TAEC, Samsung in storage card moves

Electronic News, June 10, 1996 by Andrew MacLellan

Mountain View, Calif.--Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) and Samsung Electronics weighed into the flash memory-based small form factor storage card market, seeking to further segment the fledgling industry with its Solid-State Floppy Disk Card (SSFDC). Electronic News also has learned that Toshiba is planning to release a 64-megabit serial mask ROM-based storage card in 1997, a product the company said is similar to the 64M record-on-silicon MultiMediaCard Siemens said it plans to ramp in December (EN, May 6).

Dropping its 16M NAND-based flash chip and a 22-pin surface connector into a package based on its Smart Card technology, card developer Toshiba is billing the SSFDC as a storage medium for lower-end digital cameras and voice recorders, sidestepping the higher-end markets being pursued by the likes of SanDisk and Intel.

In fact, by leaving final interface options open to the OEM, Toshiba claims not only to have lowered costs but to have skirted an ongoing debate in the industry--whether to equip storage cards with a hardware or software interface. That debate has proved central in the running battle between SanDisk's ATA-standard CompactFlash card and the soon-to-be-released flash translation layer software-based MiniatureCard format being propagated by Intel, Sharp, Advanced Micro Devices and Fujitsu.

SanDisk said it is unlikely the Toshiba SSFDC card will carve out its own niche, however, and is steeling itself for head-to-head competition.

"As far as the SSFDC goes, they're going after the same market as the CompactFlash and the MiniCard, although they may be trying to differentiate (their product)," said SanDisk Embedded Products Division product manager Jeff Ellerbruch.

According to Toshiba, the SSFDC card's truncated architecture, which includes no controller, allows the OEM to pursue either an ATA-standard hardware path by designing a controller directly into the system or write a software interface to the microprocessor using an SSFDC data format which Toshiba will publish.

By shifting the end design to the OEM, Toshiba also claims to have eliminated the printed circuit board, reducing its card footprint to 45mm x 37mm x 0.76mm. The card also uses a large, sliding contact as opposed to pin or pad connectors which Toshiba said provides a more consistent connection, although critics said the design's exposed leads may be subject to moisture damage and electrostatic discharge.

The streamlined SSFDC will list for $26-$28, with the package accounting for about $5 of production costs. According to Jacqueline Traeumer, product manager for Toshiba's Non-Volatile Memory Marketing Group, increased volumes are expected to drive packaging costs down to about $1.

Mr. Ellerbruch disputed the SSFDC's claim of flexibility, noting that, from a hardware perspective, it is easier to equip a single storage card with a controller than it is to design controllers into every system interface--and less expensive when it comes time to upgrade.

"The SSFDC is burdening the camera with a controller and card," said Mr. Ellerbruch. "The CompactFlash controller is in the card and there is no concern with compatibility. I don't have to worry about what generation flash we're at."

According to Doug Wong, Toshiba non-volatile memory applications engineer, the 2-megabyte SSFDC card, which is shipping from Toshiba now in sample quantities, can store up to one hour of voice data using standard compression algorithms, and 96 low resolution pictures.

Samsung, which has been involved in joint NAND flash development with Toshiba since 1992, has licensed the SSFDC card technology and said it will begin shipping a 2MB card late in 1996. Both companies plan future releases of 4MB and 8MB cards. Toshiba said it also is developing a 16MB card which it will drive into the hard disk drive market.

In April, Toshiba, together with Fuji Photo Film, Sega, Olympus Optical and Tokyo Electron, jointly established the SSFDC forum to promote an industry standard. Toshiba claims to date to have received the support of about 50 semiconductor, consumer electronics, wireless communications, camera and controller manufacturers. In addition, National Semiconductor will serve as a foundry source.

Mr. Ellerbruch was skeptical, however, that the alliance's NAND flash technology is broad enough to carry a standard, saying, "The NAND flash is not designed to an open standard to support all kinds of flash, and that means only Toshiba and Samsung will be able to manufacture the card. CompactFlash has been made according to an open standard so that all manufacturers can support it."