Datakey Electronics, Inc. Wins GOLD in Product Design & Development's 12th Annual Engineering Awards


March 20, 2007. Savage, MN - Datakey Electronics, Inc., NFX Managed-Memory(TM) System has won the Gold Award in Product Design & Development Magazine's 12th Annual Engineering Awards. Datakey Electronics' NFX Managed-Memory(TM) System was one of the 50 finalists featured in the December 2006 issue and on pddnet.com/awards. Industry professionals were invited to vote for the product they found to be the most innovative, creative and useful.

"We are very pleased to receive this award for our Managed-Memory system," said Eric Jennings, President of Datakey Electronics. "Product Design & Development is an excellent publication serving our market - product design engineers."

The NFX Managed-Memory Token (128MByte-1GByte) is used to transport data to and from non-networked electronics that are deployed in any environment. The NFX provides both an SPI interface for simple direct connection to microprocessors and a USB electrical interface to facilitate connection to PCs.

"It is especially gratifying to receive recognition for the values that have made us an industry leader in embedded systems for 30-years," Jennings continued. "Managed-Memory combines all of the values that OEMs need - ruggedness, reliability, security, and ease-of-implementation, along with technical support and guaranteed long-term availability. Our goal with this product was to manage all critical aspects for our customers - manage the file system, manage long-term availability, manage the entire data carrier/receptacle system, and manage the ease of implementation. The Managed-Memory Token accomplishes all of that and more."

Datakey Electronics combines its 30-year proven rugged and reliable technology with its Managed-Memory concept to provide features that OEM embedded designers require and that mass-use consumer-type products don't offer. The efficient high-level command set, guaranteed long-term availability, mating system "ownership", extreme ruggedness and reliability, and user customization features uniquely combine to meet the needs of embedded systems.

The NFX Managed-Memory Token's efficient command set and on-board file management system ease the host microprocessor's load, decreasing both hardware requirements and firmware complexity. Datakey Electronics assures long-term availability by configuration-controlling the Token's electrical, mechanical and software interfaces. Managing the NFX Token in this manner virtually eliminates the constant costly re-qualifications some OEMs are experiencing due to the ever-accelerating obsolescence of mass-market memory devices (i.e. camera cards). Additionally, this configuration-control effectively eliminates the need for in-field updating of deployed OEM equipment due to data carrier obsolescence. As the designer/manufacturer of the entire data carrier/receptacle system, Datakey Electronics "owns" the performance of the overall system. This provides OEM engineers with an easily accessible and highly technical single point of contact throughout the lifecycle of their program.
The NFX Token's electronics are solid over-molded, providing extreme ruggedness. It can be soaked in water or fuels, covered in mud, autoclaved, washed, and even rolled over by a truck - it will still work. The NFX Token's redundant contact system and 50,000 cycle mating Receptacle designs have been used successfully for more than 15 years in the most extreme conditions including military, medical, and industrial.

Datakey Electronics' SR4000 Series of mating Receptacles provide a variety of mounting options, including panel mount versions that fill a definite need in OEM embedded systems. Also, a newly developed IP-rated (splash-proof, dust-proof) panel-mount receptacle is nearing release. This capability, unique in the portable data carrier market, meets OEM requirements for keeping dust and water out of field-deployed electronics.

The NFX Managed-Memory Token helps secure the OEM's intellectual property and revenue stream. Every Managed-Memory Token contains a factory-loaded electronic serial number and optional unique OEM code, allowing the OEM to secure the revenue stream from resale of their Tokens. The NFX Token provides several OEM-customizable write-once registers that can be used for encryption seeds, one-time use flags, write protect flags, etc. for protection of on-board data and to facilitate distribution/sale of software, firmware upgrades, or "recipes."

Datakey Electronics supports the Managed-Memory Token with a complete line of support peripherals including Development Kits designed to help embedded designers reduce R&D costs, reduce time-to-market, and reduce technical risk.

For more information on the industry's first truly rugged high capacity memory product optimized specifically for embedded OEM system designs - the Managed-Memory Token - please contact Datakey Electronics, visit our new web-site at
www.datakey.com, or visit us at Booth #638 at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, CA, April 4-6. For a FREE pass use Priority Code: X056 when registering.

About Datakey Electronics
Datakey Electronics offers a complete catalog of RoHS compliant, fully-engineered data transport solutions. The product line consists of proprietary memory Keys and other custom-shaped Tokens containing non-volatile memory, mating Receptacles, Reader/Writers, and Development Kits. These products are used world-wide in hundreds of industrial, medical, military and commercial applications, providing a cost-effective and reliable way of storing and transporting electronic information where conventional methods would not survive. In addition, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) choose Datakey Electronics because unlike consumer product manufacturers, they offer life-of-product availability and support.

Datakey Electronics, Inc. has built a world-wide base of customers over the past 30 years. These include St. Jude Medical, General Dynamics, Cisco Systems, Raytheon, Siemens, Tyco Healthcare, Gilbarco, governments and many other multi-national corporations.

Datakey Electronics, Inc., based in Savage, MN, is a fully vertically-integrated minority woman-owned business, designing, molding and assembling all of its products in its own custom-built factory.

For more information about Datakey Electronics, Inc. visit: www.datakey.com
Or stop by our booth at one of these other upcoming Trade Shows:

April 12, 2007
AFCEA TechWest UK
in Shrivenham, England
Click here to register.

May 1-3, 2007
AFCEA Technology Showcase at DISA
in Nashville, TN (Booth #339)

August 7-9, 2007
AUVSI
(Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International)
in Washington, DC (Booth #1235)

September 20-21, 2007
Embedded Systems Conference Boston
in Boston, MA (Booth #1709)

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