JPH06290004A - Device for connecting fdd to computer having card interface - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to connect an FDD to a card interface in a computer having the card interface by providing this connecting device with an FD controller, a memory for storing card information and a card I/O controller. CONSTITUTION:A card device 60 is connected between a host device 10 and a floppy disk drive(FDD) 70. The card device 60 is provided with the FD controller 66 for controlling the FDD 70, the attribute memory 64 for storing information stored in CIS (various attribute information included in the card) or information stored in a CCR (a register for identifying information for an electric interface or the like) so as to apply these information to a PCMCIA I/O controller 62. An FD BIOS(Basic Input and Output System) to be a program or executing the I/O operation of the FD is included in the card device 60 or the host device 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for connecting an FDD to a computer having a card interface, and more particularly to a small computer or pen called a sub-notebook having a card interface capable of connecting an IC card as an external storage device. The present invention relates to an apparatus or the like configured to connect an FDD (floppy disk drive) instead of a card to a card interface of a small computer such as an input type personal computer.

A card connected to a small computer as described above is generally a PCMCIA (Personal Compute).
r Memory Card International Association) or J
Since it is an EIDA-compliant IC card, the following description will be made mainly in relation to a PCMCIA-compliant IC card (hereinafter simply referred to as an IC card or card), but the present invention is not particularly limited to this card. Absent. Also,
In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, for convenience of description, a small computer having a card interface to which a card can be connected as an external storage device is called a host device, and functions as an interface between the host device and the FDD. The device will be referred to as a card device, and a device in which the card device and the FDD are combined will be referred to as an FD card device.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to reduce the size of a sub-notebook or a pen input type personal computer, a small H
Although a DD (hard disk drive) or FDD is used, an IC card that can be connected as an external storage device has been developed in place of these internal storage devices for further miniaturization. It should be noted that, at the expense of miniaturization to some extent, an IC card can be connected in addition to the internal storage device described above (not only the IC card but the F
There is also a DD that can be connected.

[0004]

An IC card generally has a memory capacity of megabytes and can be used in the same manner as an FD, but its price is a few hundred times as much as the price of an FD. There is a strong demand for a small computer having such a card interface to always use an FDD instead of using an IC card.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus or the like which can connect an FDD to a card interface of a computer having a card interface.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a card device arranged between an FDD and a host device for connecting the FDD to the host device having a card interface. FD controller for controlling FDD and CIS which is card information
A card device having a memory storing / CCR and a card input / output controller connected to a card controller of a host device is adopted.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the entire system (host device, card device and FDD) of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 designates a host device comprising a small computer called a subnote or a small computer such as a pen input type computer,
Reference numeral 50 denotes an FD card device, 60 denotes a card device that constitutes the FD card device, and 70 denotes an FDD that similarly constitutes the FD card device.

In the host device 10, a CPU 12 and an R
AM14, ROM16, IC card controller 18 compliant with PCMCIA, Address Decode
er (address decoder) 20 and BUS (bus) 22
And a 68-pin PCMCIA-compliant IC card connector 24 are arranged. In the ROM16, Ca
rd (card) BIOS (Basic Input and Output S)
ystem) (bios) 16a, FD BIOS 16b,
Other BIOS 16c, CPU (not shown)
The programs and the like necessary for controlling 12 are stored. The card BIOS 16a is a DOS (Disk Operating Sys
tem) (DOS) (see FIG. 2) under the control of card input / output operation, and also FD BIOS
Reference numeral 16b is a program for performing FD input / output operations under the control of DOS. The above-mentioned elements are connected to each other via a bus 22, and, for example, transfer of control signals (including interrupt signals), data signals, and address signals is performed via the bus 22. .

In the card device 60, PCMCIAI /
O (input / output) controller 62 and Attribute
An (attribute) memory 64 and an FDC (FD controller) 66 are arranged. The PCMCIA input / output controller 62 intervenes between the IC card controller 18 of the host device 10 and the FDC 66 to control input / output to and from the IC card controller 18, and the attribute memory 64 has a CIS (Card Information Structure) (card information structure). Information of various attribute information) and CCR (Card Configurati)
on Resiter) (register for identifying information such as electrical interface) is stored, and the FD controller 66 is for controlling the FDD 72.

The FDD 70 drives an FD (floppy disk) 74 when writing and reading data. The FDD 70 is, for example, a 3.5-inch FD
Of 1 MB / 1.6 MB / 2 MB.

