Doesn’t it make you wonder how you used a PC with 2GB HDD not-so-long time back and your mobile phone has memory of 8GB or more now? Well, the answer to this is nanotechnology and repertoire of R&D in Flash Memory Technology. For today’s post we will have a look at how its works.

The Flash Memory

Flash Memory is non-volatile computer memory which can be erased, rewritten on and which is used mainly in the memory cards we use for our cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players, GPS etc and USB Flash Drives.

The only possible technological contender to this genre could have been the byte-programmable EEPROM, but the cost involved in implementing the technology and mass production is so prohibitively expensive, that the flash technology ended up being widely put to retail use. Another factor to count in favour of the flash technology is that the erase cycle takes place in larger blocks hence it affords much higher write speed to the user. Also the format is so robust as to stand extreme weather conditions, kinetic shocks, it can also withstand immersion in water! Not that we recommend trying it with your memory card…

Lets have a look at some interesting information about a few popular types of memory cards:

SD Cards

Secure Digital Cards, abbreviated SD Cards are one of the earliest generation of memory cards. Developed by SanDisk, Panasonic and Toshiba to begin with, SD Cards occupies major market share of the memory cards market.

SD cards are widely used in cameras, hand held computers, PDAs, mobile phones, GPS receivers and video games consoles. This format is available from 1GB to 32GB memory variations.

Micro SD Cards

Widely used in mobile phones, Micro SD Cards, originally known as T-flash or TransFlash were renamed so after being adopted by the SDA (SD Card Association). This is the smallest available memory card. This is also available in upto 32GB size variations.

MMC Cards

This is one of the earliest formats of NAND based flash memory hence smaller in size than NOR based variations like the Compact Flash. MMC is available in variants such as MMCmobile, MMC+, MiCard, SecureMMC etc. This type is available from 512mb to 2GB capacities.

Compact Flash

Compact Flash was widely used as digital camera memory until replaced by smaller cards. But its still preferred memory storage for D-SLR cameras for its superior capacity and reliability. CompactFlash, as mentioned earlier was NOR based, but soon adapted NAND based design. CF is among the oldest and most successful card formats.CF is also available upto 32GB capacity.

Pro Duo

Widely known as Memory Stick, this format was originally monopolised by SONY which was later adapted by SanDisk. All models of SONY cameras and camcorders take this format. This format is currently available in capacities upto 16GB.

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