The Eye-Fi Card - Dissected


http://www.eye.fi/

Information: Download PDF

Buy:
Amazon (US)


We pull apart the budget-price electronics, so that you don't have to.



Updated 18th March 2008 - thanks, Eye-Fi!

Want to know more about the Eye-Fi card? Take a look at the review.

I know it's tempting to have a look inside all the gadgets and gizmos that help and hinder our daily lives, but this often comes at a cost - the danger of breaking something you've paid good money for. So, ever-helpful (and somewhat reckless) as we are, we've disassembled the Eye-Fi wireless SD card for you.

The Card


View a full-size version of the above here.

The card is manufactured by Wintec Industries Inc. for Eye-Fi.

  1. Atheros AR6001GL "Radio-on-a-Chip for Mobile" (ROCm)

    - Chipset: AR6001G
    - Frequency Band: 2.4 GHz
    - Network Standard: 802.11b, 802.11g
    - Modulation Technology: OFDM with BPSK, QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM, CCK
    - Internal FLASH: 512 KB
    - Hardware Security: AES, TKIP, WEP, WPA, WPA2, 802.11i
    - Quality of Service: Wi-Fi Multimedia, 802.11e EDCF
    - Media Access Technique: CSMA,/CA
    - Data Path Interfaces: SDIO 1.1, SPI, 8- or 16-bit parallel memory mapped
    - Control Interfaces: 16550-style UART, EJTAG, GPIO, I2S
    - Memory Interfaces: Serial FLASH, Parallel FLASH, SRAM
    - Supported Data Rates: IEEE 802.11b 1 to 11 Mbps, IEEE 802.11g 1 to 54 Mbps
    - Package Dimensions: BGA 10mm x 10mm

  2. Samsung Electronics K9LAG08U1M NAND flash

    - Voltage Supply : 2.7 V ~ 3.6 V
    - Organization
    - Memory Cell Array : (1G + 32M)bit x 8bit
    - Data Register : (2K + 64)bit x8bit
    - Automatic Program and Erase
    - Page Program : (2K + 64)Byte
    - Block Erase : (256K + 8K)Byte
    - Page Read Operation
    - Page Size : (2K + 64)Byte
    - Random Read : 60μs(Max.)
    - Serial Access : 30ns(Min.)
    - Memory Cell : 2bit / Memory Cell
    - Fast Write Cycle Time
    - Program time : 800μs(Typ.)
    - Block Erase Time : 1.5ms(Typ.)
    - Command/Address/Data Multiplexed I/O Port
    - Hardware Data Protection
    - Program/Erase Lockout During Power Transitions
    - Reliable CMOS Floating-Gate Technology
    - Endurance : 5K Program/Erase Cycles(with 4bit/512byte ECC)
    - Data Retention : 10 Years
    - Command Register Operation
    - Unique ID for Copyright Protection
    - Package: 52 - Pin ULGA (12 x 17 / 1.00 mm pitch)

  3. Hyperstone S4 Flash Memory Controller

    - High-speed SD1.1 / MMC 4.1: 1-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit host interface
    - Pad-optimized design
    - Clock frequency: 10 MHz to 60MHz using trimmable internal oscillator
    - 0.18µm process geometry
    - Performance with 1 flash memory: SD read: 18.1 MB/s, SD write: 15.2 MB/s
    - 8 bit flash interface
    - Dual-voltage operation
    - Supports interleaved function
    - ECC: up to three random bytes per 512 Byte data sector.
    - Stand-by current < 100µA
    - Supply voltage 1.65V to 1.95V and 2.7V to 3.6V
    - Suitable for MMCmicro, microSD, RS-MMC, miniSD

  4. Epic Communications FM2422 Compact RF Front-End Module

    - Ultra-low current
    - Low cost standard QFN package
    - Miniature size: 4mm x 4mm x 0.8 mm
    - 2.4 to 2.5 GHz Operating Range
    - 802.11b/g: ACPR compliant up to +18dBm
    - 802.11g: 5%EVM with Pout =+15dBm at 54 Mbps
    - On-chip power detector
    - +3.3V Power Supply
    - The device includes T/R diversity switch, a low noise amplifier with band-pass filter,a low-current linearized power amplifier(LPA),low-pass filter(LPF),and power detector. Biasing and matching circuitry are all integrated to minimize the external components required.

  5. Fairchild Semiconductor FAN5350 step-down switching voltage regulator

    - 3MHz Fixed-Frequency Operation
    - 16µA Typical Quiescent Current
    - 600mA Output Current Capability
    - 2.7V to 5.5V Input Voltage Range
    - 1.82V Fixed Output Voltage
    - Synchronous Operation
    - Power-Save Mode
    - Soft-Start Capability
    - Input Under-Voltage Lockout (UVLO)
    - Thermal Shutdown and Overload Protection

  6. 40MHz Crystal

  7. Antenna (Under solder mask, runs along length of card)

Can you help identify the other components? Please leave a comment if you can!


Nothing to see here.


Damn, that's thin!

Speculation

Everything in this box is guesswork, gleaned from available sources. I make no claims for the accuracy of the following:
  • The operating system is likely to be eCos.
  • The TCP/IP stack is probably lwIP.

Updated 18th March 2008 - thanks to Eye-Fi for extra component identification.

The Reader

The interesting thing about this side, aside from the crystal, is that there are actually two LEDs, marked "Power" and "Busy". These LEDs aren't visible when the PCB is inside it's plastic casing, but are fully functional.

Underneath we can see a standard Alcor Micro AU6332 single chip integrated USB 2.0 multimedia card reader controller, and little else.