SD Secure Digital memory cards

The SD Memory Card is a groundbreaking new bridge media that's helping to pave the way for tomorrow's fully networked society. This tiny, easy-to-use card offers a host of powerful advantages. It links various kinds of digital equipment through its easy connectivity that supports a host of application formats and does not require the use of a PC. Further, the SD Memory card has the broad interoperability and compatibility needed to ensure that its applications will continue to expand far into the future. SD Memory Card is well on its way to becoming the de facto standard memory card for digital connectivity. Soon, the SD Memory Card will provide universal access to an even wider array of multi-media data. The ubiquitous network era is coming, and its key is the SD Memory Card.

Five Main Features
1. Compact and Slim
Supports reduced equipment size
The SD Memory Card measures a mere 24mm by 32mm by 2.1mm. Its slim, compact design promotes easy handling, an important factor for a "bridge media" which you can move between different appliances.

The SDHC Memory Card has same measurements as SD Memory Card however because the SDHC works differently then standard SD cards, this new format is not backwards compatible with legacy SD format host devices.

To ensure compatibility, look for the SDHC logo on cards and host devices (cameras, camcorders, etc.) You can
also check with the device manufacturer for thier current/future supported SDHC devices.

The SD Association has created and defined 3 speed classes to help you identify speed and performance capabilities/minimum
requirements of SD/SDHC cards and the host products. The SD Speed Class Rating specify a minimum sustained write speed for
SDHC cards (Class 2: 2 MB/s; Class 4: 4MB/s; Class 6: 6 MB/s*).

The miniSD^TM Card (measuring 20 x 21.5 x 1.4mm (W x L x T)) and the microSD^TM Card (measuring 11 x 15 x 1 mm (W x L x T)), are also available as smaller factors of the SD Memory Card.

The miniSD^TM card was developed to meet industry demands for downsizing mobile phones. It is only 37% the volume of an SD Memory Card. Despite its tiny size, the miniSD^TM card offers all the benefits of the original SD Memory Card. By inserting the miniSD^TM card into the miniSD^TM adapter, you can share a variety of digital data among standard SD-enabled products.

The microSD^TM memory card is a functionally compatible with the SD memory card but is smaller in dimensions. The microSD memory card communication is based on an advance 8-pin interface and microSD memory card host interface supports regular SD or miniSD memory card adapter and operate as SD memory card.

	microSDTM	miniSDTM	SD	SDHC
Width	11 mm	20 mm	24 mm	24 mm
Length	15 mm	21.5 mm	32 mm	32 mm
Thickness	1 mm	1.4 mm	2.1 mm	2.1 mm
Card Capacity	64MB - 256MB	64MB - 2GB	256MB - 4GB	2GB +
Weight	Approx. 0.6 g	Approx. 1 g	Approx. 2 g	Approx. 2 g
Operating Voltage	2.7 - 3.6V	2.7 - 3.6V	2.7 - 3.6V	2.7 - 3.6V
Write-protect Switch	NO	YES	YES	YES
Terminal Guards	NO	NO	YES	YES
Number of Pins	8 pins	11 pins	9 pins	9 pins
speed class	N/A	N/A	N/A	Class 2 - 6

2. Large Capacity
Handles high volume content
Small size is not enough. Capacity is equally important. SD Memory Cards are currently available in several capacities, and new 2, 4 and 8GB cards are on the way.
3. High-Speed Data Transfer
Allows speedy transfer of high-volume content
Increasing data volumes and the increasing range of digital content has created demand for memory cards with higher data transfer rates.
4. Copyright Protection
Ready for the secured digital content
Content Protection for Recordable Media (CPRM), the copyright protection technology used for the SD Memory Card is developed by 4C (The digital contents copyright protection technology licensing organization of IBM, Intel, Matsushita, and Toshiba.)

Having a proven record in DVD, this protection is enhanced in the SD Memory Card through the use of "key revocation" technology that is built into the card. The card's control circuitry allows data to be read and written (in its protection area) only when appropriate external devices are detected.
The SD Memory Card copyright protection function has the following features:

• Access to the SD Memory Card must be enabled by authentication between devices
• A random number is generated each time there is mutual authentication and exchange of security information

5. Expandability-SDIO
Expansion of networking possibilities
With SDIO cards, new functions such as Digital TV Tuner, wireless LAN 802.11b, FM Radio etc. are added to host devices equipped with SD card slots.