GENEVA, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Incard, a global leader in providing smart-card-based solutions to the mobile-telecoms industry, today announced its new Mokard M2M (machine-to-machine) cellular-communication smart-card family. M2M cellular-communications technology extends the penetration of SIM cards to billions of machines, enabling those machines to connect to cellular networks, authenticate themselves, and communicate automatically for various remote reporting, monitoring and control applications.
Incard's Mokard M2M family includes four products with different memory densities. Each product comprises a (U)SIM chip that has been specially developed to sustain the extreme environmental conditions expected in industrial M2M applications, including improved data retention and endurance with respect to a typical SIM chip.
The M2M cellular-communications market is growing fast and could reach more than 200 million mobile connections by 2013, according to Beecham Research, a leading M2M market-analyst company. M2M applications range widely, and include automatic utility-meter reading, replenishment monitoring for vending machines, anti-theft and security equipment, and many other applications in industrial markets.
The new Mokard series implements the highly scalable and customizable Java Operating System, which allows the development of such specific M2M capabilities as secure data logging and alarm triggering, together with a wealth of similar secure functions. The Java OS runs on top of STMicroelectronics' ST32-M M2M smart-card-processor chips, which have been designed specifically for M2M applications. These specialist processors combine high-reliability embedded non-volatile Flash memory and the high-performance and low-power capabilities of the ARM® Cortex(TM)-M3 processor core.
Offering an operating temperature range of -40 degrees C to +105 degrees C, crucial for demanding industrial and automotive applications, the Mokard M2M family also implements advanced software techniques to support many more data-writing cycles (up to two million write/erase cycles) than standard SIM controllers. The family also offers continuous operation over an extended lifetime, storing data reliably for 10 years at +105 degrees C.
"M2M SIM-card technology has huge potential for implementation in a multitude of applications across a broad range of industrial markets," said Michele Scarlatella, Vice-President of Marketing at Incard. "This new family is a truly significant offering, combining industry-leading software with world-class hardware in the form of low-power high- performance processing and highly durable Flash memory."
Incard is sampling its first Mokard M2M cards in Q4 2009 with mass production in the QFN8 format is planned for Q1 2010.
About Incard
A member of the STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) group, Incard is a leading smart-card manufacturer, offering a complete range of products for Telecommunications, Payment, Transport, Healthcare, Loyalty, and Identity markets. With its know-how and proven expertise, Incard has gained the trust of a global customer base in the different sectors of smart-card solutions with a full range of flexible products, where security and portability are the key factors. Further information on Incard can be found at www.incard-sa.com.
SOURCE Incard