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ExpressCard is a hardware standard replacing CardBus, both developed by the PCMCIA. The host device supports both PCI Express and USB 2.0 connectivity through the ExpressCard slot, and each card uses whichever the designer feels most appropriate to the task. The cards are hot-pluggable.
ExpressCard supports two form factors, ExpressCard/34 (34 mm wide) and ExpressCard/54 (54 mm wide, in an L-shape) — the connector is the same width (34 mm) on both. Standard cards are 75 mm long (10.6 mm shorter than CardBus) and 5 mm thick, but may be thicker on sections that extend outside the standard form factor — for antennas, sockets, etc. The 34 mm form factor cards fit into both 34 mm and 54 mm card slots via a diagonal guide in the rear of the 54 mm slot that guides the card to the connector. The 54 mm card will only fit in a 54 mm slot.
The major benefit of ExpressCard technology over the previous PCMCIA CardBus PC card is the major increase in bandwidth, as the ExpressCard has a maximum throughput of 500 MB/s two-way communications versus CardBus's 132 MB/s. This large increase is afforded by the fact that the ExpressCard has a direct connection to the system bus over a PCI Express x1 lane or USB 2.0, whereas CardBus utilizes an interface controller that only interfaces with PCI. In addition, the ExpressCard standard uses lower voltages and thus less power than the previous CardBus slots (1.5V and 3.3V versus 3.3V and 5.0V).
Hewlett-Packard began shipping systems with ExpressCard in November of 2004, and Lenovo integrated the slot into their flagship ThinkPad T43 in May 05. [http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=-840&storeId=10000001&langId=-1&dualCurrId=1000073&categoryId=2072541 Dell Computer also incorporates this in their Precision, Inspiron and Latitude product lines. Apple Computer included a single ExpressCard/34 slot in their MacBook Pro notebook computer in January 2006. ASUS has also replaced the PC Card slot with an ExpressCard slot on its new V6J models. Fujitsu-Siemens also began shipping systems * with ExpressCard in June 2006.
A large number of ExpressCard devices were presented at the CeBit trade show in Germany in March 2005. *
External links
- ExpressCard
- ExpressCard-Info - News, resources, forums and more.
"ExpressCard"