KR100953268B1 - Usb device for supports an automatic safety remove using capacitance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A USB device for supporting automatic safety removal using capacitance is provided to fundamentally block hardware error generation factors of a USB device. CONSTITUTION: A connector(10) is inserted into a USB(Universal Serial Bus) port of a host device. The connector performs electric connection. A control unit(20) offers an interface to a host. The control unit communicates with the host through the connector. The control unit controls read/write operations of a memory(30). The memory offers a storage space. Contact detecting sensors(40,41) sense electric contact from the outside. The contact detecting sensors outputs contact sensing signals.

Description

USB DEVICE FOR SUPPORTS AN AUTOMATIC SAFETY REMOVE USING CAPACITANCE}

The present invention relates to a USS device, and more particularly, to a USS device that supports safe removal by applying a capacitive touch method.

Recently, the Internet, public telephone network, power line communication network, and cable communication network are being integrated based on Transport Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP). Kind is increasing exponentially, too. In addition, when the communication is controlled by a computer, the existing communication methods such as RS-232 and RS-485 may cause a collision with computer peripheral devices. Therefore, a new communication method using USB has recently been in the spotlight. .

The USB is a collaboration of seven companies, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Compaq, DEC, Northern Telecom, and NEC, which are leaders in telecommunications, to solve the inconvenience of slow transmission speed and limited device connection of serial or parallel external expansion ports. As a serial port interface developed after research, the principle is the same as that of the existing serial port, but the data rate is much faster than that of the existing serial port, and it can be connected to each other in a daisy chain like a small computer system interface (SCSI). In theory, up to 127 peripherals can be connected simultaneously.

In addition, the plug-and-play feature allows hot swapping, eliminating the need for reboots, two of the four wires on the USB cable are used for data transfer, and the other two As 5V power is output, when applied to low power peripherals, no power is required.

Therefore, USB having the above advantages is widely used in computer peripherals such as printers, mice, keyboards, scanners, MP3 players, digital cameras, digital camcorders, and the like. USB terminals and peripherals that use the USB port for the first time must first install the device driver using CD or online installation to connect to the computer.

Looking at the procedure, the user installs a device driver for the computer. After the installation of the drive is completed, the system reboots at the request of the OS of the computer system, and the user inserts the terminal and the peripheral device into the USB port. When the terminal and the peripheral device are inserted into the USB port, the driver installed in the computer recognizes the connected terminal / peripheral device. When the computer executes separate software (S / W) for use of the terminal / peripheral device, the terminal and the peripheral device are in use, and the user then uses the terminal and the peripheral device connected to the computer.

The conventional USB device as described above has an advantage that a user can easily plug in / out because the USB interface is provided so that the plug in / out can be easily and conveniently used in a conventional PC or a notebook.

However, such a USB device has a problem in that the USB device may fail if a plug OUT is made arbitrarily during communication with the OS of the connected host device. That is, in the case of a device such as a USB dongle, when the controller of the USB is plugged out arbitrarily by the user while transmitting or receiving a signal with the host device, the USB controller is in operation. May be generated. Due to the above factors, there is a disadvantage in that the controller is damaged due to overcurrent and the device is broken.

In particular, in the case of a USB drive, an arbitrary plug OUT during data transmission and reception becomes a decisive cause of the bad block of memory, which is a major factor of the failure of the USB drive.

In addition, in the host device using the Microsoft Windows Group OS, when moving a file of a predetermined size to the USB drive, a visual icon to indicate that the file movement is completed on the window screen; For example, the hourglass stops working, but in practice, the host device and the USB drive will finish after a maximum of about 2 seconds.

Therefore, the user recognizes the icon displayed as the finish on the window screen and immediately executes the plug out. However, since the USB drive is actually operating, the USB controller may be damaged or the memory of the memory may be caused by an overcurrent. This is the cause of the error or the error of the file.

The present invention devised to solve the above problems, when the user wants to execute the plug out arbitrarily during the operation of the USB device, it detects this and notifies the user of the automatic safety removal to prevent any plug out during operation The purpose is to provide a USB device that supports the.

USS device of the present invention for achieving the above object is a connector for connecting to an external device; And a contact sensing means for providing an interface to the host, the controller communicating with the host through the connector, and an electrical contact from the outside, and outputting a touch sensing signal, wherein the controller senses the touch sensing means. When the touch detection signal is input, the disconnect request signal is output to the host.

In addition, in the USB apparatus of the present invention, the contact sensing means detects a change in capacitance by at least one or more panels made of a conductive material and an electrical signal transmitted through the panel, and if the set change value is greater than or equal to the touch sensing signal. Characterized in that it is a touch IC that outputs.

The apparatus may further include a memory for recording data in the USB device of the present invention, wherein the software receives the disconnect request signal from the controller and stores agent software for displaying whether the USB drive is removed from the host. It is characterized by being.

