Digital ICs/DSP: Smart-Card Chip Packs 176 kbytes Of Flash And A 5-Mbit/s Serial I/O

June 23, 2005

A unique smart-card IC based on flash memory, the EMTCG176-3G, is designed for applications like the SIM and Java-based cards used in GSM mobile phones. Compatible with the ISO7816-3 IC Card (smart card) specification, the chip transfers data at up to 5 Mbits/s, making it compatible with the third generation of cell phones. It's based on an enhanced 8051 processor core and packs 176 kbytes of flash memory, organized as 48 kbytes in pages of 8 bytes (1 byte programmable) and 128 kbytes in pages of 512 bytes. The programmer can allocate the memory between the operating system, applications, and data to optimize memory use. Also on the chip are 3.3 kbytes of RAM, a memory-management unit, a true random-number generator, a triple-DES encryption engine, tamper notification, and a unique chip ID. Contact the company for volume pricing.

EM Microelectronic-USwww.emmicroelectronic.com

About the Author

Dave Bursky

Technologist

Dave Bursky, the founder of New Ideas in Communications, a publication website featuring the blog column Chipnastics – the Art and Science of Chip Design. He is also president of PRN Engineering, a technical writing and market consulting company. Prior to these organizations, he spent about a dozen years as a contributing editor to Chip Design magazine. Concurrent with Chip Design, he was also the technical editorial manager at Maxim Integrated Products, and prior to Maxim, Dave spent over 35 years working as an engineer for the U.S. Army Electronics Command and an editor with Electronic Design Magazine.