JP2005284805A - Small memory card adapter and information apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small memory card adapter and an information apparatus that can check whether a small memory card is inserted or removed even when a card monitoring part can not detect insertion/removal of the small memory card. <P>SOLUTION: In a configuration having a host, the small card adapter and a small card, a driver installed on the host, or a controller and firmware for controlling the small card adapter can solve the identification problem of the small card by software to identify the small card and avoid damage to data from accidental writing or the like even when the small card detection part providing a hardware solution fails in detection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a small memory card adapter to which the small memory card is mounted in order to connect the small memory card to an information device, and an information device using the small memory card adapter.

  In recent years, small memory cards are used in personal computers, digital cameras, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistance), handy terminals, and the like. In digital cameras, SD (Secure Digital) memory cards that do not conform to the PC card ATA standard interface are frequently used to store various data as small memory cards, and the various data stored in these small memory cards are stored in personal computers. Small memory card adapters are also often used to help read and write.

  In the PC card ATA standard interface, when the card detection terminal is set to GND, a state where the card is mounted is detected. In the conventional small memory card adapter, by utilizing this fact, the small memory card detection terminal connector 101 connected to the card detection terminal of the PC card ATA standard interface as shown in FIG. By becoming GND, it is confirmed whether or not a small memory card is mounted in the card slot.

  As another conventional method for detecting a small memory card, one terminal of a small memory card is set to GND, and that one terminal is used as a card detection dedicated terminal and is connected to a card detection terminal of a PC card ATA standard interface. Checks whether a memory card is installed in the card slot.

In another conventional memory card detection method, the first power source is supplied to the memory card, the card controller, and the arithmetic unit, and the second power source having a voltage different from that of the first power source is supplied to the card detector unit and the memory. To do. When the first power supply and the second power supply are supplied, the arithmetic unit controls the card controller to read the information on the memory card after the initial setting, and the first power supply is supplied during the second power supply. When the power supply is stopped, the card information is saved and masked in a predetermined area of the memory. When the first power supply is supplied again, the saved information is written into the card controller, the mask of the predetermined area of the memory is released, and the card controller information is written. Next, when a card interruption occurs, a card reading process based on information in a predetermined area of the memory is performed. Further, the card detection unit enters an operation state based on the supply of the second power, detects insertion or removal of the card, and generates an interrupt signal for the card when the card is inserted or removed. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
JP-A-7-281794

  When the insertion / removal of a small memory card is detected by the method described above, if a small memory card shape conversion adapter is used or the small memory card detection terminal is damaged, the small memory card will be removed and other types will be removed. Even if a small memory card is replaced, it has the disadvantage that the replacement cannot be detected.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a miniSD card (103) is converted into the shape of an SD memory card using a small memory card shape conversion adapter (102). In this case, after the miniSD card (103) is converted into the SD memory card shape (state 1A), after inserting into the small memory card adapter, only the miniSD card is removed (state 1B) and another miniSD card (104) is inserted. If this occurs (state 1C), the information device cannot detect that the miniSD card has been replaced. In this state, when the miniSD card is accessed, the FAT information before the replacement is stored in the OS, so the OS refers to the stored FAT information even if the small memory card is replaced. Then, access to the small memory card after replacement is performed. For this reason, the data in the miniSD card after the exchange is destroyed.

  A small memory card adapter according to the present invention is a small memory card adapter to which the small memory card is mounted in order to connect the small memory card to an information device, and is a small memory by software for identifying the type of the mounted small memory card. A card identification unit; and a transfer unit that receives a driver command issued by the information device based on the type of the small memory card identified by the small memory card identification unit and transfers the received driver command to the small memory card; And a controller for acquiring small memory card identification information.

  An information device according to the present invention is an information device to which a small memory card adapter is mounted, and the small memory card identified by a slot for mounting the small memory card adapter and a small memory card identifying means provided in the small memory card adapter. And driver software that issues a driver command for transferring to the small memory card based on the type of the memory card.

  A small memory card adapter according to the present invention includes firmware and a controller that store identification information when an error occurs in data communication between the information device and the small memory card, and compare the identification information stored before the error occurs. It is characterized by that.

  The small memory card adapter according to the present invention includes a firmware and a controller having means for periodically obtaining identification information of the small memory card.

  The small memory card adapter according to the present invention is characterized by acquiring and holding CID (Card IDentification) which is identification information for each small memory card.

  The small memory card adapter according to the present invention stores data for determining whether the CID of the SD memory card or the multimedia card when storing the CID which is identification information of the SD memory card and the multimedia card. It has a structure.