In the USB apparatus of the present invention, the memory includes a first logical area in which writing and erasing is restricted, and the agent software is recorded in the first logical area.

In addition, in the USB apparatus of the present invention, the first logical area is a CDFS area, and when connected to the host through the connector, characterized in that it further comprises autorun driving information executed by the host.

In addition, in the USB apparatus of the present invention, the memory further includes a sound file executed in the host, and the agent software transmits the sound file to the host to be executed when a disconnect request signal is input from the controller. Include.

In addition, in the USB apparatus of the present invention, the autorun driving information stored in the CDFS area is command information for executing the agent software on a host.

The agent software in the USB apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that after being executed in the host by the autorun driving information, the agent software outputs the disconnect signal of the CDFS region to the host.

In addition, in the USB device of the present invention, when the disconnect request signal is input from the controller, the agent software checks whether the USB device is in operation, and outputs a signal for requesting removal of the USB device to the host if not in operation. It is characterized by.

As described above, the USB device of the present invention prevents an arbitrary plug out due to a user's carelessness, and thus has an advantage of fundamentally blocking a hardware failure factor for the USB device. In particular, when the user grasps the USB device to plug out the USB device, the user detects this and notifies the user with a display and / or sound that prevents the user from randomly plugging out. have.

In addition, when the USB device is a USB drive, a CDFS area is provided in the memory, and the agent software for displaying and / or playing a sound is stored in the CDFS area so that the user can plug in the USB drive to the host device. The software is automatically executed by the autorun, so that the agent software is executed to prevent an arbitrary plug out without a user performing a separate operation.

In particular, by disabling the CDFS area recognized by the host device as a CD-ROM device after the agent software is executed on the host device as described above, the user can prevent the confusion caused by the separate device creation in advance. have.

As the inventive concept allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms including ordinal numbers such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the second component may be referred to as the first component, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as the second component.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprises" or "includes" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, one or more other It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or a combination thereof.

Now, a USB device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, and the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a USB drive according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a memory of the USB drive shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a memory of the USB drive shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the CDFS region in detail, and FIG. 4 is a view for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described as an example of a USB drive, but is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be applied to various devices using the USB interface.

As shown in FIG. 1, the USB drive according to the present exemplary embodiment provides a connector 10 for inserting and electrically connecting to a USB port of a host device (not shown), and provides an interface to the host. The controller 20 communicates with the host and controls the reading and writing of the memory 30, the memory 30 as a storage space, and an electrical contact from the outside, and outputs a touch detection signal. And contact sensing means (40, 41).

The contact detecting means 40, 41 detects a change in capacitance by two metal panels 41 made of a conductive material and an electrical signal transmitted through the panel 41, and is equal to or greater than a set change value. And a touch IC 40 for outputting a touch sensing signal.

The control unit 20 is a conventional USB controller, which is installed on the PCB together with the connector 10 and the memory 30. The present embodiment will be described as an example of a USB drive installed in the SMT method on the PCB as an example, but is not limited to this, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention can also be applied to a USB drive manufactured in a Chip On Board (COB) type.

The USB drive of the present embodiment as described above is packaged by a common case (not shown). In general, many users hold the USB drive by hand to directly plug in / out the host device, for example, a personal computer or a notebook. To do it. Therefore, the metal panel 41 will be installed in the site where the user is expected to grip by hand on the PCB.

As described above, the USB drive 100 is operated by receiving power from a host, and the electrical contact signal from the metal panel 41 in a state of being connected to the host, that is, a case of a part where the user installs the metal panel 41 ( When not held by hand, a small change in capacitance is sensed, and the touch IC 40 detects a change in capacitance by the electric contact signal transmitted from the metal panel 41, and senses the detected power failure. If the change value of the capacitance is greater than or equal to the set value, the contact detection signal is output to the controller 20. When the touch detection signal is input from the touch IC 40 as described above, the control unit 40 outputs a control signal for requesting the safe removal of the USB drive 100 to the host, and the host is safe from the control unit 40. When the removal request is input, the USB drive 100 is safely removed.

This is a request for safe removal from the usual Microsoft Windows family of devices, used as host devices, such as personal computers or laptops. The host device receives the safety removal request control signal of the control unit 40 as described above and safely removes the corresponding USB drive 100. The safe removal in the Windows group OS is to perform the removal of a stable device by completing a signal transmission between the host device and the USB device and notifying each other of completion of a communication protocol. Is something that can be done. Therefore, it is most preferable to use the device to remove the USB device using the safety removal function even when the idle (Idle) state is not in operation of the USB drive.

