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M-Systems Introduces Embedded USB Flash Disk Storage for Improving Speed, Reliability and Security; uDiskOnChip's USB Interface for Embedded Systems Gains Wide Industry Support

Posted on: Monday, 21 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 2003--M-Systems (Nasdaq:FLSH), a leader in flash-based data storage products, today introduced USB flash disk storage to the embedded market. Simultaneously, the Company unveiled the technology foundation for its upcoming uDiskOnChip product, a new flash storage plug-and-play module incorporating USB 2.0. M-Systems has garnered wide support for this solution from leaders in the embedded community, such as Wyse, TECO and MontaVista, that are looking for performance, reliability and security enhancements that are currently not available in legacy products.

"The embedded market is ready for a new technology that addresses higher capacity, reliability and security in a way that meets performance and time-to-market requirements," said Jim Handy, director of nonvolatile memory services, Semico Research Corp. "M-Systems is supporting this trend through the introduction of an improved USB connector while addressing the cost competitive nature of the market."

"There is a need to move from legacy architectures such as IDE to new architectures and technologies trickling into the embedded space from the world of personal computers," said Yoram Zylberberg, M-Systems' associate vice president for the embedded market. "We believe USB flash disk storage is the future of embedded code and data storage, and the momentum is building, illustrated by the support of our thin client, OS, SBC and IPC partners."

While the USB 2.0 protocol is a key component to performance, M-Systems' technology foundation for uDiskOnChip delivers additional value through patented USB flash disk innovation from its DiskOnKey division combined with proven DiskOnChip embedded storage products. These supporting technologies include M-Systems' Fly-By(TM), TrueFFS(R) and SuperMAP(TM).

Fly-By(TM) acceleration algorithms maximize the capabilities of the USB 2.0 high-speed interface. This optimization enables read rates as high as 9MB/sec, resulting in the fastest OS boot and application loading rates. Write rates reach 7MB/sec, enabling faster file storage, update and caching.

Data reliability and extended lifespan are achieved using M-Systems' industry-standard TrueFFS(R) flash file system algorithms, which are built into uDiskOnChip's firmware. TrueFFS provides the operating system (OS) with full block device (hard drive) functionality so the uDiskOnChip flash disk appears to the OS and file system as a standard disk drive. At the same time, it transparently provides full flash media management.

M-Systems' SuperMAP(TM) secure-chip expertise enables built-in security and cryptography in hardware, serving a variety of security-related applications for system designers.

Industry and market leaders are supporting this move to accelerate the penetration of USB flash disks into embedded applications.

"We are quite pleased that M-Systems' TrueFFS flash file system is integrated into uDiskOnChip. Since uDiskOnChip is a Mass Storage Class device, MontaVista Software customers can use uDiskOnChip as a plug-and-play device using MontaVista Linux without further need of proprietary software integration," said Bill Weinberg, director of strategic marketing, MontaVista Software.

"Flash memory capacity is constantly on the rise to support the ever-growing storage requirements of embedded operating systems, software applications and pure data storage. As a result, for some applications, existing legacy technologies are less equipped to maintain fast system performance and an acceptable user experience," said Mark A. Calomeni, vice president of engineering, Wyse Technology. "High performance flash devices with a USB 2.0 interface like uDiskOnChip are ideal storage solutions for the latest generation of embedded systems and broadband applications."

"Combining the proven success of its reliable DiskOnChip with the ease of integration and high performance of USB will give product designers exactly what they need," said Grant Lee, director, IA Division, TECO.

Capacities of the uDiskOnChip flash disk from M-Systems ranging from 128 megabytes to 1 gigabyte are available now for evaluation. Please contact your M-Systems representative regarding evaluation or purchase.

About M-Systems

M-Systems (Nasdaq:FLSH) is a leader and innovator of flash-based data storage products known as flash disks. M-Systems' flash disks provide the functionality of a mechanical hard drive in a silicon chip. M-Systems' products are based on its patented TrueFFS(R) technology, and target applications in a vast array of markets, including connected devices, mobile and telecom. M-Systems' products include the DiskOnChip(R), DiskOnKey(R) and Fast Flash Disk (FFD(TM)) product families. For more information, please contact M-Systems at www.m-sys.com.

Note to Editors: More information about DiskOnChip flash disk products can be found on the Internet at www.m-sys.com/content/products/familyPage.asp?id=1. High-resolution photo images of M-Systems' products can be found on the Internet at www.m-sys.com/content/news/photos.asp.

All company and product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are used for identification purposes only.

This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in the private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as they are subject to various risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to vary significantly. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks related to: the effect of global economic conditions in general and conditions in the Company's industry and target markets in particular, shifts in supply and demand, market acceptance, the impact of competitive products and pricing, product development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and capacity and supply constraints including dependence on flash component suppliers; changes in the Company's and its customers' inventory levels; timely product and technology development/upgrades and the ability to manage changes in market conditions as needed; market acceptance of new products and continuing product demand; the impact of competitive products and pricing on the Company's and its customers' products and markets; development, release and sales of new products by strategic suppliers and customers; development and growth of anticipated markets for the Company's and its customers' products; and other risk factors detailed in the Company's most recent annual report and/or in any of its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update the Information in this release. Reference to the Company's website above does not constitute incorporation of any of the information thereon into this press release.

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