KR20030059773A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An information processing terminal is provided to make a USB(Universal Serial Bus) disk automatically connect to a remote server when the USB disk is connected to a computer, and to exchange the necessary information between the server and the USB disk. CONSTITUTION: The first memory region stores a program to connect to the remote server, is recognized by a user through a firmware, and is not deleted by the user freely. The second memory region stores the information and is not deleted by the user through the firmware. The information is updated by the remote server through a program. The third memory region is recorded or deleted by the user through the firmware. The program orders the information stored in the second memory region to be expressed by the computer.

Description

Information Processing Terminal {INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE}

The present invention relates to an information processing terminal, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus and method applied to a portable storage device using a USB.

In the mid-1990s, several companies, including Intel, established the Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification to improve the speed and functionality of existing peripheral input and output for computers.

The USB standard establishes a standard for connecting up to 127 peripheral devices to a computer. Representative peripherals that currently use the USB standard include a USB mouse or a USB keyboard.

USB data transfer speeds vary from standard to standard, with the USB1.1 specification up to 12Mbps and the USB2.0 specification up to 480Mbps.

In addition to these peripherals, new peripherals are being developed one after another due to the expandability and diversity of the USB standard.

Among the peripherals using USB, the growth is growing rapidly, removable storage devices using HDD or flash memory. In general, the HDD is called USB hard drive and the flash memory is called USB disk.

USB hard drives are mainly used as external storage devices by using HDDs for notebook computers. One of the major disadvantages is that they are high in capacity and relatively small in palm size and weak in mechanical impact.

Recently, USB disks, which are ultra-portable removable storage devices, have been released using flash memory, but are much more expensive than USB hard drives per megabyte size, but they are much smaller than HDDs, are more resistant to mechanical shocks, and have various functions. In terms of that market is growing.

If the price of flash memory drops in the future, it is a storage medium that is expected to be in high demand.

Flash memory is a type of memory that combines Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM).

In other words, it can be written and erased like RAM, and recorded data is not erased even without power like ROM.

Because it has both RAM and ROM characteristics, recorded data is stored even without a separate power source.

In the industry, a removable storage device using a flash memory is commonly referred to as a USB disk, a flash disk or a USB drive, but there is no uniform name.

In the present invention, it will be referred to as a USB disk.

The basic concept of a USB disk is described in the Universal Serial Bus Mass Storage Class Specification Overview Version 1.0, 1998/10/22 (hereinafter referred to as First Reference), which was established by the USB Implementers Forum (hereafter USB-IF).

In the first reference, a brief overview of USB disks as well as the various types of external devices that can be made using USB are mentioned.

A more detailed description of a USB disk is shown in US Pat. No. 6,148,354 (hereinafter referred to as second reference).

The industry raises the issue of patent validity for the second reference based on the first reference data of the USB-IF.

Because the nature of the USB standard was enacted for the public benefit, the basic concept of the USB disk mentioned in USB-IF is commercially owned by a specific person or a certain company, which does not correspond to the purpose of establishing the USB standard, and is already mentioned in the USB standard. Because technology.

The main components of the second reference are USB connectors, controllers, and flash memories, which are already described in the first reference.

The above references are limited to the implementation of basic removable storage devices connected to USB, and there is no mention of additional functions using the same, for example, encryption method of stored data or specification of algorithm for speed increase. By any means, advanced technologies can be seen.

The storage capacity of USB disk products using flash memory in the current market ranges from 8 megabytes to up to 2 gigabytes, and is expected to increase to 4 gigabytes or 8 gigabytes soon.

The main feature of the present invention is that a USB disk is automatically connected to a remote server when the USB disk is connected to a computer under the basic concept of the existing USB disk, and exchanges necessary information between the server and the USB disk.

The basic concept of the present invention is described in detail in patent application 10-2002-0066300 (hereinafter referred to as third reference) filed by the applicant.

A more specific technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to store the information exchanged with the remote server in a specific area inside the USB disk and to prevent the user from seeing and erasing the stored information.

In order to exchange data between the USB disk and the remote server, it is natural that an agent program (hereinafter, referred to as an agent) and an identification code must be embedded in the USB disk so that the server can recognize the USB disk remotely.

According to the third reference, the step of connecting the USB disk to the computer, the step of delivering to the server via the computer connected to the unique number inside the USB disk, the step of determining whether the server is eligible for data transmission by recognizing the transmitted unique number If the qualification is authenticated, the server sends out the data to the USB disk.

The present invention provides a more advanced approach to the method of exchanging data between a USB disk and a remote server under the basic concept of the USB disk and the third reference, and enables the implementation of a more complete product in commercial applications.

In addition, the present invention can also be used when the capacity of the flash memory of the USB disk is insufficient to sufficiently store data received from the server on the USB disk.

It can also be used to save important data sent from the server to a USB disk and prevent users from accidental or intentional deletion.

