Efficient Connection Between Modules of Removable Electronic Circuit Cards
A removable electronic circuit card has multiple modules connected to the card's bus in parallel so that each module can exchange commands and data independently with the host. According to a first aspect of the present invention, this achieved by a controller-to-controller interface whereby the modules can facilitate their interactions with the host. In a first set of embodiments, the modules are on a single card, while in a second set of embodiments the modules are distributed across multiple cards, where a first card attaches to the host and other cards attach to the first card rather than directly to the host. In all of these cases, the host sees the multiple modules as a single card having a single module. In a further aspect of the present invention, the card or cards are able to communicate with the host in more than one protocol.
This is a continuation of co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/303,220, filed Dec. 15, 2005, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/732,149, filed Dec. 9, 2003, which applications are incorporated herein by this reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates, generally, to the use and structure of removable electronic circuit cards and, more specifically, to the connections between card modules on either a single card or on individual cards.
Various commercially available non-volatile memory cards that are becoming popular are extremely small and have different mechanical and/or electrical interfaces. Examples include the related MultiMediaCard (“MMC”) and Secure Digital (“SD”) memory cards that are available from SanDisk Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif., assignee of the present application. There are other cards that conform to standards of the International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (“IEC”), an example that is widely implemented being known as the ISO/IEC 7816 standard.
The physical and electrical specifications for the MMC are given in “The MultiMediaCard System Specification” that is updated and published from time-to-time by the MultiMediaCard Association (“MMCA”) of Cupertino, Calif. Versions 2.11 2.2, and 3.1 of that Specification, dated June 1999, January 2000, and June 2001, respectively, are expressly incorporated herein by this reference. MMC products having varying storage capacity up to 128 megabytes in a single card are currently available from SanDisk Corporation. These products are described in a “MultiMediaCard Product Manual,” Revision 2, dated April 2000, published by SanDisk Corporation, which Manual is expressly incorporated herein by this reference. Certain aspects of the electrical operation of the MMC products are also described in co-pending patent applications of Thomas N. Toombs and Micky Holtzman, Ser. Nos. 09/185,649 and Ser. No. 09/186,064, both filed Nov. 4, 1998, and assigned to SanDisk Corporation. The physical card structure and a method of manufacturing it are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,622, assigned to SanDisk Corporation. Both of these applications and patent are also expressly incorporated herein by this reference.
The newer SD Card is similar to the MMC card, having the same size except for an increased thickness that accommodates an additional memory chip. A primary difference between them is that the SD Card includes additional data contacts in order to enable faster data transfer between the card and a host. The other contacts of the SD Card are the same as those of the MMC card in order that sockets designed to accept the SD Card will also accept the MMC card. The electrical and functional interface with the SD card is further made in such a way that the sockets designed to accept the SD card can also be made to accept the MMC card, as is described in PCT published application number 02/15020 of Yoram Cedar, Micky Holtzman, and Yosi Pinto, published Feb. 21, 2002, and hereby incorporated by this reference. Certain aspects of the SD card are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/641,023, filed Aug. 17, 2000, which application is incorporated herein by this reference. (The specifications of the SD card are available to member companies of the SD Association (SDA).)
Cards made according to the ISO/IEC 7816 standard are of a different shape, have surface contacts in different positions, and a different electrical interface than the MMC and SD Cards. The ISO/IEC 7816 standard has the general title of “Identification cards-Integrated Circuit(s) Cards with Contacts,” and consists of parts 1-10 that carry individual dates from 1994 through 2000. This standard, copies of which are available from the ISO/IEC in Geneva, Switzerland, is expressly incorporated herein by this reference. ISO/IEC 7816 cards are particularly useful in applications where data must be stored in a secure manner that makes it extremely difficult or impossible for the data to be read in an unauthorized manner. The small ISO/IEC 7816 cards are commonly used in cellular telephones, among other applications.