An IC card connected to an external storage device via the IC card connector 24 is controlled by the IC card controller 18 so that the IC card can be read from and written to the IC card by the host device 10. Even if a storage device other than a card, such as an FDD, is directly connected, the FDD cannot be driven due to control problems and interface mismatch. The present invention is
The FDD 70 can be connected to the host device 10 by interposing a card device 60 functioning as an interface between the host device 10 and the FDD 70 and controlling the entire device to function by software. The card device 60 has an F that controls the FDD 70.
It is necessary to provide the D controller 66, and in order to achieve matching on the interface, when the FD card device 50 (card device 60 and FDD 70) connected to the host device 10 is viewed from the host device 10 side, the card device 60
It itself needs to be electrically viewed as an IC card or equivalent. For this reason, the attribute memory (ROM) 64 for storing the above-mentioned CIS and CCR is the PCM.
A card device 60 is provided to provide those information to the CIA input / output controller 62. Further, in order to control the FDD, instead of the card bios, which is a program that performs the input / output operation of the card, the FD bios, which is the program that performs the input / output operation of the FD, is used as the card device 6.
It is necessary to provide it in 0 or in the host device 10.

The card device 60 or the host device 1
0 to connect the FDD 70 to the card device 60
Alternatively, in addition to the configuration of the host device 10 as described above, it is naturally desirable to perform the input / output operation of the FDD 70 at high speed. One of these methods is DMA (Direct Mem
ory Access) (direct memory access).

In consideration of the above points, the present invention adopts the following three embodiments. That is, (1) non-DMA
Which has an FD bios ROM in the host device,
(2) Non-DMA having an FD bios ROM in the card device, and (3) DMA having an FD bios ROM in the host device.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an arrangement in which a software program of a non-DMA having an FD bios ROM in a host device is stored. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 30 indicates application software, and reference numeral 30 indicates DOS. RO in the host device 10
FD bios 16b1 for the FD card device is stored in M16, and this FD bios 16b1 is DOS3.
2 is a program for performing FD input / output operation under the control of 2, and is transferred to the PCMCIA interface converter (input / output controller) 62 of the card device 60 via the PCMCIA controller 18, and the interface converter 62 controls the FD controller 66. Used to In this embodiment, the FD for FD card is used.
The BIOS needs to be stored in the ROM of the host device.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an arrangement in which a software program of a non-DMA having an FD bios ROM in a card device is stored. In the first embodiment, the FD bios for the FD card is stored in the ROM of the host device, but in the second embodiment, it is stored in the ROM in the card device 60. It should be noted that the standard FD bios 16b2 stored in the ROM 16 of the host device is not used, and a transplant area of the FD bios for the FD card is secured in the area of the RAM 14. In the second embodiment, no hardware change is necessary for the host device.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an arrangement in which a software program of a DMA having an FD bios ROM is stored in a host device. In the third embodiment, in order to perform DMA (Direct Memory Access), the host device is provided with the DMA controller 18a, the card device 60 is provided with the DMA interface converter 62a, and a DMA signal line is further added. There is a need.

Next, with reference to FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, the booting process of the computer system of the present invention and the inspection of the PCMCIA (or JEIDA) interface will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the boot process of the computer system of the present invention. When the power is turned on, a system check is first performed (step S1). For example, the checksum of the ROM, the built-in memory, and the hardware such as the peripheral LSI are inspected. If there is an error, an error is displayed (step S2), and if there is no error, an interrupt occurs. A vector is set (step S3). That is, the jump table is initialized when a processing request other than the current processing is generated, and further the peripheral devices (CRT, printer, keyboard, etc.) are initialized. Next, the BIOS system variables are set up (step S4). That is, the number of drives in the system and the initialization of RS232 are set. Next, the presence / absence of the expansion ROM BIOS is checked (step S5), and if there is, the vector table is rewritten for the addition / change BIOS (step S6), and then the process proceeds to step S7 Directly to step S
Proceed to 7. In step S7, standard hardware is checked. That is, the PCMCIA / JEIDA interface inspection, RS232 inspection, keyboard input inspection, printer interface inspection, FDD inspection, inspection of other additional devices, etc. are performed. If there is an error as a result of the check, an error is displayed (step S
8) If there is no error, go to step S9. In step S9, the boot sector is searched, read control is transferred, and the boot system is initialized (step S10).
The device driver is connected (step S11), the program shell is activated (step S12), and the system is activated. To summarize the steps S9 to S12, each processing is performed according to the processing procedure of the OS used. When the FDD is connected to the host device, the program is started according to the information written at the head of the disk mounted in the FDD. If the disc is a system disc, a program for controlling the system is stored, so that the program is started up and read into the host device, and thereafter, each processing is performed according to the system program.

FIG. 6 shows the PCMCIA / JEIDA performed in step S7 of the computer system start-up process of FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the interface inspection, which corresponds to the first and third embodiments described above.
First, the PCMCIA / JEIDA control LSI is checked (step S21). Next, the mode setting of the memory device is performed (step S22), and the CIS
/ CCR is read (step S23). Based on the read CIS / CCR information, it is determined whether the FD card device or the memory card (IC card) is connected (step S24). If the card is determined to be a card, initialization of the card bios is set (step S25), the connection of the card is checked (step S26), and if there is an error, a card connection error is displayed (step S27), An interface connection error occurs (step S28), and if normal, the interface connection is completed (step S29). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S24 that the FD card device is connected, the I / O (input / output) device mode is set (step S30), and the FD bios for the FD card is initialized. (Step S31), the connection of the FD card drive is checked (Step S3).
2) If there is an error, an FD card connection error is displayed and the FD bios vector is restored (step S3).
4), an interface connection error (step S3)
5) If it is normal, the interface connection is completed (step S36).