  An information device according to the present invention includes driver software that issues a command for identifying a small memory card to the controller when the small memory card is mounted, and stores the identification information acquired by the controller.

  An information device according to the present invention includes driver software that stores identification information when an error occurs in data communication between the information device and the small memory card, and compares the identification information with the information stored before the error occurs. And

  An information device according to the present invention includes driver software having means for periodically acquiring identification information of a small memory card.

  An information device according to the present invention includes driver software that holds CID, which is identification information for each small memory card.

  When the information device according to the present invention stores the CID, which is identification information of the SD memory card and the multimedia card, the CID of the SD memory card or the CID of the multimedia card is stored in the unused area of the CID. It holds the information to be judged.

  An information device according to the present invention is an information device having a small memory card slot for connecting a small memory card to the information device, and includes a small memory card identifying means by software for identifying the type of the small memory card mounted. And a controller for issuing a small memory card control command and acquiring small memory card identification information based on the type of the small memory card identified by the small memory card identifying means.

  In the conventional technology, there is a possibility that data in the small memory card may be destroyed when the small memory card monitoring unit cannot detect insertion / removal of the small memory card. However, according to the present invention, even when the card monitoring unit cannot detect insertion / removal of the small memory card, it can be confirmed whether or not the small memory card is inserted / removed. Thereby, when the small memory card is replaced, the data in the small memory card can be prevented from being destroyed. In addition, the software that detects small memory cards is software, and no mechanical switch or electrical circuit is required, saving space and cost.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiments of claims 1 and 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of a general small memory card adapter. A host computer 201 communicates with the small memory card adapter 202. A device 202 serves as an intermediary between the host computer 201 and the small memory card 203. A device 203 is attached to the small memory card adapter 202 and communicates. Reference numeral 204 denotes a driver installed in the host computer. Reference numeral 205 denotes firmware that controls the small memory card adapter 202. Of these configurations, the operation of the firmware 205 for controlling the small memory card adapter 202 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the firmware 205 when the small memory card 203 is attached to the small memory card adapter. When the small memory card is inserted, the firmware 205 acquires the identification information by the procedure 302. Next, in step 303, the acquired identification information is stored, and in step 304, the state transits to a communicable state. FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the firmware 205 after the communication with the small memory card 203 is completed. After the communication with the small memory card 203 is completed, the firmware 205 confirms whether the communication is an error according to the procedure 402. If it is not an error, the process proceeds to normal processing in step 403. If there is an error, the identification information is acquired again for the small memory card 203 in step 404. Next, in step 405, the identification information acquired immediately before is compared with the identification information acquired in step 302. If they match by referring to the comparison result in step 406, access is permitted in step 408, error recovery processing is performed in step 409, and then transition is made to a communicable state again in step 410. If there is a mismatch due to the comparison result reference in step 406, subsequent access is prohibited in step 407.

  By the procedure described above, a small memory card is unexpectedly replaced, communication with a small memory card with different identification information is restricted, and data destruction is avoided.

(Embodiment 2)
An embodiment of claim 4 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, an embodiment for a general small memory card has been described. However, there are cases where identification cannot be performed simply by comparing identification information held by the small memory card. Such a case will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a CID that is identification information of an SD memory card or multimedia card. The CID of the SD memory card or multimedia card is composed of the CID information (501) and the unused area (502) in FIG. The internal structure of the CID information (501) of the SD memory card or the multimedia card is the same, and the standard does not specify that the SD memory card and the multimedia card be distinguished from each other. Therefore, when only the CID information (501) is compared, the SD memory cards or the multimedia cards can be identified, but the SD memory card and the multimedia card may not be identified. . Therefore, a method of identifying the SD memory card and the multimedia card by using this unused area (502) will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the firmware 205 when the SD memory card or multimedia card is initialized. FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the firmware 205 after communication with the SD memory card or multimedia card is completed. When the SD memory card or the multimedia card is inserted, the firmware 205 initializes the small memory card in step 602, and determines the SD memory card or the multimedia card in the initialization process. Next, the CID is acquired by the procedure 603. The error flag set is checked in step 604. If the error flag is not set, the CID acquired in step 605 is saved. Next, in step 606, information on the SD memory card or multimedia card determined in the initialization process in step 602 is stored in the unused area of the saved CID as in 503 or 504. Thereafter, the access is permitted by the procedure 612, and the procedure transits to the communicable state by the procedure 613. In this state, communication to the SD memory card or multimedia card occurs, and after the communication to the small memory card in the procedure 701 is completed, it is confirmed in the procedure 702 whether the communication is an error. If it is not an error, the process proceeds to the normal process in step 703. If there is an error, an error flag is set in step 704, and the SD memory card or multimedia card is initialized again in step 601. As described above, the SD memory card or multimedia card is determined during the initialization process in steps 602 and 603, and the CID is acquired. In step 604, since the error flag is set in the above-described hand 603, the process proceeds to CID information comparison in step 607, and the stored CID information is compared with the CID information of the CID acquired immediately before. If the result of determination in step 608 is that they do not match, subsequent access to the small memory card is prohibited in step 614. If they match, the process proceeds to step 609 to compare the SD memory card or multimedia card information stored in the unused area. If there is a mismatch according to the determination in step 610, subsequent access is prohibited in step 614. If they match, error recovery processing is performed in step 611, access is permitted in step 612, and a transition to a communicable state is made in step 513.

