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Interview with Patrick Maher, Executive Director of PCMCIA

Patrick Maher has been executive director of PCMCIA, the leading technology trade association for PC Card and ExpressCard technology, for eight years. He is responsible for the development, support and marketing of various standards initiatives. Prior to that, he represented Hirose Electric on the PCMCIA board. He is a veteran of the electronics industry with experience in technical marketing.

Frontier Journal(FJ): Every organization has a story, what's PCMCIA's story in brief? What is the vision and mission of PCMCIA?

Patrick Maher (PM): PCMCIA is a non-profit trade association founded in 1989 to establish technical standards for PC Card(tm) technology and to promote interchangeability among computer systems. Our members are the leading technology companies involved in developing products for mobile computing. Most people know PCMCIA for the PC Card slot that is found in almost all notebook computers. Users add new applications to their computer by plugging a PC Card in a slot instead of opening the computer and adding silicon, boards or components. As an association, we continue to evolve with the industry. We recently introduced the ExpressCard(tm) Standard that dramatically expands the functionality of computers by supporting both applications using the existing Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 and the new PCI Express standards. This opens up the notebook computer to a variety of new applications. Our mission is "To develop standards for modular peripherals and promote their worldwide adoption." This goal includes not only developing the standards that further the reliability and ease of use of mobile computing devices, but also identifying ways to improve the user experience and educate the industry on how to apply these standards.

FJ: How has PCMCIA responded to the latest trends in your industry? Is ExpressCard technology addressing these trends?

PM: A new generation of PC platforms is emerging, built on the high-performance, scalable PCI Express* and USB 2.0 technology. Advances in these standards drove us to develop ExpressCard technology to take advantage of this improved performance in a smaller form factor. The ExpressCard Standard is designed to enable users to simply plug an ExpressCard module into systems with an ExpressCard slot. Like the PC Card, the modules enable users to easily add functionality to their computer in areas such as memory, wired and wireless communications, multimedia and security. It's an easy way to add functionality that isn't already integrated into the computer. At roughly half the size and lighter than PC Card, ExpressCard products leverage the proven advantages of PC Card technology, including reliability, durability and expansion flexibility. But the new standard delivers this with faster performance in a smaller size package.

FJ: Who is supporting the development of this standard?

PM: As I mentioned above, this new standard was really developed in response to the trends of computing. We had participation in the standard's development from companies representing all aspects of the market, including Dell, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Lenovo, Lexar Media, Microsoft, SCM Microsystems and Texas Instruments. We also actively worked with the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF*) and the PCI-SIG* (Peripheral Component Interconnect-Special Interest Group) to ensure that their expertise was included. The adoption of ExpressCard technology by notebook manufacturers is faster than we anticipated. The Top 10 Portable PC vendors, according to IDC, are now offering notebooks with ExpressCard slots. Currently, there are notebook systems available from Acer, Alienware, Apple, ASUS Computer, Averatec, Dell, Evesham, Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens, Itronix, HP, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Mouse Computer, MSI, NEC, PC-Koubou, Sony, Sotec and Toshiba. On the module side, we have support from the leading module vendors, including SCM Microsystems, AVerMedia, Abocom, TaiSol, Hagiwara, Lexar Media, YE Data, Belkin, AVM, National Instruments, DataFab, SIIG, RATOC, Novatel, Catalyst, HP, Agere, Atach and PPA International.

FJ: Why was the new ExpressCard Standard developed? What are its targeted applications?

PM: This adoption follows the laws of computing. Over time, the industry is moving to faster performance in a smaller size. Because of advances in computing hardware design, our members have been able to improve the components inside the module. For instance, we were able to eliminate the host controller within the card, which offers significant cost savings to the module developer. Right now, the primary applications for ExpressCard technology are in the areas of wireless access, memory and security. But by incorporating PCI Express technology, we are opening the door to the future. Module developers will be able to take advantage of this speed and develop applications such as HDTV and others that emerge in the future.

FJ: How does this relate to the PC Card Standard that we see used by most notebook computers? What other major technologies is this based on?

PM: Until the introduction of ExpressCard technology, PC Card technology was used in more than 95% of all notebook computers for adding new hardware capabilities. So the PC Card has had a definite market presence that we see evolving to the new ExpressCard technology. Over time, ExpressCard technology is expected to replace the PC Card in most applications. The ExpressCard Standard builds on our successes with the PC Card Standard, including the 16-bit PC Card and the popular CardBus PC Card. However, we have introduced some major changes with ExpressCard Standard. For instance, instead of one universal PC Card, we have two standard formats of ExpressCard modules: the ExpressCard/34 module (34 mm x 75mm) and the ExpressCard/54 module (54 mm x 75mm). Both module formats are 5 mm thick, the same as the Type II PC Card. The standard module length is 75 mm, which is 10.6 mm shorter than a standard PC Card. Both module formats use the same connector interface. The two ExpressCard module sizes give system manufactures much greater flexibility. While the ExpressCard/34 device is better suited to smaller systems, the wider ExpressCard/54 module can accommodate applications that do not physically fit into the narrower slot, such as SmartCard readers, Compact Flash adapters, and 1.8" disk drives, or require greater thermal dissipation. To fit two module sizes, we had to design two types of slots: a universal slot that supports both size modules using a novel guidance mechanism and a slot that supports only the 34mm slot. The ExpressCard Standard also supports extended module formats to integrate features such as LAN, cable and phone line connectors, or antennas for wireless cards. These slots do not support PC Cards. As you can see, a lot of thought went into the development of this standard. Computer manufacturers can build smaller, thinner and lighter platforms without compromising on performance. The cost of the slots is less because we optimized the system and mechanical design. For module vendors, new and exciting card applications can be developed without requiring new silicon.

