computer science

Lexar

Lexar is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lexar rather than just read about it. In short: Lexar International is an American computer technology company based in San Jose, California that specializes in the design of flash memory products. Since 2017, it is a subsidiary of Shenzhen, China-based flash memory company Longsys.

Key takeaways

Lexar belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lexar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lexar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lexar International is an American computer technology company based in San Jose, California that specializes in the design of flash memory products. Since 2017, it is a subsidiary of Shenzhen, China-based flash memory company Longsys. The Lexar "JumpDrive" trademark was often used synonymously with the term USB flash drives when the technology was first adopted.

History

Early years (1996–2006) Lexar was founded was created by Petro Estakhri and Mike Assar in 1996 as a spin-off from Cirrus Logic. Products manufactured by Lexar include SD cards, CompactFlash cards, USB flash drives, card readers and solid-state drives. Once a division of Cirrus Logic, Lexar leveraged its parent company's experience in building ATA controllers in developing its own flash controllers. In 2002, Lexar filed a lawsuit against Toshiba, alleging that Toshiba had copied its NAND flash memory technology. In 2005, a California jury initially awarded Lexar a total of $465 million in damages, after which Toshiba filed an appeal. In September 2006, following Lexar’s acquisition by Micron Technology, Toshiba agreed to settle all outstanding litigation by purchasing certain patents and rights previously owned by Lexar for $288 million.

Under Micron ownership (2006–2017) Lexar was acquired by Micron Technology in 2006. In September 2007, Lexar extended its agreement with Eastman Kodak Company to develop and market Kodak-branded flash memory products worldwide. On June 26, 2017, Micron (the then-owner of the brand) announced it was to discontinue the Lexar retail removable media storage business and put part or all of the business up for sale.

Under Longsys ownership (2017–present) On August 31, 2017, the Lexar brand and trademark rights were acquired by Longsys, a flash memory company based in Shenzhen, China. In 2018, Lexar reentered the flash storage market. In January 2019, the company unveiled the first SD card with a storage capacity of 1 terabyte (TB). In December 2019, Lexar demonstrated a prototype 7.5 GB/s PCIe 4.0 SSD which is set to be the world's fastest consumer SSD. In April 2020, Lexar released its world's smallest memory card (nCARD) featuring Xtacking tech from Yangtze Memory Technology (YMTC). In June 2020, Lexar announced its entry to the DRAM market by unveiling seven different DDR4-2666 memory kits for mainstream laptops and desktops. Lexar also plans to release faster, 3000 MHz and 3200 MHz memory kits in the future, along with kits "with heatsinks and RGB lighting", targeting gamers and enthusiasts.

USB FlashCard USB FlashCard is a flash memory card format developed by Lexar, and announced on December 13, 2004. There is a wide range of existing memory card formats such as SD, xD, and CompactFlash; the major advantage of USB FlashCard is that the cards are in fact standard USB flash drives. The USB FlashCard uses a modified USB Type A plug which keeps the total thickness of the card to under 4.5 mm. Because of its small size and USB compatibility, a USB FlashCard could, for example, be accessed by either a digital camera or a modern personal computer without the need for a card reader. Lexar has published the specifications for its USB FlashCard form factor on its website in an open and royalty-free format, in the hopes that other memory card and portable device manufacturers will adopt it. The specifications for the USB FlashCard published by Lexar show its dimensions to be 31.75 mm × 12 mm × 4.5 mm. The volume is comparable to the widely adopted SD cards (32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1 mm). The USB FlashCard has nearly the same length as the SD card, but is half as wide, and approximately twice as thick.

References

External links

Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lexar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lexar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lexar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lexar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lexar

In research: Lexar appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lexar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lexar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1996 establishments in California, 2006 mergers and acquisitions, 2017 mergers and acquisitions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lexar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lexar in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lexar means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lexar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lexar in simple terms?

Why does Lexar matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lexar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lexar.