SD Card usage and licensing

QuattroRS4

Recently I contacted the SD Association·http://www.sdcard.org/developers/faq/·to ask·for clarification.

If the SD card access on a given device is using SPI protocol as opposed to fast transfer options·is there licensing implications and therefore a cost ?

As of yet I have not received a reply ..

I would be interested to get others view on the matter..

Regards,
·········· John Twomey


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'Necessity is the mother of invention'

Those who can, do.Those who can’t, teach.

Mike Green

Read the Wikipedia articles on "SD Card". They go into detail on the history of the SD card standard and the licensing issues. My understanding (from the articles) is that the non-DRM portion of the SD card protocol has been independently reverse engineered and is available under various "free" licenses as Linux drivers. The SPI protocol version is also public domain since it's the same as the MMC protocol which is public domain.

QuattroRS4

Mike -Thanks for the reply.·I have read the articles but there are a number of caveats .. hence the reason I contacted the association directly to seek clarification. Interestingly - I wonder do you have to be a member of the association to get the required answers ? - Oh! which again is a substantial annual fee.

1) Use of the SD card logo requires a license

2) Selling ,Manufacturing or Tasking a manufacturer to produce a product with SDcard Capability requires a license but there is a grey area where the SPI access cannot be controlled by the association. There have been various discussions saying that exercising any control over such activities (using/selling modules or products with SPI SDcard access) would have to mean that a) SDcards are not owned but linensed or b) when purchasing an SDcard - it is purchased for a device that is manufactured by a company who have such a license - a nightmare to control

3)Sellers of SDcards require a license from the association - I wonder how many do ?

It seems as though the 'Association' has tried to cover all angles with numerous license types.

I have resubmitted my query to see if I can get an official answer .. I will post my reply .. I fear we could be waiting ..

Regards,
John

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'Necessity is the mother of invention'

Those who can, do.Those who can’t, teach.

Post Edited (QuattroRS4) : 2/19/2009 2:53:39 AM GMT

QuattroRS4

UPDATE:
I have tried at least 5 times to contact them using the Issue number automatically generated after the first automated response ... as of yet I have not received any reply. However I remain undeterred and will continue to seek clarification.

rgds,
John Twomey

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'Necessity is the mother of invention'

Those who can, do.Those who can’t, teach.

QuattroRS4

Attached is the official response ....

Dear John,
SPI is defined as general protocol.
However, the Physical Layer specification defines
specific bus protocol for SD cards. SD host products
need to refer the Physical Layer specification
regardless of bus mode. Therefore, HALA is required.
Sincerely,
XXXXXX XXXXXXXX
SDA Technical Committee


___________________________________________________

EDIT: For completeness I have attached the HALA License pdf ..


Regards,
John Twomey

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'Necessity is the mother of invention'

Those who can, do.Those who can’t, teach.

Post Edited (QuattroRS4) : 3/2/2009 7:13:43 PM GMT