Theory - 33 :- PCMCIA Card

 PCMCIA Card

Stands for "Personal Computer Memory Card International Association." PCMCIA was an organization that focused on creating expansion card standards for portable computers. It began in 1989 and lasted until 2010, when it was acquired by the USB Implementer Forum (USB-IF).

The most notable product developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association is the PCMCIA Card (commonly called a "PC card"), which provided expansion capabilities for laptops. The card could be inserted into a PCMCIA slot on the side of a laptop, providing additional memory or connectivity. There were three versions of the PCMCIA card standard:

• Type I - 3.3 mm thick - used for memory expansion
• Type II - 5.0 mm thick - most common; used for NICs (Ethernet cards), modems, and sound cards
• Type III - 3.3 mm thick - used for ATA hard drives

Larger PCMCIA slots were backwards compatible with smaller cards. For example, a Type III slot could support Type 1, 2, and 3 cards and a Type II slot could support Type 1 and 2 cards.

In the 1990s, PCMCIA cards were a common means of adding extra functionality to laptops. But as laptop components became smaller, manufacturers were able to fit all the necessary components into their laptops, making PCMCIA cards unnecessary. Additionally, many peripherals that previously required a PCMICA card became available in USB versions. In the early 2000s, the trend towards thinner and lighter laptops eventually made PCMCIA cards obsolete.

A PCMCIA card has a 68‐pin connector that connects into a slot in the PC. There are three sizes (or "Types") of

PCMCIA cards:

The Type I and II cards work in a Type III slot and a Type I card will work in a Type II slot. (On the other hand, the thicker cards can't be fitted into the slots for the thinner cards.)

The PCMCIA standard is most commonly applied to portable PCs but it can also be used on desktop computers. The PCMCIA card is not to be confused with another credit‐size electronic card, the smart card.

In computing, PC Card is a configuration for computer peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. Originally introduced as PCMCIA Card, the PC Card standard as well as its successors like Card Bus were defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA).

PCMCIA slots also come in three sizes ‐‐ a Type I slot can hold one Type I card, a Type II slot can hold one Type II card or two Type I cards, and a Type III slot can hold one Type III card or one Type I and one Type II card. PC Cards can be removed or inserted "on the fly," which means you don't have to turn your computer off to exchange them and you don't have to restart for your computer to recognize them.