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MMCA Glossary of Terms & Technologies

ATA on MMC Specification Ver. 1.0 - The interface designed especially for small form factor disk drives in next-generation portable consumer electronic (CE) devices.

The version 1.0 specification is the first work to be released by the MMCA “ATA on MMC” Technical Sub-Committee. The Committee was formed in June 2004 to address the growing needs of low-power hard disk drive (HDD) data storage solution for small CE devices. The “ATA on MMC” interface specification enables HDDs to leverage the MMC bus already supported on many CE products. It is a cost-effective solution to implement HDDs in small systems with low pin count, low voltage, and efficient power management.

Compliance Testing – Compliance testing allows MMCA members to assure hardware and software compatibility of their cards with the MultiMediaCard standard. MMCA does not currently test host compliance. Compliance testing is performed on MMCA-approved testers and test programs.  Card compliance certification is issued to manufacturers who have successfully completed compliance self-testing and submitted test results to the MMCA office.

e-MMC™ - A trademark and product category of a class of embedded memory module products built on the joint MMCA/JEDEC MMC Standard specification. e-MMC™ is the first product standard from the MMCA/JEDEC partnership. e-MMC describes an architecture comprised of an embedded storage solution with MMC interface, Flash memory and controller, all in a small BGA package. It is based upon the industry-standard MMC System Specification v4.x and JEDEC BGA packaging standards. With interface speeds of up to 52 MB per second, e-MMC provides fast scalable performance. It also allows for an interface voltage of either 1.8v or 3.3v. Accordingly, e-MMC supports a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, wireless, navigation, industrial uses, and other areas.

Flash Memory – Flash memory is a semiconductor memory technology that allows data and information to be stored, erased and reused without degradation over extended periods, much like the magnetic media in floppy disks and hard disk drives. Unlike floppy disks or hard disk drives, however, Flash memory has no moving parts and consumes less power. MultiMediaCards incorporating Flash memory are a great way to store and transfer data among different electronic devices. For example, a user can take pictures on a digital camera or mobile phone, save it on a MultiMediaCard, view the pictures on a PC, and make prints on a printer or at a photo kiosk.

JEDEC - JEDEC is the leading developer of standards for the solid-state industry. Almost 2,500 participants, appointed by over 300 companies, work together in 50 JEDEC committees to meet the needs of every segment of the industry, manufacturers and consumers alike. The publications and standards that they generate are accepted throughout the world. All JEDEC standards are available online, at no charge. 

miCARD™ - miCARD™ is a multiple interface 12 mm x 21 mm x 1.95 mm storage card designed for easy data interchange between MMC and USB devices. When used in portable devices such as cameras, smart phones and PDAs, miCARD takes advantage of the low power consumption and high performance characteristics of the MMC interface. The sleek and versatile miCARD then allows consumers to transfer that media-rich content to PCs, printers and home entertainment appliances by inserting the card directly into those devices’ existing USB connectors – without the need for dedicated card slots or separate card readers.

MMCmicro™ – MMCmicro™ card is a micro-size form factor of MultiMediaCard (14 x 12 x 1.1 mm), and is designed for use in a new generation of mobile phones and small consumer electronics devices. MMCmicro cards offer high transfer speeds of up to 26MB/s.  Many memory card manufacturers now offer MMCmicro cards. MMCmicro cards can also be used in devices with a regular MMC or SD slot with means of a mechanical adapter.

MMCmobile™ – MMCmobile cards come in the reduced-size MMC form factor (18 x 24 x 1.4mm). In addition to the required features of MMCplus cards, MMCmobile cards operate at both 1.65-1.95V and 2.7-3.6V ranges as a requirement. The smaller size and dual operating voltage ranges are ideal for mobile phone and other portable device applications where space saving and extended battery life are essential.

When operating at 26MHz and the optional 52MHz clock frequencies in x8 bit mode. MMCmobile cards can attain a maximum data transfer rate of 26MB/sec and 52MB/sec, respectively that meet current and future requirements of the target market applications. MMCmobile cards are also backward compatible with legacy host devices that were built to previous MultiMediaCard standards.