In addition, the data sent from the server can be recorded in a specific area of the flash memory so that the user cannot find the location of the data, and the data can not be displayed even by a computer explorer so that the data can be used for security.

Through this method, if a USB disk is connected to a computer and the computer is connected to a remote server through a network, data can be sent and received automatically without the user's knowledge, and the data sent and received cannot be erased by the user. do.

For example, at the moment of connection, the information or advertisement of a specific company is transferred to the USB disk, and the advertisement or information must be displayed on the computer for a certain time so that the unique function of the USB disk can be deleted.

What USB disks can receive from the server and display it can implement all types of file formats found in traditional web browsers.

1 is a conceptual diagram of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart according to the present invention.

3 is a conceptual diagram of a USB disk according to the present invention.

4 is a detailed block diagram of a flash memory controller according to the present invention.

5 is a block diagram of a flash memory for a third reference filed by the present applicant.

6 is a block diagram of a flash memory according to the present invention.

7 is an information display content shown on a computer according to the present invention.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the present invention.

There is a server connected to the Internet, and there are a number of client computers connected to that server via the Internet or LAN.

When the USB disk is connected to the client computer, the agent stored in the USB disk transmits the unique number or unique identifier of the USB disk to the server through the client computer.

The remote server recognizes this unique number to determine the access eligibility and passes the necessary data to the client computer. The client computer delivers the received data to the USB disk and stores it.

The method of exchanging necessary information with a remote server by recording a unique number on a USB disk is described in the third reference filed by the applicant.

If you remove the USB disk and connect it to the client computer's USB port, the data stored on the USB disk immediately before is executed on the client computer.

At the same time, the agent sends the unique number to the server and checks the data to be received later.

When the server receives this unique number and needs to update the data on the USB disk, it passes the waiting data to the client.

Of course, if the computer is not connected to the network, only the data that has been sent will be displayed.

2 is a flowchart for explaining the above contents.

3 is a conceptual diagram of a USB disk.

It consists of USB connector, controller and flash memory.

The firmware built into the controller works in conjunction with the Mass Storage Device Class of the client computer to write or delete the data in flash memory.

The file format when writing and erasing to a flash memory follows FAT (File Allocation Table), which is a typical file system of a typical Windows operating system.

Flash memory can be largely divided into two types, NAND and NOR. USB disks mainly use NAND, which is relatively inexpensive, but if NOR flash memory is cheaper, NOR flash memory can be used.

NAND flash memory is cheaper than NOR, but the speed is slower than NOR due to the different way of writing and erasing data.

4 is a view showing in detail the USB disk controller of Figure 3;

The firmware is built in to the USB disk in the ROM of the controller.

5 is a block diagram of a flash memory for a third reference filed by the present applicant.

Referring to FIG. 5, the memory configuration is largely divided into a system area inaccessible to a user and a data area in which data is recorded and deleted.

There is a manufacturer ID (VID: Vendor ID) and a product ID (PID: Product ID) in the system area, and a unique number is built in to allow data to be exchanged with a remote server and to distinguish each USB disk.

The serial number is usually inserted by the production program when the USB disk is produced.

If you look at the data area, there is a part to insert a password so that others can't see the stored data when the USB disk is lost, and the FAT that distinguishes the location and type of the stored data is located.

5, it can be seen that data downloaded from the server is recorded in the data area because there is no separate memory area.

However, the data area can be accessed and formatted by the user, so if the user does not delete the valuable data or the data downloaded from the server, the user cannot achieve the purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention subdivids the area of the flash memory so that the user cannot delete not only the unique number but also the received data, and not know whether the data exists.

6 is a flash memory structure diagram illustrating the present invention in detail.

Of course, the structure of the flash memory is made by an algorithm of firmware embedded in the controller of FIG. 4.

The core of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 6 in detail.

The flash memory structure of the present invention is also largely divided into a system area inaccessible to a user and a data area in which a user can access and erase and write necessary data.

The system area is described first.

VID and PID represent the manufacturer and product name of the USB disk. This information can be found on the computer when the end user uses it.

The serial number is an identifier to identify each USB disk when connecting to the remote server. In some cases, individual IDs may be entered, or group unique IDs may be entered when each group is to be classified into one group without being distinguished from each other.

After the identifier, there is a space to store the data received from the server. There is a content area that cannot be deleted by the user and is not identified by the computer.

The size of the content area can be adjusted by the firmware of the controller or the production program during production.

The content area may store specific data from the time of production, or may be downloaded from the server and updated.

Next to the content area is the network area.

In network area, agent is installed to communicate with remote server and USB disk.

The network area is visible to the agent but cannot be deleted by the user.

Only run by the user.

Next is the data area.

The data area is a space where a user can record and delete data.

Since this area is a memory area that can be used like an HDD of a general computer, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The operation procedure will be described with reference to FIG.