Recently, cards have been described that allow multiple modules having different functionalities to be attached to the host. These include a single card having multiple modules and cards where the modules are distributed between several cards, but where a first card attaches directly to the host and the other cards attach to the first card rather than directly to the host, such as is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/653,062, filed Sep. 1, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference. For example, the modules could include a memory module and an input-output module, where both modules are in a single, combination card, or where a memory card is designed to attached to the host on one end and attach to an input-output card on the other end. Such multi-module cards need to be designed so that they may operate with the host in a fast, efficient and convenient manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTherefore, the present invention, briefly and generally, utilizes a removable electronic circuit card having multiple modules connected to the card's bus in parallel so that each module can exchange commands and data independently with the host. According to a first aspect of the present invention, this achieved by a controller-to-controller interface whereby the modules can facilitate their interactions with the host. In a first set of embodiments, the modules are on a single card, while in a second set of embodiments the modules are distributed across multiple cards, where a first card attaches to the host and other cards attach to the first card rather than directly to the host. In all of these cases, the host sees the multiple modules as a single card having a single module. In a further aspect of the present invention, the card (or cards) are able to communicate with the host in more than one protocol.
The exemplary embodiment is described in terms of a SD type removable electronic circuit card having both a memory module with a non-volatile mass storage memory and a separate input-output module. Each of the modules have their own controller, each of which is connected in parallel to the main card bus (the SD bus) by which the controllers can exchange commands and data with the host. Typically, each of the modules will have a differing set of legal commands: Although they may share some commands in common, for example a reset command, each will have a specific set of commands of its own. To facilitate this parallel connection of the controllers to the bus, the present invention introduces a set of controller-to-controller lines. In the exemplary embodiment, based on a card that can utilize both the SD or MMC protocol as well as the SPI protocol, three such line are used. These lines allow one controller to indicate to the other controller to ignore the data on the bus, that it is an acceptable time to issue an interrupt command, or to manage the setting and clearing of flags related to illegal commands. They also allow one controller to indicate to the other controller that it is attached and active, since the present invention may also be implemented in a multi-card embodiment where the other module may or may not be attached.
In a single card embodiment, all of the modules are contained in a single card conforming to a particular standard that is attachable to the host. In a multi-card embodiment, a first card (such as the memory card) is attachable to the host, but also includes a connector for the attachment of one or more additional cards, such as an input-output card. In the multiple card case, both the main card bus and the controller-to-controller interface would extend across the connectors interface, so that when the second card is attached it would operate in the same manner as the single card embodiment.
The exemplary embodiments are described for the modules being able to communicate with a host in multiple protocols, specifically, the SD or MMC and the SPI protocols, although others may be uses. The controller-to-controller lines can have differing functions that depend upon which protocol is being used. As the controller-to-controller lines allow the parallel-connected modules to operate as a single entity as seen by the host, in the SD and MMC protocols, the modules all share a common relative card address (RCA), and in the SPI protocol, the modules are all responsive to the same chip select (CS) signal.
Additional details, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, which should be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
With reference to
In the examples described herein, the SD card is described but it will be understood that the invention is not limited to implementation with any specific type of removable electronic circuit card. In
The SD card 35 contains nine surface electrical contacts 10-18. Contacts 13, 14 and 16 are connected to power (VSS, VDD and VSS2) when inserted into the host system socket 33. Card contact 15 receives a clock signal (CLK) from the host. Contact 12 receives commands (CMD) from the host and sends responses and status signals back to the host. The remaining contacts 10, 11, 17 and 18 (DAT 2, DAT 3, DAT 0 and DAT 1, respectively) receive data in parallel for storage in its non-volatile memory and send data to the host in parallel from the memory. A fewer number of data contacts are selectable for use, such as a single data contact 17. The maximum rate of data transfer between the host and the card is limited by the number of parallel data paths that are used (and the maximum clock rate. The MMC card described in the Background above has a similar contact layout and interface but omits the data pins 10 and 18 and does not use the contact 11, which is provided as a spare. The MMC card has the same dimensions and operates similarly to the SD card except that the card is only 1.4 millimeters thick and has a single data contact 17. The contacts of the card 35 are connected through respective pins 20-28 of the socket 33 to its host system. Other extensions of memory cards that are compatible with the present invention are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/924,185 filed Aug. 2, 2001, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention is based on removable electronic circuit card, such as card 35 of the embodiment of
In some applications, the incident signal 41 may not explicitly originate with an external system 39. For example, the input-output module 37 could contain a photosensor or lens integrated into the card in order to function as a camera module. In this case, the signal 41 would be the incident radiation and the card would form a stand-alone unit and would not need to interact through a cable or antenna with any entity but the host.