On the other hand, the memory 30 of the USB drive 100 is divided into a compact disk file system (CDFS) area 31 and a general user area 32 as shown in FIG. The above-mentioned area is divided into two logically divided areas in one memory. The CDFS area 31 as described above is an area in which the host device cannot write and delete, and can be written and deleted using a separate tool (SDK) provided by the manufacturer. The CDFS region 31 is recognized as a virtual CD-ROM device in the OS of the host device. Since the technical idea related thereto is a well known technical idea, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the CDFS area 31 as described above, as shown in FIG. 3, the agent software 31b, the autorun driving information 31a for executing the agent software 31b on the host device, and the warning sound file 31c. Is stored. The autorun driving unit 31a is a commander for executing the agent software 31b, and the host device automatically executes the agent software 31b by the autorun driving information 31a recorded in the CDFS area 31. It is possible.

Therefore, when the USB drive 100 including the CDFS area 31 as described above is connected to the host device, the OS of the host device recognizes the CDFS area 31 as a virtual CD-ROM device and the general user area. 32 is recognized as a removable disk. The agent software 31b is automatically executed in the host by the autorun driving information 31a of the CDFS region 31, and the agent software 31b resides in RAM of the host device, and the USB drive 100 is used. It is to monitor events occurring in. That is, when the control unit 20 outputs a safety removal request signal by the signals of the contact detecting means 40 and 41, the agent software 31b receives the input to the user to safely remove the corresponding USB drive 100. This will display a query window that queries. At this time, the agent software 31b loads the warning sound file 31c of the CDFS region 31 to be executed in the host, and notifies the user as a sound along with a visual display warning window so that the effect is doubled. There is this.

When copying a file while using an external device such as a USB drive in a normal Windows OS on Microsoft, the mouse icon along with a progress window showing the file copy status indicates that the hourglass is continuously running. . The progress window showing the file copying status when the file copying is completed on Windows disappears, and the mouse changes from the hourglass shape to the basic shape such as an arrow. Actually, the USB drive 100 is about 2 even after the completion of the Windows OS. Operate with more seconds of operation time. Therefore, even after the user checks the Windows OS status of the monitor, an operation such as copying a file is completed after a period of about 2 seconds. When the USB drive 100 is removed from the host device within 2 seconds, an overcurrent occurs. Otherwise, errors in the copy target file may occur.

Therefore, when the user grips to plug out the USB drive 100, the controller detects this and notifies the user with a warning message and a sound that induces a safety removal to perform the plug out after the operation of the USB drive 100 is completed. It can be effective.

In addition, when the safety removal request signal is input from the controller 20, the agent software 31b may determine whether the corresponding USB drive 100 is actually operating. That is, by sending a commander that inquires whether the controller 20 is in operation and notifies the controller 20 with a warning message window and sound for inducing safety removal, if not, the host device is safe for the corresponding USB drive 100. It outputs a signal requesting removal.

In addition, the agent software 31b may request the host device to remove the CDFS region 31 recognized as the virtual CD-ROM device. That is, the agent software 31b is executed by the autorun driving information 31b and resides in the RAM of the host device, and then the host device removes the CDFS area 31, that is, the removal request of the virtual CD-ROM device. It is also possible to remove the virtual CD-ROM device by outputting the to the host device. In this case, the warning sound may be generated by using the warning sound generating file which is basically installed in the Windows OS of the host device.

Embodiment of the present invention described above should not be construed as limiting the technical idea of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention is limited only by the matters described in the claims, and those skilled in the art can change and change the technical idea of the present invention in various forms. Therefore, such improvements and modifications will fall within the protection scope of the present invention as long as it will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

1 is a view for explaining a USB drive according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing a memory of the USB drive shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining in detail a CDFS region in a memory of the USB drive shown in FIG.

4 is a view for explaining an embodiment of the present invention;

Claims (9)

delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete A connector for connecting with an external device; And a contact sensing means for providing an interface to the host, the controller communicating with the host through the connector, and an electrical contact from the outside, and outputting a touch sensing signal, wherein the controller senses the touch sensing means. When the contact detection signal is input to the outputting the safety removal request signal to the host, The touch sensing means includes at least one panel of a conductive material, and a touch IC for detecting a change in capacitance by an electrical signal transmitted through the panel, and outputting a touch sensing signal when the change is greater than a set change value. , The apparatus further includes a memory for recording data, wherein the memory stores agent software for receiving a safety removal request signal from the controller and displaying whether the USB drive is removed from the host. The memory includes a first logical area in which writes and deletions are restricted, the agent software is written to the first logical area, The first logical region is a CDFS region, and when connected to the host through the connector, further includes autorun driving information executed by the host. The memory further includes a sound file to be executed in the host, the agent software to deliver the sound file to the host for execution when a disconnect request signal is input from the controller, The autorun driving information stored in the CDFS area is command information for executing the agent software on a host. The agent software, after being executed in the host by the autorun driving information, outputs a removal signal of the CDFS area to the host, The agent software, when the safety removal request signal is input from the control unit, and checks whether the operation of the USB device, if not in operation, the USB device, characterized in that for outputting a signal requesting the removal of the device.

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