▁vote . ▁ ▁References ▁ ▁External ▁links ▁N D ▁H B ▁ 1 5 7 2 ▁ ▁Category : Ab ort ion ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁Category : Person hood <0x0A> </s> ▁ex F AT ▁( Ext ens ible ▁File ▁Al location ▁Table ) ▁is ▁a ▁file ▁system ▁introduced ▁by ▁Microsoft ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 6 ▁and ▁optimized ▁for ▁flash ▁memory ▁such ▁as ▁USB ▁flash ▁drives ▁and ▁SD ▁cards . ▁ex F AT ▁was ▁propriet ary ▁until ▁ 2 8 ▁August ▁ 2 0 1 9 , ▁when ▁Microsoft ▁published ▁its ▁specification . ▁Microsoft ▁own s ▁pat ents ▁on ▁several ▁elements ▁of ▁its ▁design . ▁ ▁ex F AT ▁can ▁be ▁used ▁where ▁N TF S ▁is ▁not ▁a ▁feas ible ▁solution ▁( due ▁to ▁data - structure ▁overhead ), ▁but ▁a ▁greater ▁file - size ▁limit ▁than ▁the ▁standard ▁F AT 3 2 ▁file ▁system ▁( i . e . ▁ 4   Gi B ) ▁is ▁required . ▁ ▁ex F AT ▁has ▁been ▁adopted ▁by ▁the ▁SD ▁Association ▁as ▁the ▁default ▁file ▁system ▁for ▁SD X C ▁cards ▁larger ▁than ▁ 3 2   Gi B . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁ex F AT ▁was ▁introduced ▁in ▁late ▁ 2 0 0 6 ▁as ▁part ▁of ▁Windows ▁CE ▁ 6 . 0 , ▁an ▁embedded ▁Windows ▁operating ▁system . ▁Most ▁of ▁the ▁vend ors ▁signing ▁on ▁for ▁lic ences ▁are ▁manufact ur ers ▁of ▁embedded ▁systems ▁or ▁device ▁manufact ur ers ▁that ▁produce ▁media ▁formatted ▁with ▁ex F AT .