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About Pcmcia For Your Computer

PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, an international standards body that was established to define, develop and promote the PC card. PCMCIA also stands for ‘People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms,’ a play-of-words humor coined because the original acronym and its meaning are difficult to say and remember.

PCMCIA, which consists of some 100 companies and trade associations, publishes the standards for PC Card and ExpressCard that contains the physical, electrical and software specifications for each technology, including the 32-bit CardBus interface of the PC card standard. The group is also responsible for the Expresscard Compliance Program that ensures interoperability of Expresscard products with other products in the market. The current focus of PCMCIA is on mobile applications for modular peripherals in all platforms, improving user experience and creating awareness to expand the market for modular peripherals.
The PC card (formerly called PCMCIA card) and its successor Expresscard are small, credit card-sized devices that were originally designed for memory expansion of laptops where ruggedness, low power, and small size were critical. The scope of the PC card was later expanded to include other devices, such as network cards, modems, hard disks and digital cameras. All PC cards use an identical 68 pin dual row connector and have the same rectangular shape and size – 85.6 by 54 millimeters – but vary in width, depending on the type of card. The original standard was defined for both 5 volt and 3.3 volt cards. PC cards are designed to be hot-swappable, i.e., inserting or removing a card is possible without rebooting the computer.

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