  According to the procedure described above, the SD memory card and the multimedia card are identified and data destruction is avoided.

(Embodiment 3)
Hereinafter, an embodiment of claim 5 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment, the embodiments of the small memory card adapter 202 and the firmware 205 have been described. However, in the present embodiment, the driver is installed in the host computer 201. Will be described with reference to FIGS. 8, 9, and 10. FIG.

  FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart of the driver 204 when the small memory card 203 is mounted on the host computer 201 in the state where the small memory card 203 is mounted on the small memory card adapter 202 in FIG.

  When the small memory card is inserted, the small memory card is initialized by the firmware 205. After the initialization, the driver determines whether the mounted small memory card is an SD memory card or a multimedia card in step 803. In the case of a multimedia card, the state transits to a communicable state (807). In the case of SD, in step 804, a small memory card identification command that is valid only for the SD memory card is issued to the firmware 105, confirms again that the small memory card is an SD memory card, and is not an SD memory card. In the case of an SD memory card, the identification information is acquired in step 805, stored in step 806, and transferred to the communication ready state (807).

  FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of the driver 204 after communication with the small memory card 203 is completed via the small memory card adapter 202. After the communication with the small memory card 203 is completed, the driver 204 confirms whether the communication is an error according to the procedure 902. If there is no error, the procedure proceeds to normal processing according to step 906. In the case of an error, the SD memory card or the multimedia card is determined in step 903. In the case of a multimedia card, the small memory card replacement flag is cleared in step 907, the access prohibition flag is set in step 908, and normal processing is performed. In the case of an SD memory card, after the small memory card replacement flag is set in step 904, normal processing is performed.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the driver 204 when there is an access request from the host computer 201 to the small memory card. When there is a request for access to the small memory card from the host computer 201, the driver 204 checks the access prohibition flag in step 1002. If the driver 204 determines that access is prohibited, the driver 204 keeps setting the small memory card access flag (1010). Subsequent access is prohibited (1011). If it is determined that access is possible, the small memory card replacement flag is confirmed in step 1003. If the small memory card has not been replaced, a transition is made to a communicable state (1009). If it is determined that the small memory card has been replaced, a small memory card identification command that is valid only for the SD memory card is issued to the firmware 205 in step 1004 to confirm that the small memory card is an SD memory card. If the small memory card is not an SD memory card, an access prohibition flag is set in step 1010, and subsequent access is prohibited (1011). If the small memory card is an SD memory card, identification information is acquired in step 1005, and the identification information is stored in step 1006. Next, compared with the identification information stored in step 806 when the small memory card is mounted in step 1007, if the identification information does not match, an access prohibition flag is set in step 1010 and subsequent access is prohibited ( 1011). If the identification information matches, the small memory card replacement flag is cleared in step 1008, and a transition is made to a communicable state. (1009).

The above-described procedure identifies small memory cards with different identification information and SD memory cards and multimedia cards, restricts communication when a small memory card is unexpectedly replaced, and prevents data corruption. .

  A small memory card identification method and apparatus according to the present invention includes a non-mechanistic / non-electric small memory card detection method, and a small memory card adapter that detects a small memory card insertion / removal state by a mechanical detection method. When a small memory card shape conversion adapter is used, even if a small memory card is inserted or removed unexpectedly and the small memory card is replaced, the data in the small memory card will not be destroyed. It is useful because it is never done. Further, by using the double detection method of the present invention and the mechanical detection method, even when the mechanical detection method does not operate normally, the possibility of erroneous data destruction is extremely reduced.

