PCMCIA, JEIDA Unveil New PC Card Standard

Sunnyvale, Calif., U.S.A. (November 7, 1994)--The Personal Computer Memory
Card International Association (PCMCIA) and the Japan Electronic Industry
Development Association (JEIDA), today introduced a unified and worldwide
PC Card Standard.

Driven by the global nature of the computer industry, PCMCIA and JEIDA have
created a single integrated PC Card Standard which serves to proliferate
and unify the technology worldwide. Today's new global Standard offers a
wide variety of new technical enhancements and features designed to
broaden the market for PC Card technology. The previous PCMCIA Release 2.1
(JEIDA 4.2), introduced in July 1993, has been expanded upon to encompass
and address new technology environments that now exist.

"We have been witness to a technology revolution and rapid proliferation of
smaller and more mobile computing and communications devices. The PC Card
Standard, a joint effort with JEIDA, will provide end-users with more
functional and powerful computing and communications solutions," said
Stephen Harper, PCMCIA's President and Chairman.

"JEIDA and PCMCIA worked closely together to create an integrated and
global technical standard for the PC Card industry. In the new PC Card
Standard, we believe we have addressed the most significant and timely
technical issues in our industry, for today and tomorrow," said Haruyoshi
Suzuki, JEIDA's PC Card Committee Chairman.

The new PC Card Standard includes support for multiple function I/O cards,
low power (3.3 volt) cards and PCs, and DMA. It also includes an interface
to industry standard power management services, a 32-bit CardBus
interface, and several features to enhance PC Card compatibility. PC Cards
designed to the new Standard will be able to offer users multiple
functions on the same card (i.e., data/fax and LAN access capabilities,
sound and SCSI, etc.), energy saving solutions by extending battery life,
and support for performance-intensive applications such as multimedia,
full-motion video, 100Mbps Ethernet, and more.

"The enhancements and features of the new PC Card Standard represent the
association is taking a definitive leadership position in the industry by
addressing the technological needs of our members and providing a gateway
for further technology expansion," said Bill Lempesis, PCMCIA's Executive
Director.

Multiple Function I/O Cards

Driven by the increasing number of applications users demand, the new PC
Card Standard provides support for multiple function I/O cards. This
enhancement gives card and software manufacturers the ability to house
multiple applications on one PC Card. For example, a single PC Card can
include both data/fax and LAN access capabilities, or sound and SCSI
applications, or many other combinations of related technologies. The
multiple function enhancement allows cards to support a virtually
unlimited amount of applications on a single card. The importance of this
feature is that "slot crunch," the need to eject and replace cards to
change or enhance functionality, is eliminated. This provision enables
software (Card and Socket Services) and the host computer to be aware of
each of the multiple applications.

Low Power (3.3 volt) Cards and Hosts

The new Standard provides low voltage support for 3.3 volt cards and
platforms in addition to the current 5 volt technology. An increasing
number of mobile computer platforms operate at a lower power (i.e., 3.3
volt) offering considerable power savings and extended battery life. In
the future, battery-powered portable computing platforms will operate at
3.3 volts or less. This Standard addresses the fact that most of today's
PC Cards and PC Card computing platforms operate at 5 volts, and that a
3.3 volt PC Card will not be damaged if inserted into a 5 volt machine.
Likewise, a 3.3 volt platform will not be damaged by a 5 volt card, and
vice versa. The low power enhancement allows PC Card products to function
more effectively and to use energy more efficiently in battery powered
laptop computers, notebooks, handheld PCs, PDAs. The Standard also
supports future low power initiatives.

Direct Memory Access (DMA)

A hardware DMA capability, standard in desktop computers, has also been
incorporated into the new PC Card Standard. PC Card products such as sound
cards, network adapters, and others can now be designed without developers
having to emulate DMA in software. By increasing the PC Card's
performance, the DMA capability enhancement will expand the breadth of
possible PC Card applications.

Power Management Services

In an effort to address a growing environmental concern in the
high-technology industry, the PC Card Standard moves to reduce power
consumption through battery conservation efforts. The power management
interface to industry standard services has been included in the new
Standard to allow PC Cards to suspend and resume operations based upon
associated host activity. As an energy-efficient enhancement, power
management will lower power consumption and extend battery life.

32 Bit CardBus Interface

CardBus allows PC Cards and hosts to use a 32-bit bus mastering interface
and to operate speeds up to 132 Mbytes/second (at 33 MHz). This
enhancement has been included in the new Standard to allow for
performance-intensive applications (i.e., full-motion video, 100Mbps
Ethernet, high performance storage devices) to be manufactured based on
the PC Card technology. CardBus offers a wide and faster bus for higher
bandwidth communications with the CPU and allows peripherals to become
"bus masters." A peripheral can then take over the system bus directly
offering the advantage of more flexibility as to how and where data will
be transferred.

PC Card Compatibility

Many of the improvements in the PC Card Standard provide additional tools
to make it easier for software to identify, configure and use PC Cards. To
address compatibility, the new Standard includes an expanded Card
Information Structure (CIS) allowing a more comprehensive dialog between a
PC Card and the host computer. The Standard also includes developer
implementation guidelines to assist developers in conforming to the
Standard, providing for better utilization of the Standard's functions.

PCMCIA Background

PC Cards are credit card-sized peripheral devices that provide computer
users with universal expansion capabilities for mobile and desktop
computing platforms. PC Cards are used in a wide range of application
areas to provide memory, data/fax modem, local area network (LAN), mass
storage, wireless communications capabilities, and more.

PCMCIA is a non-profit trade association founded in 1989 to establish
technical standards for PC Card technology and to promote
interchangeability among computer systems. Already a feature of almost
every notebook, palmtop and pen-based computer, PC Card technology
empowers users to configure systems and create unique, integrated
solutions to meet their computing needs. A PC Card is a peripheral device
that adds memory, mass storage, LAN, Fax/Modem, wireless communications
and other expansion facilities to computers. Based in Sunnyvale,
California, U.S.A., the association has more than 525 member companies
worldwide.

PCMCIA
1030 East Duane Ave, Suite G
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408-720-0107,  fax 408-720-9416
Internet: office@pcmcia.org

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