Overview
- Flash media cards such as CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital Card, and xD-Picture Card have found widespread use, prompting OEMs to support multiple popular but non-interoperable formats which continue to proliferate.
- The CORE Flash™ Portfolio covers seminal inventions in the management and control of the wide variety flash card media.
- CORE Flash licensees worldwide utilize CORE Flash innovations in a high-volume, diverse range of products that rely on flash card media, such as: digital cameras and TVs, PCs, printers, game consoles, digital picture frames, and photo kiosks.
Technology & Applications
CORE Flash innovations include including software, firmware, hardware, and mechanical designs.
See the CORE Flash Portfolio Lifecycle Chart.
| Flash Toaster US’638 |
This de facto standard for modern card readers enables read/write interface with multiple flash card formats including CompactFlash, MMC Card, SD Card, Memory Stick, and other popular flash media. |
| Multimode Controller US’549 |
This invention allows flash card manufacturers to use the host controller to manage a flash card with or without an onboard controller. As a result, diverse card types may be shipped in the same form factor, thereby maximizing flexibility and reducing cost. |
| Smart Connect US’443 |
Smart Connect eliminates drawbacks of typical adapter card configurations, while providing greater structural integrity and reducing complexity and manufacturing costs.The improved card reader accepts multiple memory media cards in a single slot. |
| Flash Jukebox US’623 |
Flash jukebox enables games, music, pictures and other files to be copied quickly and inexpensively to one or many flash media cards at the same time. |
The industry standard CORE Flash design techniques have enabled manufacturers of products relying flash card media to achieve significant advantages in cost, compatibility and end-user convenience compared with other consumer transmission and storage systems such as USB, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi.
CORE Flash Innovators
With 25 years of engineering and management experience in the system-on-a-chip market, Swamy Venkidu (center) left Modular Semiconductor (where he served as its president) to found OnSpec in 1989, and innovate flash memory management and control technologies — and CORE Flash was born. Venkidu had joined Modular after the acquisition of Faraday Electronics by Western Digital in 1986. A member of the founding team at Faraday, Swamy was Director of Engineering and led the ASIC development of the PC industry’s first core logic chipset. Swamy holds a BSEE with honors and MSEE in Advanced Electronics from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India.
Larry Jones (left) has over 30 years of engineering, management, and marketing experience at various companies located in the Silicon Valley. Prior to OnSpec, he held similar positions at Western Digital, Faraday Electronics, Intersil and Control Data. His engineering design background covers mainframes, graphics, core logic chipsets, parallel ports, keyboards, and system level architecture and he holds patents in these disciplines. Larry has a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from University of Florida.
Sree Iyer (right) has 15 years of software, software management, and business development experience in the USB and the flash memory market. Prior to OnSpec, he held similar positions at Colorado Memory Systems and HP. His software engineering background covers Microsoft, Apple, Linux, Unix, and Sun Solaris operating systems. Sree holds a Bachelors in Electronics and Communication (India), and a Masters in Computer Engineering from Colorado State University.