CompactFlash Association Announces Revision 3.0 of the CF+ & CompactFlash Specification; Revision 3.0 Increases CF Interface Data Transfer Rate to 66MB/sec.KOLN, Germany -- The CompactFlash Association (CompactFlash Association, Palo Alto, CA, www.compactflash.org) A membership organization founded in 1995 by SanDisk, Canon, Motorola, HP and others. Its goal is to promote CompactFlash as the premier open standard for storage for digital appliances and handheld devices. See CompactFlash. (CFA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986) Signed into law in 1986, the CFA was a significant step forward in criminalizing unauthorized access to computer systems and networks. The Act applies to "federal interest computers" that include any system used by the U.S. ) announces the CF+(TM) & CompactFlash(R) Specification Revision 3.0. Revision 3.0 increases the CompactFlash interface data transfer rate from 16MB/sec to 66MB/sec, while maintaining forward and backward compatibility See backward compatible. (jargon) backward compatibility - Able to share data or commands with older versions of itself, or sometimes other older systems, particularly systems it intends to supplant. with old and new host systems. Flash chip and controller technology advances have allowed flash chips to achieve sustained data transfer rates of over 12MB/sec. The development of the 66MB/sec interface means that the CompactFlash interface will not restrict the sustained data transfer rate of CompactFlash cards in the near future. DMA (1) (Digital Media Adapter) See digital media hub. (2) (Document Management Alliance) A specification that provides a common interface for accessing and searching document databases. interface mode is also included and reduces the processor power required to manage the CompactFlash data transfers. Ultra DMA Same as Ultra ATA. Ultra DMA - ATA-4 33 and UltraDMA66 interface modes will increase the CompactFlash interface data transfer rate to 66MB/sec. Both of these DMA interface modes are well defined and tested by their usage on IDE hard disk drives. Faster PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, San Jose, CA, www.pcmcia.org) An international standards body and trade association that was founded in 1989 to establish a standard for connecting peripherals to portable computers. PCMCIA created the PC Card. See PC Card. ATA (1) (AT Attachment) The specification for IDE drives. See IDE. (2) See analog telephone adapter. ATA - Advanced Technology Attachment Memory and I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output. I/O - Input/Output modes have also been added and can provide interface transfer rates up to 25MB/sec. The original and current CompactFlash Specification allows for addressing 137GB cards. However, there is another issue that limits the usable size of CompactFlash cards. Currently the FAT16 file system is used for cards up to 2.2GB. To use the full capacity of cards over 2.2GB capacity, the FAT32 file system is necessary. The CFA is currently recommending that systems be designed to be compatible with FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32 file systems in order to be able to use the full capacity range of CompactFlash cards currently being offered. The newest digital cameras now support FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32. CompactFlash card slots are in MORE (over 325) digital cameras, MORE (over 150) handheld/palm-size PCs and MORE (over 410) other electronic platforms including heart monitors, defibrillators, printers, MP3 players, voice recorders, embedded computers, etc. than any other small form factor card. CompactFlash and CF cards have MORE data storage capacity. Shipping CompactFlash card capacities have reached 12GB, 4GB Hitachi Microdrives are shipping and a 5GB CF+ drive has been announced by Seagate. CF I/O cards provide MORE communications capability. VGA (Video Graphics Array) The display standard for the PC. All PC display adapters support VGA, and Windows machines boot up in "VGA mode" before switching to higher resolutions. , Ethernet, modem, serial, parallel, digital phone, GSM, Bluetooth and Ethernet wireless cards are all available. CF cards do MORE. Wand & laser barcode scanners, GPS, RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) A data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. The tag, also known as an "electronic label," "transponder" or "code plate," is made up of an RFID chip attached to an antenna. and TV cards are also available. The CF+ and CompactFlash Standard ensures that today's and tomorrow's digital cameras will be compatible with even higher capacity CF cards, as they become available. The CFA has a certification program that ensures the compliance of all CompactFlash cards with the CompactFlash Specification. Data storage cards that have passed the certification program carry the CF(TM) logo. Compatibility and interchangeability of all CompactFlash products have been major advantages for CompactFlash. CompactFlash is the only small form factor data storage card that provides product compatibility certification ensuring users that the CompactFlash cards they buy today and in the future are all interchangeable and compatible. The CompactFlash Association is a non-profit, mutual-benefit corporation that promotes adoption of CompactFlash as a worldwide, ultra-small, removable data storage and I/O card interface standard for capturing and transporting digital data, audio and images and providing connectivity to a wide variety of I/O peripherals. The CFA, which makes the CompactFlash, CFA logo and CF logo trademarks available royalty-free to member companies, is headquartered in Palo Alto Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif. The CF Specification is available to download free from the CFA web site at www.compactflash.org. The CFA(logo), CF(logo) and CF+ are trademarks of the CFA and are licensed royalty free to its members. The CFA is a licensee of the CompactFlash(R) trademark and in turn will license it royalty-free to its members. |
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