Date: 23rd May 2011

AMI and Realtek Semiconductor are collaborating on SD 3.0 Card Reader booting

American Megatrends Inc. (AMI), and Realtek Semiconductor Corporation, has announced their collaboration in the delivery of a new, SD 3.0-compliant Card Reader Boot Solution. This solution brings together the sdboot module from AMI as a part of its Aptio 4.x UEFI BIOS firmware and Realtek's newest SD card reader chip, the RTS5209/5139.

AMI's sdboot module is a key component of Aptio 4.x that enables SD boot capability to support booting to the Legacy OS and UEFI OS on the SD card file system via an SD card reader. The SD boot capability is supported across all types of platforms, including notebook, tablet, desktop, embedded, server and ultra-mobile devices. AMI said it has worked diligently in collaboration with Realtek to ensure that the SD boot component of Aptio is compliant with the latest industry standards for SD 3. AMI was the BIOS vendor to support USB in the BIOS, to create a GUI BIOS interface with mouse support, to integrate diagnostics and to support ACPI with AMIBIOS.

"The SD 3.0 standard is fast entering the mainstream of features required by system vendors. As a technology leader, AMI is aware of its responsibility to support new industry standards," said S. Shankar, President and CEO of American Megatrends. "AMI has always been committed to being the first to deliver on this promise in the form of high-quality solutions for our customers. AMI's support for boot via SD 3.0 Card Reader gives manufacturers added confidence, knowing that the products they are delivering today will be fully standards-compliant as adoption of SD 3.0 becomes more widespread. Providing first access to key new technologies is one of the primary components for maintaining strong, long-term partnerships with our customers."

"SD 3.0 is the latest version of the SD memory card specification, and will gradually become a mainstream feature of most operating systems. The new standard will bring an entirely new application methodology and allow consumers to quickly capture video, photos, and sound," said Jessy Chen, Executive Vice President of Realtek. "Realtek is committed to providing high-performance, reliable, easy-to-use products that offer the latest in technology and features."