In the exemplary embodiment of
An alternate exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in
Although the exemplary embodiments of
The exemplary embodiments will also be described for the case where the card (or cards) is able to communicate with the host through a plurality of protocols, such as is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/186,064 incorporated above. Specifically, these will be either the MMC or SD (described in version 2.11 of the MMC specification or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/641,023 both incorporated by reference above) protocol and the SPI protocol in the exemplary embodiment.
The scope of the following discussion will mainly define the functional characteristics of the SD card with the I/O expansion slot, along with related electrical and timing issues. In the embodiment of
The exemplary connection has three control lines, A, B, and C through which the controllers can exchange signals to allow the modules to sort out which commands and data from the host are meant for which module. As both modules are identified by the host by the same relative card address (RCA) or chip select (CS) signal, but many commands are specific to just one module, the control lines allow the modules to facilitate these host interactions. For example, if the host sends a command specific to the I/O module followed by some data, the memory module would interpret the command as illegal. Instead, the control lines 333 allow the I/O controller 303 to inform the memory controller 301 that the command is not illegal, but, rather, intended for the I/O module and that the memory module should ignore the following data. In the exemplary embodiment, it will be assumed that most commands are specific to one module or the other, with a small number of commands shared in common. Examples of such common commands are a card reset command, commands related to establish a RCA for the card as a whole, commands related to CS signals, and other commands that allow the largely independent modules to function as a single card as viewed from the host. Other commands may also be common to both modules, such as commands related to DMA type transfers between the modules that are described further in patent application Ser. No. 10/302,009.
The interface control lines will be described in more detail, beginning with line [A]. Line [A] is also labeled INT_PER_IGNOR_DI on
In SD mode, line [A] is used for a sending a VALID MEMORY INTERRUPT PERIOD signal from the memory module to the I/O module, as shown in
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- 1) In 1-bit (narrow) SD mode, line [A] is always ‘high’.
- 2) In 4-bit (wide) SD mode the interrupt period will start TAIP clocks after line [A] goes to ‘high’. Interrupt period will be finished TASE clocks after line [A] goes to ‘low’. In the first 2 clocks the I/O controller will drive ‘low’, on the 3rd clock the I/O controller will drive ‘high’, on the 4th clock the I/O controller will stop to drive the interrupt signal.
The line [A] bus timing for a read command in wide bus SD mode is shown in
Line [B] is also labeled CMD_RESP_IO_DET on
During a command response period, line [B] is used to by one controller to indicate to the other controller that is responding and that the other controller need not respond. This helps to manage traffic on the system bus and keeps both controllers from responding at the same time. During a command response period, line [B] indicates that a command is responded to in both SD and SPI modes. In default, the memory and I/O controllers are in input mode. By driving line [B] ‘low’ by one of the controllers (IO or memory) indicates to the other controller that the driving controller is sending a command response. This process is shown schematically in
A controller that sends a response to the host also clears any previously set error and illegal command flags as part of the response process. Line [B] indicates to the other controller to clear its error and illegal command flags, so that this knowledge can be shared by the two controllers. In an exemplary embodiment, a line [B] indication is for a period of 4 clocks, starting half bit before the start bit of the command response (see
In an additional functionality described below, line [B] can be used together with line [C] in order to control the card detect logic.
