From: Bob Webster <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> <snip> PatentCompact flash cards (and other flash cards) are really handy in cameras and computers, because you can treat them like little hard drives. Or big hard drives, if you consider half a billion a big number. You can plug in a compact flash card and read or write just like a hard drive. This is because it uses a standard format, the FAT or FAT32 format.
FAT stands for (or stood for once) File Access Table. It's a standard layout for a file directory and pointers to the files. Microsoft started using the FAT format for hard and floppy drives with MSDOS. It's a pretty simple format, with several similarities to CP/M and Unix formats.
Now Microsoft has decided they own FAT. They are going to start charging manufacturers about $0.25 for each compact flash card sold. Well, those that use the FAT file format, which amounts to almost every card being sold. Our PC12 uses a nonstandard compact flash card to record engine data. I guess that saved us 25 cents in the purchase of the airplane.
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/tech/fat.asp
From ms site djf
FAT File System Technology and Patent License
December 3, 2003
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<http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/tech//mscorp/ip/tech/fathist.asp>Learn
More About the FAT File System
Most operating systems store computer files by dividing the file into smaller pieces and storing those pieces in separate clusters of a hard disk, floppy disk, or flash memory card. The FAT file system allows an operating system to keep track of the location and sequence of each piece of a file, and also allows the operating system to identify which clusters are unassigned and available for new files. When a computer user wants to read a file, the FAT file system also reassembles each piece of the file into one unit for viewing.
The first FAT file system was developed by Microsoft in 1976. That system was based on the BASIC programming language and allowed programs and data to be stored on a floppy disk. Since that time, the FAT file system has been improved upon multiple times to take advantage of advances in computer technology, and to further refine and enrich the FAT file system itself.
Today, the FAT File system has become the ubiquitous format used for interchange of media between computers, and, since the advent of inexpensive, removable flash memory, also between digital devices. The FAT file system is now supported by a wide variety of operating systems running on all sizes of computers, from servers to personal digital assistants. In addition, many digital devices such as still and video cameras, audio recorders, video game systems, scanners, and printers make use of FAT file system technology.
Microsoft is offering to license its FAT file system specification and associated intellectual property. With this license, other companies have the opportunity to standardize the FAT file system implementation in their products, and to improve file system compatibility across a range of computing and consumer electronics devices.
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