FIG. 7 shows the PCMCIA / JEIDA performed in step S7 of the computer system start-up process of FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the interface inspection, which corresponds to the second embodiment. Example 2
Then, since the FD card device has the FD bios for the FD card, in this flowchart, in step S24, F
If it is determined that the D card device is connected, F
A step (step S40) of moving the FD bios for D card to the main memory (RAM) of the host device is added before step S30. The other steps are the same as those in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a table showing the functions of the FD bios, and FIG. 9 is a table showing the functions of the card bios.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The FDD can be connected to the card interface of a computer having a card interface, and the FD can be used in place of an expensive IC card.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an entire system of the present invention (host device,
It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a card device and FDD.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an arrangement in which a software program of a non-DMA host computer having an FD bios ROM is stored.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an arrangement in which a software program of a non-DMA card device having an FD bios ROM is stored in the card device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an arrangement in which a software program of an FD bios ROM is stored in a host device by DMA.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of a boot process of the computer system of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart showing an operation of inspecting the PCMCIA / JEIDA interface performed in step S7 of the boot process of the computer system of FIG.

7 is a flowchart showing an operation of inspecting a PCMCIA / JEIDA interface performed in step S7 of the boot process of the computer system of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a table showing the functions of FD bios.

FIG. 9 is a table showing the functions of the card bios.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Host Device 12 CPU 14 RAM 16 ROM 16a Card Bios 16b FD Bios 18 PCMCIA IC Card Controller 24 Connector 50 FD Card Device 60 Card Device 66 FD Controller 70 FDD

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 21, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Figure 8

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the function of FD bios.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Figure 9

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the functions of the card bios.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An interface device for connecting an external storage device having a data format different from that of the card storage device to a host computer to which a card storage device can be connected, the interface device being provided in the host computer. A connection unit that is attachable / detachable to / from a slot for attaching / detaching a card-type storage device, and a connection unit for connecting the external storage device to the host computer; and output from the host computer in a data format conforming to the card-type storage device. Converting the data to be converted into a data format compatible with the external storage device, and converting the data read from the external storage device into a data format compatible with the card-type storage device. Interface device. 2. The interface device according to claim 1, wherein the external storage device is a floppy disk drive device. 3. A plurality of Bs for controlling a plurality of storage devices.
A host system having an IOS, the external storage device, and a format of data transmitted / received between the plurality of BIOS and the external storage device are set to data compliant with a specific BIOS of the plurality of BIOS. A computer system comprising: a data conversion unit for converting. 4. An interface device for connecting an external storage device having a data format different from that of the card storage device to a host computer to which a card storage device can be connected, the interface device being provided in the host computer. A connection unit that is attachable / detachable to / from a slot for attaching / detaching a card-type storage device, and a connection unit for connecting the external storage device to the host computer; and output from the host computer in a data format conforming to the card-type storage device. Converting the data to be converted into a data format compatible with the external storage device, and converting the data read from the external storage device into a data format compatible with the card storage device; and the external storage device as the host. Non-volatile storing multiple pieces of identification information to enable control from a computer Interface apparatus characterized by comprising: a memory. 5. The interface device according to claim 4, wherein the interface includes means for DMA-transferring the data. 6. The external storage device according to claim 1, wherein the external storage device is a floppy disk drive device, and the contents of the non-volatile memory are configured to be read into the host computer during an initialization operation of the host computer. An interface device characterized by: 7. A host computer to which a card type storage device can be connected, an external storage device having a data format different from that of the card type storage device, and a card type storage device provided in the host computer for attaching and detaching the card type storage device. The external storage device is provided with a connection unit that is attachable to and detachable from the slot and that connects the external storage device to the host computer, and that outputs control information to be output from the host computer in a data format conforming to the card storage device. A computer system comprising an interface including control means capable of controlling the external storage device by converting it into a format conforming to the device. 8. A host computer that uses a card-type storage device as an external storage device, an external storage device having a data format different from that of the card-type storage device, and the card-type storage device provided in the host computer And a connection unit for connecting the external storage device to the host computer, and a BIOS in the host computer in a format capable of controlling the external storage device during an initialization operation of the host computer. First conversion means for changing and information to be output from the host computer in a data format conforming to the card type storage device is converted to a format conforming to the external storage device and supplied to the external storage device. A computer system comprising: an interface including a second conversion unit. 9. A host computer that uses a card type storage device as an external storage device, an external storage device having a data format different from that of the card type storage device, and the card type storage device provided in the host computer And a connection unit for connecting the external storage device to the host computer, and output from the host computer in a data format conforming to the card storage device when the host computer is initialized. An interface having a means for loading data conversion control information for converting the information to be converted into a format conforming to the external storage device and supplying it to the external storage device, Computer system consisting of.