Etron Tech Shipping USB 3.0 Controller

Etron Technology has started shipping the company’s in-house developed 2- and 4-channel USB flash drive controller chips, and its single-channel ones are currently sampling with customers, according to the Taiwan-based IC design firm. With a more complete product offering, Etron is looking to enter the world’s top-two in the field of USB 3.0 flash drive controller market in 2012, said the firm. Etron indicated its EV268-series dual-core USB 3.0 flash drive controllers have been adopted by memory module vendors for their new products, which hit market shelves in March. The chip provides data transfer rates of more than 230MB/s and includes ECC checking, and supports SLC/MLC/TLC NAND flash memories built using 3Xnm and 2Xnm technologies. The size of the global flash drive market is 80-100 million units a year, and the penetration rate for those with USB 3.0 will reach about 20% in the fourth quarter of 2012, Etron pointed out. If the price gap between USB 2.0 drives and USB 3.0 ones is narrowed to less than US$2, consumers will be pretty much encouraged to purchase products with the faster, new interface, Etron said. Etron specializes in specialty DRAM memory, and has been expanding its product mix. The firm previously introduced its USB 3.0 host controllers. Continue Reading

19nm Process from Toshiba to Shrink 128Gbit Memory

Toshiba announced this morning of mass production in 128Gbit NAND flash memory with three-bits-per-cell storage in 19nm process. What this means is more storage space in a smaller area. The 128Gbit memory is only 170mm square. The reduced size implies cost of manufacturing will go down, efficiency will go up. The down side is the TLC or three bit per cell, is less stable then two bits per cell like MLC or multi layer cell technology. This isn’t a big concern for most users as the TLC flash will go into less important devices like USB flashdrives, MP3 players, phones and other hand held devices. The more crucial technologies will remain with SLC or single layer cell or MLC, multi layer cell memory. Toshiba and SanDisk share research and development and jointly invest in manufacturing. Continue Reading

SanDisk Is Cutting Retail Pricing

Sounds like SanDisk will be cutting it’s pricing for NAND memory very soon.  SanDisk leads global market share for flash memory at a tune of about 40%.  Kingston is another major player, and a couple weeks ago announced a major price reduction in it’s retail supply chain. Seems the SanDisk news is their answer to the situation. SanDisk mainly partners with chipmaker Toshiba while Kingston secures its supplies from more diversified sources. One reasion might be that major NAND flash vendors are gearing up for mass production built using their newer node processes in mid 2012. Samsung Electronics and Toshiba are set to advance to 21nm and 19nm, respectively, and so are Hynix Semiconductor and Micron Technology to their respective 20nm processes. Continue Reading

CEO of Micron Technology Steve Appleton Dies

The head of memory chip maker Micron Technology died last week in a stunt piloting expedition. Steve was in a small kit plane and taking a steep bank turn when something went wrong with the plane and ultimately crashed. Micron is a world leader in flash memory technology, and a top brand we favor here.  Micron makes memory for various devices like computers, cell phones, cameras, cars and industrial application products.
“Zoe Keliher, air investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said the crash happened during Appleton’s second attempt to fly that morning. She said Appleton’s first take-off ended abruptly — witnesses said the plane only got about 5 feet (1.5 meters) off the ground — when he landed and returned to a hangar for about five minutes.”  Source – Associated Press.
Dan Francisco, the company COO, is taking responsibility until the Micron board of directors finds a suitable replacement Chief Executive Office. Continue Reading

microSD Now Interfaces With Any Microcontroller

This is a simple MicroSD adapter card. It allows you to interface with any micro-controllers. It is perfect for mass storage, WAV/MP3 player and data logging. The adapter breaks out the MicroSD socket to a standard 0.1″ 8-pin header. It can be plug directly into breadboards. This adapter features innovations that set it apart from other SD card adapter. Innovations feature like on-board card detect LED, Push-Push socket, and 3.3V regulator. Which mean either 3.3V or 5.0V micro-controller can be connected directly with the board. You can even use this 3.3V to power external circuits up to 250mA. MicroSD cards offer an inexpensive, flexible and reliable way to bring data logging and data storage solutions to your electronic design projects. Pinout:
  • VIN: Input power to the SD card (3.3V to 6.0V)
  • GND: Common (Connects to the housing of the SD socket)
  • 3V3: Output voltage from the on-board 3.3V regulator (250mA) 
  • CS: Chip select 
  • DI: Serial input data 
  • SCK: Serial clock 
  • DO: Serial output data 
  • CD: Card detect (active low)
Features:
  • On-board 3.3V regulator
  • Connect directly to 3.3V or 5.0V microcontroller
  • Card detect LED
  • Include 8-pin male header
  • Board dimension: 1.4”x0.8”
Source:  Gravitech. Continue Reading