Agents are stored in the network area.

When a USB disk is first inserted into the computer, it is recognized as a removable disk. When the contents of the removable disk are checked, an agent appears.

If the agent does not receive an execution command (double click) by the user, the user cannot go to the data area of the USB disk.

In other words, the user can not record and delete data.

When the agent is executed by the user, the data in the content area is displayed on the computer screen, and at the same time, the unique identifier is transmitted to the corresponding remote server.

In addition, part of the agent is installed on the computer so that a desired series of actions can occur even if the agent is not run again on the same computer.

USB disks do not autorun like a CD-ROM, so this single agent run makes them autorun.

Data in the content area may be stored on the server and then disappear automatically after a certain time after being displayed on the screen according to the nature of the information or advertisement to be transmitted.

Data in the content area can store and display any type of data represented by Explorer, Microsoft's web browser.

Since the corresponding data is recorded in the content area, even if the USB disk is inserted not only in the computer used by the user but also in another computer, the desired effect occurs in the same manner.

In addition, when the size of the received data is too big to store on the USB disk, the agent can store it in a specific space on the computer.

In this case, however, when the USB disk is run on another computer, the data is not represented because there is no corresponding data in the USB disk.

7 is an information display content shown on a computer according to the present invention.

As described above, the present invention can be used as a new advertising media or personal information terminal because the USB disk is automatically connected to the server, and the necessary data can be interchanged after being connected.

For example, in the case of an automobile company, the USB disk of the present invention may be divided when the automobile is sold, and each customer or collective customer may have the necessary information visible every time the USB disk is inserted into the computer.

Since each USB disk can be recognized by the server and data can be transferred, it can be used as a new device for customer relation management (CRM).

If the customer database is a huge website, a lot of equipment and professional personnel are needed for the database construction. The USB disk according to the present invention can be used as an external database, so that a significant cost reduction can be made for the enterprise.

In addition, the website provided for a fee can sell the USB disk to the user and allow the server to manage the customer by using the unique identifier of the USB disk, instead of charging the customer with a credit card or a mobile phone on the Internet.

In this case, the user ID of the paid internet site cannot be shared in different places, and the access costs are greatly reduced because the user can access only the USB disk.

Alternatively, expensive software can be stored in the content area and a corresponding USB disk can be inserted whenever necessary to run the software.

In addition, since there is a unique identifier and a storage space inaccessible to the user inside the USB disk, many applications are expected in the field that is connected and utilized by a network.

Claims (9)

Claims [1] A removable storage device using a USB device comprising a flash memory controller having a built-in flash memory and firmware; The flash memory A first memory region having a program stored thereon for connecting to a remote server, the first memory region being defined by the firmware but not deleted by the user; A second memory area in which information is stored and defined by the firmware so that a user cannot delete it arbitrarily, the information being updatable from a remote server by the program; and A third memory area defined by the firmware so that a user can access and write or delete data arbitrarily Removable storage device using a USB, characterized in that having a. The removable storage device of claim 1, wherein the program instructs a computer to express information stored in the second memory area. The portable storage device of claim 2, wherein the program makes the third memory area accessible to a user only when the information is represented by a computer. The method of claim 1, The program is a removable storage using a USB, characterized in that it further comprises a means for automatically accessing the server without the need to run the connection program again when the same USB disk to the same computer after the program is executed by the user once Device. The method of claim 1, And the second memory area further comprises means for preventing the downloaded and stored information from being displayed in the computer's explorer in the name and type of the file. An information display method using a removable storage device using a USB comprising a flash memory and a flash memory controller; First step to check if the USB disk is connected to the computer's USB port, A second step of confirming whether the computer is capable of networking; A third step of expressing data stored in advance in a storage space of a USB disk to a computer when networking is not possible; The fourth step of reading the identifier recorded on the USB disk and transmitting it to the remote server if networking is possible. A fifth step of receiving data from the remote server and storing the data in the storage space of the USB disk when the access qualification according to the identifier is authenticated; A sixth step of expressing the data stored in the USB disk to the computer; Information providing method using a removable storage device using a USB, characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 6, wherein the second step further comprises the step of simultaneously transmitting the IP address of the computer to the server to determine the country to which the USB disk is connected when the identifier recorded on the USB disk is transmitted. Information providing method using removable storage device using USB. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the fourth step further comprises changing a size of a memory to be stored according to the size of the downloaded data. Claims [1] A removable storage device using a USB device comprising a flash memory controller having a built-in flash memory and firmware; The flash memory A first memory area for storing a program and information for connecting to a remote server, the first memory area being defined so as not to be arbitrarily deleted by the firmware, the information being updatable from the remote server by the program, and A second memory area defined by the firmware so that a user can access and write or delete data arbitrarily Removable storage device using a USB, characterized in that having a.