M-Systems adds FLite flash OS

Electronic News, August 12, 1996 by Andrew MacLellan

Sunnyvale, Calif.--M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers has unveiled its FLite operating system, establishing a new software interface between the recently introduced Intel Miniature Card and the panoply of portable electronic devices it claims to support.

And in a related development, Intel competitor SanDisk received word that Fujifilm Microdevices will introduce memory storage cards based on SanDisk's CompactFlash (CF) storage technology.

Word from Fuji that it will release the RD3202 CF Card line in September comes on the heels of the company's decision to support Toshiba's Solid-State Floppy Disk Card (SSFDC), a third storage technique which has been gaining momentum since its formal introduction last April.

A spokesperson for Fujifilm said the company will include both technologies in its product portfolio but conceded Toshiba's SSFD's applications are more limited than SanDisk's CF technology and will be confined primarily to digital still cameras to be manufactured by Fujifilm's Imaging Products division.

"SSFDC is most inexpensive and is suitable for low-cost digital cameras," said Makoto Shizukuishi, manager of Fujifilm's VLSI Design department.

Fujifilm said it will introduce small form factor storage cards based on CF technology in 2-15MB capacities with OEM pricing ranging $50-$60 for the 2MB card to $155-$170 for the 15MB version. A 40MB card is slated for release later this year.

The company, whose parent, Fuji Photo Film, is a founder of the SSFDC standards forum, has signed on to the CompactFlash Association (CFA) as a voting member, joining camera equipment and film manufacturers Eastman Kodak, Canon, Polaroid and Sony, as well as about 40 other chip and device OEMs.

Unlike the linear-flash technology of the Miniature Card, SanDisk's hardware-based CF Card includes an on-board ATA-standard microcontroller which handles the interface between the host PC and peripherals.

While SanDisk claims the controller guarantees backward and forward compatibility and dynamic support of both 3.3- and 5V systems, Intel Miniature Card proponents say the cost of a chip on every card, especially in 2-10MB capacities, is too great. They hold up the Intel card, priced at $39 for 2MB card, as a low-cost alternative. The linear flash software model, in turn, has drawn criticism, most notably for failing to ensure compatibility and cross-platform operation, critics charge.

Claiming to dispel these charges is M-Systems, which has worked closely with Intel during development of the Miniature Card, and earlier had licensed Intel its True Flash File System (TrueFFS) hard disk emulation software to establish an interface between the Miniature Card and the host PC (EN, Jan. 9, 1995).

Now, M-Systems is addressing the peripheral interface with its FLite operating system. Short for File Allocation Table-Flash Translation Layer, or FAT-FTL/Lite, the FLite O/S sheds PC controls such as PCMCIA card services while porting core TrueFFS software to PDAs, digital cameras and other consumer electronics devices.

Using an optimized code which can be customized to a code size as small as 14 kilobytes, with a RAM requirement of less than 1.5KB, FLite is written entirely in ANSI-C for claimed customization to any CPU, flash technology or operating system, according to the company.

Packaged as the FLite OEM adaption kit (OAK), the software suite will be available through M-Systems.