Diagram showing a typical small memory card adapter Configuration diagram of a general small memory card adapter Flow chart when a small memory card is installed Flow chart after communication with small memory card CID area configuration diagram of SD memory card or multimedia card SD memory card or multimedia card initialization flow diagram Flow chart after communication of SD memory card or multimedia card Flow chart when a small memory card is installed Flow chart for small memory card communication error Access pre-processing flowchart

Explanation of symbols

101: Card detection terminal of a small memory card slot 102: Small memory card shape conversion adapter 103: MiniSD card (A)
104: miniSD card (B)
201: Host computer 202: Small memory card adapter 203: Small memory card 204: Driver installed in the host computer 205: Firmware that controls the small memory card adapter 501: CID information in the CID of the SD memory card or multimedia card 502: SD Unused area in CID of memory card or multimedia card

Claims (26)

  A small memory card adapter into which a small memory card is mounted for connection to an information device, and is identified by a small memory card identifying means by software for identifying the type of the small memory card mounted, and the small memory card identifying means. A transfer means for receiving a driver command issued by the information device based on the type of the small memory card and transferring the received driver command to the small memory card; and a controller for acquiring the small memory card identification information. A compact memory card adapter characterized by comprising.   The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the controller identifies the small memory card and stores the identification information when the small memory card is mounted.   2. The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the controller stores the identification information when an error occurs in data communication between the information device and the small memory card and compares the identification information with the identification information stored before the error occurs.   2. The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the controller has means for periodically acquiring identification information of the small memory card.   2. The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the small memory card is a card having a memory area for storing data.   The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the small memory card is capable of mounting an SD (Secure Digital) memory card, a miniSD card, or a multimedia card.   The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, further comprising a card slot provided for mounting a small memory card.   The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the controller acquires and holds CID (Card IDentification) which is identification information for each small memory card.   The controller includes a data structure for holding information for determining whether the CID of the SD memory card or the multimedia card when storing the CID which is identification information of the SD memory card and the multimedia card. Small memory card adapter as described in   After the controller holds the CID of the small memory card inserted in the card slot once, and the CID acquired when another small memory card is inserted in the card slot is different from the previously held CID, the information device 9. The small memory card adapter according to claim 8, wherein the issued driver command is invalidated by the controller and has a function of not issuing a memory card control command to the small memory card.   2. The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the information device is a host computer.   The small memory card adapter according to claim 11, wherein the host computer is a personal computer. An information device includes an OS for issuing an OS command for operating a small memory card, and a driver for issuing an OS command for operating the small memory card based on the OS command issued by the OS. The small memory card adapter according to claim 1, further comprising software.   An information device to which a small memory card adapter is mounted, based on a slot for mounting the small memory card adapter and a type of the small memory card identified by a small memory card identifying means provided in the small memory card adapter An information device comprising driver software for issuing a driver command for transferring to the small memory card.   15. The information device according to claim 14, further comprising an OS for issuing an OS command for operating the small memory card, wherein the driver software issues a driver command based on the OS command issued by the OS.   The driver instruction issued by the driver software includes a command code and a parameter for instructing a memory card control to the small memory card, and the command code and the parameter are set in a plurality of registers provided in the controller. The information device according to claim 14.   15. The information device according to claim 14, wherein the driver software issues a command for identifying the small memory card to the controller when the small memory card is mounted, and stores the identification information acquired by the controller.   15. The information device according to claim 14, wherein the driver software stores the identification information when an error occurs in data communication between the information device and the small memory card and compares it with the identification information stored before the error occurs.   15. The information device according to claim 14, wherein the driver software has means for periodically obtaining identification information of the small memory card.   15. The information device according to claim 14, wherein the driver software holds a CID that is identification information for each small memory card.   When the driver software stores the CID, which is identification information of the SD memory card and the multimedia card, data that holds information for determining whether the CID of the SD memory card or the multimedia card is in an unused area of the CID The information device according to claim 14, further comprising a structure.   The driver software once holds the CID of the small memory card inserted in the card slot, and then the OS detects when the CID acquired when another small memory card is inserted in the card slot is different from the previously held CID. 15. The information device according to claim 14, further comprising a function of invalidating an OS command for operating a small memory card to be issued by the driver software and not issuing a memory card control command to the small memory card.   The information device according to claim 14, wherein the information device is a host computer.   The information device according to claim 23, wherein the host computer is a personal computer. An information device having a small memory card slot for connecting a small memory card and comprising the controller according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10.   An information device having a small memory card slot for connecting a small memory card, comprising the driver software according to any one of claims 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21.

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