Lexar doesn't make the flash memory chips but only makes the controller that goes inside the CF card. Sandisk makes both the flash memory chips and the controller.
Lexar claimed to make better controller, therefore improve the write speed by 6 fold. Lexar also said they support both AND and NAND flash chips, as well as making controller for SmartMedia flash cards.
If there is anything positive, I think this will speed up the acceptance of digital camera (take pictures faster), benefiting Sandisk.
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December 15, 1997, Issue: 1088
Section: Semiconductors
Flash-card speeds hit 750 Kbytes/s -- Lexar also introduces
media-card line with 32-Mbyte capacity
Andrew MacLellan
Silicon Valley- Entering the flash-card fray, Lexar Media Inc. claims to have
improved the sustained write speeds of CompactFlash (CF) ATA-standard
storage cards by up to six times, and has introduced a media-card line with
capacities to 32 Mbytes.
The company, which was spun off from Cirrus Logic Inc.'s
solid-state-storage division in late 1996, recently changed its name from
Lexar Microsystems Inc. as part of a new and nearly exclusive focus on
digital-camera storage applications.
"This is the first CompactFlash solution developed specifically for
high-performance applications like digital photography," said John Reimer,
president of the Fremont, Calif., company. "The high-performance controller
technology is able to operate with NAND flash memory from all major
suppliers."
As a unit of Cirrus, Lexar developed flash-card controllers for CF inventor
SanDisk Corp., and the company still supplies controller technology to the
CF camp and for cameras supporting Toshiba Corp.'s competing
SmartMedia flash storage technology. Toshiba is a principal investor in Lexar,
according to a Lexar spokesman.
Lexar said its patented Space Manager Technology controller design can
deliver sustained write speeds to 750 Kbytes/s through an indirect mapping
technique that reduces the write times of files written to memory.
By comparison, SanDisk's Double Density CF cards achieve about
100-Kbyte/s performance. The Multimedia Card introduced last month by
SanDisk and Siemens Microelectronics promises about 300 Kbytes/s, while
Toshiba NAND flash-based SmartMedia cards are claimed to deliver peak
write performance to 2.5 Mbytes/s, according to Alan Niebel, an analyst at
Semico Research Corp., Phoenix.
"Write performance is a big issue for camera manufacturers," Niebel said.
"It's really a question of how fast the end user can push the button and how
long it takes for the camera to store the image."
Typical image file sizes range from about 100 Mbytes to 850 Mbytes,
depending on resolution and the camera maker.
The Lexar CF cards also include software programmability, enabling
upgrades as digital photography technology matures, Lexar said. The cards
will be available from both OEMs and retailers in January in capacities of 4,
8, 12, 16, 24, and 32 Mbytes. Prices range from $99 to $399 and include
digital-imaging application software.
Copyright (c) 1997 CMP Media Inc. |