Line [C] is also labeled ILLEG_CMD on
More specifically, in default, the memory and I/O controllers are in input mode. When one of the controllers detects illegal command reception, the controller will set the illegal command flag. Line [C] will be driven to ‘low’ TCEI clocks after end bit of the illegal command, in order to signal the other controller to set its illegal command flag. When one of the controllers detects an illegal command reception the controller will check line [C]: If line [C] is ‘high’ the controller will drive line [C] to ‘low’, while if line [C] is ‘low’ (that is, the other controller is already driving the line [C]) the controller will not drive the line.
The controller that drives line [C] to ‘low’ will stop driving line [C] in two scenarios:
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- 1) During the process of sending a response to a legal command, the controller clears the illegal command flag. Line [C] is released after the reception of the legal command up to TCRS cycles after the start bit of the response to signal that the illegal command flag is cleared.
FIG. 13 is an example a memory controller that receives an illegal command and start driving line [C] to ‘low’. (Exemplary bus timing values ofFIGS. 13 and 14 and shown in Table 2 ofFIG. 15 .) After receiving a legal command the memory controller stops driving line [C]. The same process is followed by an I/O controller that receives legal command after an illegal command. - 2) After receiving an illegal command the controller sets the illegal command flag and drives line [C] to ‘low’. If the next legal command is accepted by the other controller, the other controller will drive line [B] to ‘low’ in order to signal the first controller to clear the illegal command and error flags. The first controller will release line [C] TCBS clocks after the falling edge of line [B] and clear the error flag.
FIG. 14 is an example a memory controller that receives an illegal command and start driving line [C] to ‘low’. After receiving a legal command by the I/O controller, the I/O controller start driving line [B], and as a result the memory controller clears the error flags and stop driving line [C]. The same process is followed by a memory controller that receives legal command after an illegal command that was sent to the I/O controller.
- 1) During the process of sending a response to a legal command, the controller clears the illegal command flag. Line [C] is released after the reception of the legal command up to TCRS cycles after the start bit of the response to signal that the illegal command flag is cleared.
The electrically characteristics of the controller to controller connections are described in more detail in
Although the various aspects of the present invention have been described for the case of two modules, specifically a memory module and an input-output module, the invention also extends other numbers and types of modules whose controllers are independently connected to the system bus in parallel while still appearing to the host as a single, single module card. Also, as already noted, these modules may be within a single card (as in
In another set of aspects of the present invention, the card system can operate in multiple protocols. The exemplary embodiment is described for two such protocols, although more generally, either more protocols or only a single protocol can be used. The exemplary protocols are the SD or MMC protocol and the SPI protocol, which are described in more detail in version 2.11 of the MMC specification or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/641,023, both incorporated by reference above. Within this exemplary embodiment, a more detailed description is given of the requirements for the memory controller and the usage of the A, B and C control lines in a various cases. The requirements from the I/O controller are described as well in order to clarify the operation concepts.
In SPI mode, it is defined in the physical specification that a card will respond to all commands, even to illegal commands. In a combination memory/input-output card, the memory controller will ignore the I/O specific commands. Similarly, the I/O controller will ignore memory specific commands. In multi-card embodiments, where the IO controller is not connected (detected with line [B]), the Memory Controller will not ignore the I/O related commands, but instead respond as illegal commands if they will be sent to it. In SPI mode it is defined in the SD physical specification that the card shall drive ‘high’ on the DO pin (DAT0) in case that the CS is asserted. In the multi-module situation, each controller will enable the output of its own DO only when it is required (i.e., responding to a command or sending data), otherwise it will be in Input mode. The host will keep the line high as described in the specification. From the host's point of view, the card/bus continue to behave the same as it is defined in the specification for a single module card.