Difference Between SD and MMC Flash Cards

Flash memory is a basic necessity of any electronic device these days.  Today we will talk about MultiMedia Cards [MMC] and Secure Digital [SD] cards. First, a bit of history.  The MMC format was developed by SanDisk and Siemens back in 1997.  SD media was developed, jointly, by SanDisk, Panasonic and Toshiba.  The SD standard was developed to improve upon the MMC format. The two memory card types look the same.  They are both about 24mm x 32mm x 2.1mm in size, or about the size of a US postage stamp.  The one obvious, physical difference between the two is the Lock/Unlock switch on the left side of SD media.  MMC does not have a sliding switch.  The switch is meant for users to put the media into a Write Protected state.  A condition where the user could read from the card, but could not write to it, or delete content off it. The other physical difference between MMC and SD media is on the bottom side of the flash card.  The MMC has 7 copper connectors and SD had 9 copper connectors.  MMCPlus has 14 connectors on it.  For a more technical reason please read here. The MMC media has a transfer rate of around 9MB/s.  The SD media is much faster with write speeds of 10MB/s and higher [always improving]. Both MMC media and SD media, are for the most part, interchangeable when being used in electronic devices.  Of course it is always best to check with the manufacturer of your device, but it’s a general rull of thumb, both are interchangeable.  With MMC media, it is more likely a customized piece of hardware, like GPS or medical equipment will require the MMC format, where-as most MP3 players, cameras, and “retail” electronics will take both types. Continue Reading

Four Port 3.0 Host Controller From Renesas

Renesas is the spin off company from NEC who’s already making waves with their newest announcement of a USB 3.0 host controller which supports four downstream ports. This means the chip will provide more USB 3.0 ports to a motherboard, PCI card or embedded system applications.  In addition the new controller reduces it’s power consumption and increases performance. Renesas claims a 40% increase with this new controller, and I hate to say it, but that is a big jump from previous controllers – so I’m not totally convinced.  So it’ll need to be one of those “guilty until proven innocent” situations. Continue Reading

SuperSpeed USB Duplicator Introduced by Nexcopy

SuperSpeed USB Duplicator Introduced by Nexcopy

USB hard drives have carved out a permanent role in everyday computing because of their balance of versatility, portability, and cost. They let users expand storage on the fly, create reliable backups, or move large files between machines without relying on cloud connectivity.

USB duplicator with USB 3.0 speed

If you need to duplicate a set of USB hard drives, what’s the play?

The USB Duplicator line from Nexcopy answers that question. Using SuperSpeed USB 3.0, the USB160PC can move 1GB of data to all sockets in less than a minute. On paper, a 100GB master takes about 1.5 hours to finish across 16 drives. In reality, that’s 1.6TB of data written in under two hours. It’s a reminder that while USB is serial by design, Nexcopy’s platform makes throughput add up quickly across multiple ports.

Why step up to a USB duplicator?

Portability: USB drives and portable HDDs are light, compact, and suited for field work or remote teams. Having an in-house duplicator lets IT departments roll out preloaded media in hours, not days.

Plug-and-Play: No extra power bricks or exotic drivers. Devices attach, enumerate, and run. The duplicator mirrors that same simplicity in its workflow.

Capacity: From a few gigs to multiple terabytes, USB has become the neutral storage format that works in nearly every environment. Whether it’s software distribution or media publishing, there’s a capacity tier to match.

Compatibility: USB crosses platforms—Windows, Mac, Linux, consoles, TVs. One duplicated set of drives reaches a wide user base without rework.

Performance and Market Context

The USB160PC is Nexcopy’s first SuperSpeed-class duplicator. By pushing 1GB per target per minute, it trims deployment time dramatically for promotional agencies, field service providers, and corporate IT shops handling large rollouts.

Price erosion in USB 3.0 media has only increased the appeal. As NAND costs dropped and controller tech matured, higher-capacity drives became cheaper to source. Manufacturers optimized supply chains, making bulk duplication not only possible but cost-effective. For businesses, that combination—cheap media plus fast duplication hardware—translates directly to lower per-unit cost and faster time to deployment.

With USB drives continuing to dominate as portable storage, the case for proper management gear is stronger than ever. The Nexcopy USB160PC sits squarely in that space, giving organizations a way to control content distribution, speed up workflows, and cut operating costs.

Continue Reading

WiFi SD Card – Free Your Camera From Tethered Downloading

Trek 2000 Ltd introduces a wifi SD card where by the user could transfer files from a device, like a camera, to a computer without the need for cables or internet access.

We’ve seen this card before called the Eye-Fi card so we’ve been here before. What I like to see is the concept adopting on and more vendors are making such a device.

SD wifi card

Trek 2000 has a bit of unique name for their SD wifi card; the “FluCard.” The FluCard was aptly named because Trek 2000 is hoping the product name will be contagious and easily remember by users. Of course, this naming idea is like “Kleenex” or “Google” where it just becomes a house-hold name. Trek has done this before, apparently the owner of Trek 20 coined the phrase “Thumb Drive” and we all know what that is!

The FluCard is a wifi device and does not need internet access to work. You could be in the middle of the Sudan and transfer files from your digital camera to your phone or computer. The wifi is license free.

The FluCard is comprised of a NAND flash chip for memory and an IC controller which has built in wifi capability.

To learn more, visit Trek 2000.

Continue Reading

NAND Getting Cheaper At Year End

NAND memory and flash drives are usually hot in Oct through Dec, but this year it might be different.  It seems the price of flash is dropping according to Digitimes.  Apparently, growth of NAND Flash has been limited this year, especially amid lessened flash memory card and USB drive shipments.

NAND Samsung memory

This led to a veritable price ‘free fall’ during the second half of the ongoing year 2010, to the point where module makers are doing everything they can to not increase their inventories further. For those interested in numbers, 8 Gb MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips got 10-14% cheaper during early November. Likewise, the prices of 16 Gb and 64 Gb MLC products dropped more than 7% during the same period. The chip makers are thinking the drastic dip in price will stimulate demand.  What we are not taking into account is the up and coming TLC flash which is now getting more advanced controller support making the TLC technology more stable and cheaper to manufacturer. Continue Reading

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