol issues in communicating with the device.
Following labels are used:
+ (native) - a slot is native for such card.
D (Directly compatible) - a card may be used in such a slot directly, without any adapters. Best possible compatibility.
M (requires a Mechanical adapter) - such adapter is only a physical enclosure to fit one card sized into another; all electrical pins are exactly the same.
EM (requires an Electro-Mechanical adapter) - such adapter features both physical enclosure and pins re-routing as terminals are sufficiently different. No powered elements in such adapter exists, thus they're very cheap and easy to manufacture and may be supplied as a bonus for every such card.
E (requires an Electronic adapter enclosure) - these adapters are the most advanced ones with some chips (may be requiring external power) that transform signals, as well as physical enclosure and pin routing.
X (requires an eXternal adapter) - technically the same as E, but such adapter usually consists of 2 parts: a pseudo-card with pin routing and physical enclosure size that perfectly match the target slot and a break-out box (acard reader) that holds a real card. Such adapter is the least comfortable to use.
Empty cell - card can't be used in such slot, no single adapter is known to exist. Sometimes a chain of adapters can help (for example, miniSD→CF as miniSD→SD→CF)
Cards →
CF
SM
MMC
Memory Stick
SD
xD
↓ Slots
I
II
MMC
RS-MMC, MMCmobile
Std
Pro
Pro Duo
Micro
SD
mini
micro
Std
M
H
ExpressCard
E[25]
E[25]
E[26]
E[27]
E[27]
E[26]
E[26]
E[26]
E[28]
E[26]
E[26]
E[26]
PC card
EM[29]
EM[29]
E[30]
E[31]
E[31]
E[31]
E[31]
CF I
+
E
E[32]
E[33]
E[33]
E[34]
E[32]
E[35]
E[35]
E[35]
CF II
+
+
E
E[32]
E[33]
E[33]
E[32]
E[35]
E[35]
E[35]
SM
+
X[36]
X[36]
X[36]
MMC
+
M
D[37]
MS
X[38]
+
+
M
M
X[38]
X[38]
E[39]
SD
D
+
EM
EM
IDE PATA
EM[40]
EM[40]
E[41][42]
Serial ATA
E[43]
E[43]
USB
X[44]
X[44]
X[44]
X[44]
X[44]
X[44]
E[45]
E[45]
E[46]
E[47]
X[44]
X[44]
X[44]
Floppy
E[48]
E[49]
E[49]
Nintendo DS Slot-1
E[50]
Nintendo DS Slot-2
E[51]
E[51]
E[51]
[edit] References
^ Pictures are given in relative scales; they're sized to beWYSIWYG when viewing using 81PPI monitor.
^SanDisk microSD and microSDHC Product Listing
^SanDisk's 16GB microSDHC and M2 memory cards
^Plexus Outbursts specifications
^Apacer's MMC specifications
^Voltage table at All Memory Cards, note that some cards support both voltages (and), and some cards are available in distinct versions (or)
^Explanation of controller chip at All Memory Cards
^abcdCompactFlash Specification Rev. 4.1
^ACP-EP Specifications
^abACP-EP RS-MMC card features list
^abACP-EP MMCmobile card features list
^Transcend MMCplus 4GB
^abMMC transferred at up to 52MB/sec
^Sony 16GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
^SanDisk | Products | Photo & Video | SanDisk Extreme® III Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™ Cards
^abSony Introduces Faster MS Pro HG Duo Card
^abSony Memory Stick Pro-HG, up to 32 GB, 8-bit parallel transfer
^Sandisk First to Offer 8-Gigabyte Memory Stick Micro (M2) Cards For Mobile Phones
^Toshiba Adds New High Density SDHC Cards and microSDHC Card to Extensive Memory Card Line-up
^New 4 GB miniSDHC card
^SanDisk Announces the 12-Gigabyte microSDHC Card - the World’s Largest Capacity Card for Mobile Phones
^Write protection switch at All Memory Cards
^ Some early SD cards may not have a write protection switch
^Fujifilm accessories xD-Picture Card
^abDataFab EXP-CF
^abcdefgDataFab EXP 12 in 2
^abDataFab exp 12 in 1
^DataFab exp M2+microSD
^abTranscend CompactFlash-to-PC Card adapter
^Transcend SmartMedia-to-PC Card adapter
^abcdTranscend 5-in-1 Adapter
^abcdMinolta SD-CF1 SD-to-CompactFlash adapter
^abcdTranscend MemoryStick-to-CompactFlash adapter
^Sony MSAC-MCF1N and AD-MSCF1 PRO Duo to CF adapters
^abcdefOlympus MACF-10 xD-to-CompactFlash adapter
^abcHama xD-to-SM adapter
^ SD cards are usually thicker than MMC ones, and although it uses perfectly compatible pins, not every MMC slot may allow thick SD card to be inserted
^abcDragon SD/miniSD/MMC to MS PRO Duo Adapter
^KingMax microSD to MS PRO Duo Adapter
^abPC Engines IDE to CompactFlash adapters
^Star Empery PT110 SD Card To ATA IDE 3.5 inch Hard Drive Adapter
^4x SD to SSD IDE Adapter
^abAccelerated Compact Flash: The Addonics SATA CF Adapter
^abcdefghi There are many USB-connected "n-in-1" memory card readers, for exampleBelkin's "Hi-Speed USB 2.0 15-in-1 Media Reader & Writer".
^ab MS Duo and M2 adapters have appeared in the last 12 months which look like USB memory sticks
^SanDisk @ CES - SD card with built-in USB adapter
^A-Data microSD to USB Adapter
^DCRP Special Report: FlashPath Adapter by Tom Beardmore
^abJVC CU-VFSD50U SD/MMC FLOPPY ADAPTER
^R4 microSD to NDS Slot-1 Adapter
^abcSupercard to NDS Slot-2 Adapter
[edit] External links
GumstixDocsWiki Frequently Asked Questions:Are SD cards interchangeable with MMC cards?
Types of Memory Cards
USB mass storage device class:Mass Storage device class specification — on the site of the USB Implementers Forum.
[hide]
v • d • e
Memory cards
CompactFlash (CF) •JEIDA •Memory Stick (MS/MS-PRO) •miCard •Microdrive (MD) •PC Card •SmartMedia (SM) •SxS •Universal Flash Storage (UFS) •USB •xD-Picture
MMC/SD
MultiMediaCard (MMC) •Secure Digital (SD) •miniSD •microSD
Memory card reader
Comparison of memory cards •SD Card/MultiMediaCard Family Comparison