As both controllers are connected in parallel to the SD bus, the data that is sent to one controller may be interpreted as a command by the other controller. The probability for this misinterpretation becomes even higher if the cycle redundancy check (CRC) is not used, which is legal in SPI mode. (As described, for example in the referenced MMC specification, in the preferred embodiment, every SD or MMC token transferred on the SD bus is protected by CRC bits, while for SPI mode, a non-protected mode is available that enables systems built with reliable data links to exclude the hardware or firmware required for implementing the CRC generation and verification functions.) That is the reason for having control line [A] between the Memory and IO controllers. In the exemplary embodiment, both controllers will not receive data at the same time and the same control line [A] will be used from I/O controller to memory and from memory controller to I/O controller. Each side will drive assert (‘low’) the line in case of data reception, with a pull-up resistor keeping the line high in other states.
In order to get into the SPI mode, the host sends CMD0+(CS=0) for both the I/O and memory modules, even though the RESET commands can be different for the memory and I/O controllers with, for example, the I/O module having a reset command other than CMD0. The I/O controller will get into SPI mode but will not respond to CMD0 command. The command to turn cycle redundancy check (CRC) on and off, CRC_ON_OFF will be responded by the memory controller and not by the I/O controller, since this is a legal command for the Memory. The I/O controller should identify this command and enable or disable the CRC check function according to the command argument. In case that a command CRC error is detected (and CRC detection is Enabled), then in both controllers an error flag will be set. If both cards are initialized then both would like to respond. The I/O controller will respond only if a response from the memory controller did not appear within a specified number of, say 16, clocks, during which the I/O controller will ‘listen’ to line [B]. If the I/O module detects a response from the memory controller during the given period, then it will only reset its CRC error flag and will not itself respond. Similarly, in case that one of the controllers detects an illegal command, it will respond with an Illegal Command response.
In the SD mode, the combination memory/input-output card, the memory controller will ignore the I/O specific commands. Conversely, the I/O controller will ignore all commands that are out of the I/O command class, unless they are common to all controllers (Class 9) except the common commands (such as reset (CMD0) and commands related to relative card address (RCA) and chip select (CS)). In case that the I/O controller is not connected (detected with line [B]), then the memory controller will not ignore the I/O related commands—in other words, it will respond as if illegal commands were sent to it.
The memory controller will response to the commands related to establishing a relative card address (RCA) when the command is legal. In this case the I/O controller will ‘listen’ for appropriate command response on the CMD line. If a valid response (with correct CRC) is detected within a set number of clocks (and the command is legal for the I/O controller), the I/O controller will adopt the RCA. Line [B] will signal the I/O controller that the memory controller is responding.
The memory controller will response to RCA establishing command when it is legal. In this case the I/O controller will ‘listen’ for the command response on the CMD line. If a valid response (with correct CRC) is detected within the prescribed number of clocks (and the command is illegal for the I/O controller), the I/O controller will not adopt the RCA, and will not set the illegal command flag. Line [B] will signal the I/O controller that the memory controller is responding.
If the memory controller is not responding within the allowed response time from the end bit of RCA establishing command, and the command is legal for the I/O controller, the I/O controller will response. The memory controller will ‘listen’ for the response on the CMD line. If a valid RCA results, then the I/O controller will adopt the RCA if needed. Line [B] will signal the memory controller that the I/O controller is responding. If, instead the memory controller is not responding within the allowed response time and the command is not legal for the I/O controller, the I/O controller will not response. The I/O controller will set the illegal command flag, and will use line [C] to signal the memory controller that illegal command was detected.
The process for the commands related to chip select (CMD7), which are again common for all of the modules so that they will function as a single card as seen from the host, will be treated similarly to that described in the preceding paragraphs for the commands used to establish a relative card address (CMD3).
