More related news:
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1997--Siemens Microelectronics Inc.
and SanDisk today announced the MultiMediaCard (MMC), the world's smallest removable
solid state memory solution for portable products.
Developed by the two companies, the MMC is a memory card the size of a postage stamp
(32mm x 24mm x 1.4mm).
The MMC is extremely rugged, lightweight, power-saving, fast and cost-effective. Its
integrated serial interface makes it easy to install. The card is particularly suitable for use in
mobile applications such as mobile phones, pagers, laptops, automotive applications,
industrial handheld devices and consumer electronics like cameras and solid-state music
playback.
A number of leading cell phone companies are already supporting MMC technology as the
new industry standard for removable storage media. According to Horst Pratsch, head of
MMC activities with Siemens Semiconductor Group in Munich, the MultiMediaCard has
already been accepted by Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, Qualcomm and Siemens PN (Private
Communication Systems) for use in their future telecommunication products.
As a leading worldwide supplier of flash memory products, SanDisk will manufacture the
flash version, while Siemens will produce the ROM version. The latter supports the rapidly
growing mobile applications market and is ideally suitable for use as a database for storing
street maps, travel and hotel guides, dictionaries, games, music or firmware and software
updates in office or communication applications. The MMC is supported by numerous
standard operating systems for communications equipment such as Windows CE and Geos
Works.
The 2MB ROM version is available immediately and the 8MB will be sampling in January.
The flash version will be sampling in January in 2 and 4 MB. OEM pricing, in high volume
for the 2MB flash MMC is priced at $26, the 4MB card at $32, the 8MB card at $43 and the
10MB card at $45. The ROM versionis available in OEM quantities at $4.50 for 2MB and
$10 for 8MB.
A PC demo/evaluation and a PCMCIA demo/development kit as well as an ODO reference
platform are available for development.
Both companies will be showing the MMC at the fall COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas,
Nev., Nov. 17 - 21. (SanDisk booth, L-1204, Las Vegas Convention Center; Siemens
booth, S-4550)
Siemens Microelectronics Inc. (SMI), based in Cupertino, Calif., develops and
manufactures semiconductors, optoelectronics and passive components for the
communications, automotive and computer peripherals industries. SMI offers one of the
broadest product portfolios in the microelectronics industry, and is a market leader in
communications ICs, smart power products, embedded DRAM technology and custom
optoelectronics.
A subsidiary of Siemens Corp., N.Y., SMI is affiliated with Siemens AG Semiconductor
Group and Passive Components Group, Munich, Germany. Additional information is
available at smi.siemens.com .
Quotes:
Horst Pratsch, vice president for Siemens' MultiMediaCard, said, "SanDisk and Siemens
have jointly developed the industry's ideal mass storage device for mobile applications.
Siemens and SanDisk have met with leading manufacturers of mobile phones, pagers,
mobile computing and other mobile electronic products who are enthusiastically endorsing
the MultiMediaCard for its ease of integration and additional functionality."
Eli Harari, CEO and president of SanDisk, said, "SanDisk is committed to make MMC a
broadly supported new industry standard. SanDisk's Israel Design Center, established
specifically to develop MMC, has worked closely with Siemens and the world's leading
telecommunications companies.
"The broad adoption of MMC as the new storage card standard for intelligent
communications devices and other small form factor consumer electronic products, will
greatly accelerate the market development of smart phones, advanced pagers and consumer
multimedia devices."
Mats Lindoff of Ericsson said, "The MultiMediaCard will win wide endorsement from
manufacturers of mobile phones and pagers because of the increased functionality it brings
to those products. The MMC is an ideal fit for future communications products that
Ericsson will introduce to the market."
"Motorola is pleased to support this initiate," said Jim Caile, corporate vice president,
Motorola's Cellular Subscriber Sector. "We believe that MMC represents a removable media
standard that will enable user friendly storage-intensive applications, in a manner similar to,
and complementary with, other standardized removable media, such as smart cards and PC
cards."
Mikko Terho, vice president, wireless data, Nokia Mobile Phones, said, "The rapid growth
of the telecommunications market will accelerate with the advent of next generation
communications products. The MultiMediaCard will be an integral part of that industry
growth because of its small form factor, versatility, low price and low power
requirements."
"QUALCOMM's digital CDMA phones will benefit from the compact MultiMediaCard's low
power requirements and mass storage capabilities to provide our customers with the most
advanced technological developments in the industry," said Gina Lombardi, vice president of
product development for QUALCOMM's Subscriber Products Division."
Dr. Joachim Grollmann, director of product marketing for mobile phones from Siemens
Private Communication Systems said: "The MMC is regarded to be an ideal mass storage
medium for many interesting applications which can now be implemented with more
advantages than ever before, especially in the area of mobile communication terminals."
Technical background information
The MultiMediaCard is based on a particularly advanced "ultra high density cell design" with
vertical transistor technology. This new 3D fabrication technology has enabled production
costs to be halved in comparison to conventional ROM technology.
Siemens expects to quadruple the storage capacity every year because of the continuous
reduction in line width (roadmap shrink). By 2001, Siemens is planning to launch a 128 MB
MultiMediaCard.
The memory card is housed in a plastic package measuring 32mm x 24mm x 1.4mm high.
These dimensions correspond to just one fifth of the size of a CompactFlash card. Seven
1.7mm x 2mm contacts are available for easy mechanical connection to a host system.
These are located on one side of the card and are coded to prevent incorrect insertion. They
are designed for approximately 10,000 insertion/withdrawal cycles.
Data transfer via the serial synchronous high-speed 3-wire bus (MMC bus) can be varied
between 0 and 20 Mbit/s and is controlled by the two operating modes "Card identification
mode" and "Data transfer mode". The linear memory address space is accessed a byte at a
time in an extremely short access time of less than 3 microseconds.
Other technical specifications of the mini memory card include its ESD protection of 4kV
and its broad operating temperature range of -20 degrees C to +85 degrees C. Because of
the low power consumption of 1mW at 100kHz or less than 0.1mW in standby mode and
the variable voltage range of 2.0V to 3.6V, the memory card is ideally suitable for
battery-operated systems.
Up to 30 different cards can be simultaneously inserted in a player and selectively
addressed. In order to cover as wide a range of applications as possible, the interface
protocol of the MMC has been designed for maximum scalability and configurability.
There is a printer port adapter which will accommodate two MMCs, and Siemens is
developing a PC card reader also for two MMCs. A PC demo/evaluation and a PCMCIA
demo/development kit as well as an ODO reference platform are available for development.
CONTACT:
Siemens
Jeff Davis, 408/777-4909
jeff.davis@smi.siemens.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
BW0050 NOV 05,1997 |
