 Open flash memory card standard
By joining forces, we will be able to stand behind the most comprehensive, open memory card standard in the industry, one that will result in MMCs becoming the global standard-bearer of memory cards." JEDEC Chairman Mian Quddus said, "JEDEC-approved standards are often viewed as a requirement by many system designers.
Handheld Consumer Electronics
With MMCs prevalent in handheld consumer electronics (CE), and MMC interface protocols being built into many system architectures, it's a natural step to align MMC specifications with the complete range of CE system memory standards from JEDEC. The results of this collaboration will provide a tremendous focal point for the advancement of multimedia applications throughout the industry."
What is MMC?
MultiMediaCards (MMCs) are small, removable memory cards used increasingly in mobile phones and digital cameras for storing digital music, games, address books and photos, as well as for enabling a myriad of applications to come together and share digital media including content protected by digital rights management. Memory card usage in mobile phones is increasing at a rapid pace. It is projected that by 2006, one third of all mobile phones will have a slot for removable memory cards. MMCs have already been adopted by four of the top five mobile phone manufacturers, and are expected to have the fastest growth among the various memory card formats in that market. One reason for MMCs’ growing acceptance is that the MultiMediaCard technology is an open, royalty-free standard.
MMC System Specification Version 4.0
MMCplus and MMCmobile Cards, based on the latest MMC System Specification Version 4.0, are the most advanced memory cards available today, offering the highest transfer speeds (up to 52MB/sec, or 416 Mbits/sec), and the greatest flexibility, including support for dual-voltage operation (1.8 and 3/3.3V), and multiple bus widths (x1, x4 and x8 bit).While the new cards have 13 pins to accommodate the additional features, they are backwards compatible with previous version MMCs (7-pins), thus bridging the mobile storage applications of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Rewritable data storage cards
MMCs, including MMCplus and MMCmobile Cards, are available as rewritable data storage cards, typically based on flash memory technology, and read-only memory (ROM) cards. MMCs are energy-efficient and cost-effective for consumer electronic devices. With storage capacities up to 1 Gbyte (approximately 640,000 book pages) and higher, the cards are compatible with products from hundreds of the world’s leading consumer electronics firms, including Canon, Casio, Eastman Kodak, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, JVC, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sanyo, Siemens and many others. In addition to being a data storage accessory in mobile devices, MMCs open new and sophisticated marketing opportunities for value-added applications and services on mobile devices for ODMs, OEMs, network operators and content providers. Consumers will soon see an explosion of multimedia content both on preloaded MMCs in stores, as well as on downloadable content from mobile phone networks to be stored on MMCs, enabling new services in attractive new devices for the growing mobile community.
About JEDEC
JEDEC is the leading developer of standards for the solid-state industry. Almost 2,500 participants, appointed by over 300 companies, work together in 50 JEDEC committees to meet the needs of every segment of the industry, manufacturers and consumers alike. The publications and standards that they generate are accepted throughout the world. All JEDEC standards are available online, at no charge.
About MMCA - MultiMediaCard Association
The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) is the open standard organization that defines the physical, functional and interface specifications of MultiMediaCards (MMCs), the postage-stamp size, removable memory cards used in mobile phone, digital imaging and portable consumer electronics applications. While removable memory cards are the primary focus, the MMCA also supports the adoption of the MMC interface standard in other embedded or removable components and subsystems, such as hard disk drives.
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MMC Association & JEDEC sign collaborative agreement : The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) and JEDEC today announced that they have entered into a collaborative agreement under which they will work together to develop MMC memory card specifications as a joint set of standards to be adopted by both organizations. Under the agreement, the MultiMediaCard Association and JEDEC will form a Joint Task Force for the standardization work in which member companies from both organizations will participate. According to Yves Leonard, Chairman of the MMCA Board of Directors, "This historic collaboration between the MultiMediaCard Association and JEDEC will greatly extend the push for unified open standards for multimedia cards.