When the host is transferring data to/from the memory module, an interrupt can occur from the I/O module. In order to allow transmission of the interrupt only during the valid periods, the memory controller signals the valid memory interrupt period to the I/O through line [A]. An Interrupt Period indication will precede the ‘real’ interrupt period, allowing the period to be very accurate. That is done to provide an allowance for path delay between the memory controller to the I/O controller (through pad delays, connector delays, and so on).
When a command has a CRC error, the corresponding error flag is set in both controllers and neither will respond. According to the SD specification, the response to the following command indicates the CRC error bit and the CRC error flag is responded to with the following command response of the card. The CRC flag will be cleared in a given controller in either of the following cases: 1) The controller is responding with CRC error; or 2) during the response periods the controller detects on line [B] a command response indication from the other controller in the card.
If an Illegal command is detected by one of the controllers, it sets it own Illegal Command flag and does not respond. According to the SD specification, the response to the following command shall indicate the Illegal Command Error. Therefore the other controller will set its Illegal Flag as well by using line [C]. The controller whose illegal flag was set will drive line [C] with “0”. The other controller will set its Illegal Flag in case that change to “0” is detected on line [C]. Subsequently, both controllers behave as described in the last paragraph for the case of a CRC error. The Illegal Command Flag is responded to with the following command response of the card. The Illegal Command Flag is cleared in either of the cases: 1) The controller is responding with Illegal Command Flag; or 2 during the response periods the controller detects on line [B] a command response indication from the other controller in the card. Both cards set their line [C] drivers to input mode whenever they clear their Illegal Command flag. A set of ‘rules’ for each of the controllers about the line [C] can be summarized as follows:
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- a) Assert line [C] to ‘low’ in case that sets its own Illegal Flag (after Illegal Command was receipted).
- b) De-assert (go to input mode) line [C] when clear its own Illegal Flag.
- c) Sets Illegal Flag if either—Illegal Command was detected OR change from “1” to “0” was detected in line [C].
- d) Clear Illegal Flag if either—Responding with Illegal command flag (R1, R5 or R6 in SD mode or R1, R2, R3 or R5 in SPI mode) OR detects CMD RESPOND on line [B] during the response period.
Although various aspects of the present invention have been described with respect to specific embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is protected within the full scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. An electronic card-connectable to a host system, the card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands can be exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host, wherein the card conforms functionally and mechanically to the SD Card standard, the SD IO Card standard, or both the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
2. The card of claim 1, wherein the number of said control lines is three.
3. An electronic card connectable to a host system, the card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands can be exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host, wherein said modules can interact with the host in a plurality of protocols.
4. The card of claim 3, wherein said plurality of protocols includes the SD protocol.
5. The card of claim 3, wherein said plurality of protocols includes the SPI protocol.
6. The card of claim 3, wherein said plurality of protocols includes the MMC protocol.
7. An electronic card connectable to a host system, the card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands can be exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host, wherein the bus structure conforms to the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
8. An electronic card connectable to a host system, the card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands can be exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host, wherein said commands includes one or more commands which are acceptable by one of said modules but not to the other module.
9. An electronic card connectable to a host system, the card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands can be exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host, wherein both of said modules are responsive to the same chip select signal.
10. An electronic card connectable to a host system, the card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands can be exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host, wherein the control lines allow the second controller to indicate to the first controller that it is connected to the first controller.
11. An electronic card connectable to a host system, the card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands can be exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host, wherein the number of said control lines is three.
12. An electronic circuit card system comprising:
- a first card connectable to a host, the first card including a first controller;
- a second card connectable to the first card, the second card including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel when the first and second cards are connected, through which data and commands are exchanged between the host and the first and second controllers when the cards are connected and the first card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals when the first and second cards are connected, such that the two cards can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single card to the host.
13. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein one of said cards contains a memory module.
14. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein one of said cards contains an input-output module.
15. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein the first card conforms functionally and mechanically to the SD Card standard, the SD IO Card standard, or both the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
16. The electronic circuit card system of claim 15, wherein the number of said control lines is three.
17. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein the second card conforms functionally to the SD Card standard.
18. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein the second card conforms functionally to the SD IO Card standard.
19. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein said cards can interact with the host in a plurality of protocols.
20. The electronic circuit card system of claim 19, wherein said plurality of protocols includes the SD protocol.
21. The electronic circuit card system of claim 19, wherein said plurality of protocols includes the SPI protocol.
22. The electronic circuit card system of claim 19, wherein said plurality of protocols includes the MMC protocol.
23. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein the bus structure conforms to the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
24. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein said commands includes one or more commands which are acceptable by one of said controllers but not to the other controller.
25. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein both of said cards are responsive to the same chip select signal.
26. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein the control lines allow the second controller to indicate to the first controller that it is connected to the first controller.
27. The electronic circuit card system of claim 12, wherein the number of said control lines is three.
28. A first electronic circuit card connectable to a host system, the card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a connector for attachment of a second electronic circuit card, the second card having a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the connector for connecting the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands are exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the first card is connected to the host and the second card; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the connector for connecting the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host.
29. The first electronic circuit card of claim 28, wherein the first electronic circuit card conforms functionally and mechanically to the SD Card standard, the SD IO Card standard, or both the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
30. The first electronic circuit card of claim 28, wherein the number of said control lines is three.
31. The first electronic circuit card of claim 28, wherein the first electronic circuit card can interact with the host in a plurality of protocols.
32. The first electronic circuit card of claim 28, wherein the bus structure conforms to the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
33. A first electronic circuit card connectable to a second electronic circuit card, the first card comprising:
- a first module including a first controller;
- a connector for attachment of the second electronic circuit card, the second card connectable to a host system and having a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the connector for connecting the second controller in parallel, through which data and commands are exchanged between a host and the first and second modules when the first card is connected to the second card and the second card is connected to the host; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the connector for connecting the second controller to exchange signals such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single unit to the host.
34. The first electronic circuit card of claim 33, wherein the first card conforms functionally to the SD Card standard, the SD IO Card standard, or both the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
35. The first electronic circuit card of claim 34, wherein the first card does not conform mechanically to an SD Card standard.
36. The first electronic circuit card of claim 33, wherein the number of said control lines is three.
37. The first electronic circuit card of claim 33, wherein the first card can interact with the host in a plurality of protocols.
38. The first electronic circuit card of claim 33, wherein the bus structure conforms to the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
39. A system, comprising:
- a host;
- a first electronic circuit card connectable to the host, the card comprising a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel when the first and second modules are connected to the host, through which data and commands can be exchanged between the host and the first and second controllers; and
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals when the first and second modules are connected to the host, such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single card to the host, wherein the first electronic circuit card further comprises the second module, and wherein the first card conforms functionally to the SD Card standard, the SD IO Card standard, or both the SD Card and SD IO Card standards.
40. A system, comprising:
- a host;
- a first electronic circuit card connectable to the host, the card comprising a first module including a first controller;
- a second module including a second controller;
- a bus structure connected to both the first controller and the second controller in parallel when the first and second modules are connected to the host, through which data and commands can be exchanged between the host and the first and second controllers;
- one or more control lines connected between the first controller and the second controller to exchange signals when the first and second modules are connected to the host, such that the two modules can interact independently with the host while appearing as a single card to the host; and
- a second electronic circuit card comprising the second module, wherein the second card connects to the host through the first card to which it connects through a connector.
41. The system of claim 40, wherein the second card does not conform mechanically to an SD Card standard.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 16, 2007
Publication Date: Jul 5, 2007
Inventors: Yosi Pinto (Palo Alto, CA), Aviad Zer (Cupertino, CA), Amir Tsuri (Cupertino, CA), Asher Druck (Balfor)
Application Number: 11/687,491
International Classification: G06F 13/00 (20060101); G06F 12/00 (20060101);