FJ: What are the popular applications for this technology? Where will we see it being used in the future?

PM: ExpressCard technology is designed to deliver new functionality and greater ease of use. Notebook users now the ability to add a wide variety of "plug 'n' play" applications to their computers, including memory, local area network (LAN), wireless wide area network (WWAN), wireless, memory adapters, parallel adapters, serial adapters, TV tuners, smart card readers, instrumentation, 1394A&B and serial ATA (SATA). Plus, it opens doors to many new technologies we haven't even heard of yet. All the new available applications are listed at www.expresscard.org.

FJ: Why are your members and consumers so excited about this new technology?

PM: ExpressCard technology brings new functionality to computer users not found in today's PC Card. The technology delivers a consistent, easy, reliable and user-friendly way to expand the functionality of their systems. It opens a whole new world to users because the slot gives their computers the means to extend the life of their notebooks. With integrated support for PCI Express, ExpressCard modules will be able to support the applications of the future such as High-Definition TV (HDTV) and Gigabit Ethernet. The PC Card would not be able to support these new technologies. One plus of the ExpressCard Standard is a new compliance program which requires vendors to pass a two-step evaluation to ensure interoperability between all systems and modules. Compliant products feature an easy-to-recognize ExpressCard logo - an energetic rabbit signifying mobility, fast performance and ease-of-use. This program is one more step in PCMCIA's effort to make ExpressCard technology user-friendly.

FJ: What is your interpretation of a good industry standard? How do you make it from good to great, taking the PC Card as an example?

PM: Standards offer a shared approach that leverages industry expertise. You must involve the right organizations and the appropriate experts from all areas of the market-silicon, components, board designers, system manufacturers and software companies. Buy-in from all these areas of the industry is important to the adoption rate of the standard. This improves the ability to develop a standard that is adaptable to changing conditions in the market. We learned this when we developed the PC Card Standard. We were able to successfully evolve that standard to meet changing market requirements. The PC Card standard's 2.0 version delivered improved I/O capability, followed by CardBus, which accommodated the PCI 32 bit bus. The ExpressCard Standard builds on this with PCI Express. I have no doubt you will see it evolve over the coming years as technology changes. Our goal is to build on the expertise of our members to develop standards that improve the user experience while addressing the needs of the hardware developers. It must be a win for all parties.

FJ: Can you elaborate on PCMCIA's key strategies and tactics in promoting your standard to the industry? How do you position PCMCIA in the emerging markets?

PM: We are actively promoting ExpressCard technology in many ways. We exhibit at major trade events, both for developers and consumers, such as the Consumer Electronics Show and CeBIT in Germany. We actively work with our members to promote the Standard to the press worldwide and industry analysts. We have designed a website (www.expresscard.org) that acts as a central resource for all related information. We have recently introduced ExpressCard University, which enables computer store retail associates to learn about the standard so they can better answer questions from their customers. As much of the mobile computer development is in Asia, we have a specific Chinese Region Marketing subcommittee to better address the needs of our members there. We also work closely with the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) on ExpressCard, PC Card and Smart Media technologies. We realize change doesn't happen overnight; our marketing efforts continue every day. In November, we are hosting a Seminar/Showcase event in Taiwan for members and developers to see all this technology in an open environment. If this is successful, we will try it in other places.

FJ: What's PCMCIA's roadmap, say 3 years from now?

PM: Our goal is to always remain in the front of the industry with regards to enhancing our standards. For example, as the USB and PCI Express standards evolve for increased performance and capabilities, the ExpressCard Standard will evolve in tandem. The PCI-SIG, which developed the PCI Express standard, has already announced that PCI Express 2.0 is in development and will offer a new higher speed mode (a data rate doubling) along with a number of other functional enhancements. PCMCIA members will examine how embracing this new specification will enhance our technology and outline the changes we need to make to our standard to incorporate those new capabilities. We are also looking at how ExpressCard technology can extend the capabilities of desktops PCs. Users would be able to share applications with mobile PCs and eliminate the need to open the CPU box to add new functionality. It's exciting to see the impact of the desktop market adopting the same Standard. The resulting increase in number of available ExpressCard slots will drive the volume and variety of new applications coming to the market. One application area where this may be interesting is high-definition content sharing enabled by utilizing the high-performance capabilities of PCI Express in the ExpressCard slot.

FJ: What else would you like to bring our readers' attention?

PM: Since the introduction of the Standard, the momentum continues to grow. ExpressCard technology has been eagerly embraced by the mobile computer industry. All of the top 10 platform makers are now shipping ExpressCard-enabled products. This presents a great opportunity for module makers who can now develop applications based on ExpressCard technology and are no longer constrained by Cardbus limitations. There are also many legacy PC Card applications which will move to ExpressCard technology; consumers will see these more of these on the market everyday. Compliance to the standard is key to a successful standard adoption. Our comprehensive ExpressCard Compliance Program enables member companies to participate in plugfest events or submit their products to a certified test house for PCMCIA approval. We have test houses in Asia (Allion Computer) and in the USA (MCCI). This member benefit goes a long way in encouraging makers of ExpressCard products to join PCMCIA and avail themselves of this benefit. We expect the momentum to continue as more notebook vendors ship ExpressCard-only computers and computer users seek a way to customize their computers to their own needs, whether it is by adding wireless, security or networking capabilities. We have opened a new door with ExpressCard technology, a door that will give users many more options. We are excited to see this growth continue over the next few years. ExpressCard, PC Card and Cardbus are trademarks of PCMCIA. *All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.


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