MMCplus™ – MMCplus cards come in the standard-size MultiMediaCard form factor (32 x 24 x 1.4mm) feature 2.7-3.6 V operation, 26MHz clock frequency, and support x1, x4 and x8 bus widths. 1.65-1.95V operation and 52MHz clock are optional. MMCplus cards are ideal for digital imaging and other data intensive applications such as digital music on consumer electronic devices.

When operating at 26MHz and the optional 52MHz clock frequencies in x8 bit mode, MMCplus cards can attain a maximum data transfer rate of 26MB/sec and 52MB/sec, respectively that meet current and future requirements of the target market applications. MMCplus cards are also backward compatible with legacy host devices that were built to previous MultiMediaCard standards.

Multi-Level Cell Technology (MLC) - Multi-Level-Cell refers to a technique to store more than 1 bit of data per memory cell in Flash memory, enabling it to store more information than conventional Flash memory that stores 1 bit of data per cell. 

MultiMediaCards (MMCs) – MultiMediaCards are among the world’s smallest, removable solid-state memory cards available for use in many handheld electronic devices such as digital cameras, cellular phones and MP3 players, where size and power consumption matters. MMCs store digital music, games, address books and photos, enabling a myriad of applications on small consumer electronics devices. 

MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) - The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) is the open standard memory card organization that promotes worldwide adoption of storage media, embedded and removable memory standards, and peripheral I/O devices designed especially for mobile phones and digital imaging devices. The MMCA enables a myriad of applications to come together and share digital media content. The MMCA oversees standardization activities for removable storage media, including MMCplus, MMCmobile and MMCmicro cards; SecureMMC; ATA on MMC; miCARD; MMC I/O and e-MMC. Founded in 1998, the MMCA provides a global forum for memory card and semiconductor component suppliers, software vendors and manufacturers of mobile electronic devices. They jointly endorse and promote the worldwide adoption of MultiMediaCards and the MMC standards.

NAND Flash – NAND Flash is the popular Flash memory technology that is efficient and suitable for mass data storage applications.  NAND Flash memory forms the core of the removable USB interface storage devices including most memory card formats available today.

Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) - OMA is a specification setting organization focused on developing interoperable mobile data services based on market requirements. OMA’s External Liaison Program is designed to allow OMA to collaborate with outside organizations and standards bodies, like MMCA, and ensure broad industry participation in the development of these open, interoperable industry solutions.

PKI – Public Key Infrastructure is a set of policies, processes and technologies used to verify, enroll and certify users of a security application. A PKI uses public key cryptography and key certification practices to secure communications, including the Certificate Authority (CA), key directory and management. Other components, such as key recovery and registration, may be included. The result is a form of cryptography wherein each user has a public key in which messages are encrypted when sent, and a private key to decrypt incoming messages.

SecureMMC specification – Concerns about fraud and piracy of digital content draw attention to the needs of security on mobile handsets. The MMCA has defined and adopted a flexible SecureMMC interface specification that allows the integration of strong security measures based on smart card technology, to enable Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes such as OMA DRM 2.0 and future security applications to be imple-mented on MMCplus, MMCmobile and MMCmicro Card from factors.

SPI – The Serial Peripheral Interface is a general-purpose synchronous serial interface originally found on certain Motorola microcontrollers. A virtually identical interface can now be found on various other microcontrollers as well.

TRM - Tamper Resistant Module provides several means of protecting stored data, as well as securing certain operations from being interrupted or corrupted. There are several levels of temper resistance, ranging from simple software scrambling to a fully hardware shielded microcontroller including several sensors and filters. The latter are usually used in SmartCards and provide the highest level of security against all known attack scenarios such as probing, differential power analysis (DPA), brute force and others. Any attack attempt which is recognized by the security controller may either result in an alarm on the chip, which immediately stops its current operation, or in case of tampering, may result in the deletion of security relevant data in the storage such as secret keys.

 

 

 

 

MMCplus™, MMCmobile™, MMCmicro™, e-MMC™ and miCARD™ are trademarks of MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA).  Company/product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are used for identification purpose only.