New PC Card Spec Paves Way for Pen Systems

The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) recently announced version 2.0 of its specification for the design and interface requirements of integrated circuit plug-in memory cards or PC cards. Under the original PCMCIA specification published about two years ago, these credit-card sized devices could only be used for storage of data and applications.

The new specification includes extensions for execution of programs using the memory directly on the card (called “execution in place” or XIP) and the use of PC cards as generalized input/output devices for peripherals such as modems or network adapters. The XIP function means that PC cards can be used as extensions of main memory, with applications executing directly within the memory space of the card. The I/O function allows the cards to be used for a variety of hardware peripherals. The new 2.0 specification also supports the Card Metaformat data structure established in version 1.0 of the specification and is therefore backward compatible.

Intel Takes The Lead

Intel wasted no time in introducing a 2400 bit-per-second modem card based on the PCMCIA 2.0 specification. The modem is contained in a 5-millimeter thick package containing the complete electronics for a Hayes-compatible modem (an RJ11 cable for the telephone connection extends from the back of the modem card). U.S. and Japanese versions of the modem are available.

In addition, Intel announced the 82365SL controller chip, which provides an interface between the AT-bus and the PCMCIA socket, and an “open system” specification called the Exchangeable Card Architecture (ExCA) for ensuring “hardware interoperability.” In other words, this architecture is Intel’s implementation of the PCMCIA specification and Intel hopes to make it an industry standard for devices that accept PC cards (Intel will license the ExCA specification to other manufacturers for a nominal fee).

Other companies were also quick to endorse the new specification. Polaroid announced plans to develop an image storage system using PC cards in conjunction with digital cameras. IBM, Apple, and Hewlett-Packard endorsed the specification and Phoenix Technologies announced a software product called PC Card Manager which supports Intel’s interface controller and allows MS-DOS applications to access PCMCIA-based cards.

PC Cards are a Sure Bet

These new capabilities based on an industry standard specification make the PC card a sure bet as the storage and I/O device of choice for pen-based computers. In fact, these cards are likely to become the storage medium for a wide variety of digital devices such as digital cameras and audio players. Eventually, PC cards may replace dynamic random access memory as the primary memory component in computer systems, although use of PC cards as DRAM is not supported in the new PCMCIA specification.

The cards are compact, virtually indestructible, and offer the high speed access of integrated circuit memory versus the slower access speeds of magnetic storage (Intel’s new 2-Mbyte Flash Card offers a read access time of 200 nanoseconds). The I/O capability will enable pen-based systems to use PC cards as interfaces to local area networks, for example, or in conjunction with docking stations for data transfer to host computers (see “Pen-Based Backup and Charging Systems” in this issue).

The Only Obstacle is Cost

The only obstacle facing the widespread acceptance of PC cards is their cost. The end-user cost of PC cards is still several hundred dollars per Mbyte. (Intel’s new 2-Mbyte Flash Card sells for $375 in quantities of 1000. The 2400 baud modem costs $200 in quantities of 1000). But the prices are coming down and the capacities continue to go up. At the press conference announcing Intel’s new PC card products, Intel’s director of flashcard systems, James Weisenstein, predicted that the price of PC cards would drop to about $50 per Mbyte by 1994. In the same time frame, PC card capacities are expected to reach 40 Mbytes (current cards have a maximum capacity of about 16 Mbytes) and 128 Mbytes by 1997.

PC cards represent one more component of the advanced technology that is needed to make powerful pen-based systems a reality. However, they also serve as a reminder that we are still a couple of years away from truly affordable pen-based systems.

Intel Literature Packet #CD-P04
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408-720-0107