TW569099B - Add-on card for connecting to both wired and wireless networks - Google Patents

Abstract

An add-on card for a computer. The computer has a first connection port, and the add-on card has: a second connection port detachable to the first connection port for receiving data from the computer; an access control circuit for transforming the data from the computer to a first format data and a second format data; and a network connection module. The network connection module has: an antenna for wireless transmission of a data corresponding to the first format data; and a connecting circuit for transmit a data corresponding to the second format data via a transmission line.

Description

569099

Field of the Invention: The present invention provides an add-on card for Thunder Brain & ω Λ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^, especially an add-on card with two functions of wired and wireless networking. Background note: In a modern information society, through the vast network, everyone can quickly and efficiently access network resources, so that information, experience and knowledge :: fast = flow, and promote the society as a whole development of. In addition, in recent years, the exhibition of electronic f's, portable computers (such as pen-type computers) that are lightweight and portable have become increasingly popular. Information companies are also working to develop technologies and devices that can connect portable computers to the Internet. , Let users of portable computers ^ connect to the Internet anytime, anywhere, so that network resources can be closer to every aspect of users' lives. In order to flexibly increase the additional functions of the portable computer, the portable computer will be provided with a slot; as long as an add-in card with special functions is inserted into the slot of the portable computer, the function of the portable computer can be further expanded. It looks like a normal pen. § All personal computers have a slot of PCMCIA (personal computer memory card international association) specification. They can add additional cards that correspond to the specifications to expand the functions of the notebook computer. Of course, with special design, add-in cards can also be used to expand the networking capabilities of portable computers. In the conventional technology, the add-in card (or network card) used for network connection can be

Page 5 569099 5. Description of the invention (2) There are two types. One is a wired network card, which enables a portable computer to connect to the network in a wired manner through a network transmission line; the other is a wireless network. The card 'enables a portable computer to connect to the network wirelessly, such as by radio waves or infrared rays. The experience of network construction is quite fast, it is safe and easy to surf the Internet. In the middle of mobile art, if the network user wants to have a network card at the same time, but also restricts the other functions, there is no extra follow the network High, well-equipped; wireless installation, or even learning skills and using functions, two types of slots are prepared, and they will be used greatly. It may be popularized and progressed, whether it is convenient for wired Internet or wireless. Among them, the rapid maintenance of wired Internet data exchange. ‘The wired network ’s infrastructure is also relatively complete.’ Even if the portable computer frequently changes positions, it can maintain a smooth connection to the network. However, the card has only a single wired or wireless Internet access portable computer can fully have the wired and wireless Internet access to occupy the portable computer's two expansion card plug-in portable computer expansion functions; at this time, if the user attaches a card (such as A slot for a memory card that expands the memory space is available for use. Summary of the invention: Therefore, the main purpose of the invention is to provide an additional card with a complete wired and wireless function, to overcome the conventional technology The disadvantages of the invention:

569099 5. Description of the invention (3) Please refer to Figure 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an add-on card 10 applied to a computer (especially a portable computer) 12 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The portable computer 12 can be a notebook computer, and its outer casing 3 is provided with a recessed slot 14; the slot 14 can be a PCMCIA-sized slot with a first and a port 1 6 A. The add-in card 10 of the present invention matches the specifications of the slot 14. One end is provided with a second connection port 16B corresponding to the first connection port 16A; the other end is provided with a connection port 2 0 B (for example, RJ 4 5 Plug-in port); and the network transmission line 18 of the wired network is also provided with a corresponding plug-in cock 20 A. Insert plug-in port 20 A into port 20 B, and add-on card 10 can be connected to the wired network through the network transmission cable 18. Please refer to Figure 2. Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the add-in card 10 and the portable computer 12 in operation. When the add-in card 10 is inserted into the slot 14 of the portable computer 丨 2, the first port 16A and the second port 16B can contact the electrical connection and exchange signals. The add-in card 10 of the present invention is provided with an access control circuit MAC 1, a volatile memory M and a non-volatile i memory M 2, a wireless signal module 24, and a network connection module 2 8. The wireless signal module 24 is provided with a base frequency circuit 26A, an intermediate frequency circuit 25B and a radio frequency circuit 26C; the network connection module 28 is provided with an antenna circuit ANTI and a connection circuit PZ1. The access control circuit MAC1 is electrically connected to the second port 16B, and can exchange data with the portable computer 12 through the first port 16A, and the main function of the access control circuit MAC1 is to control the add-in card 10 Various operations connected to the Internet. The volatile memory M 1 may be a random access memory (RAM), which provides

V. Description of the invention (4) The temporary memory space when the access control circuit MAU operates; the non-volatile body M2 can be a flash memory (f Ush memory), which is used to store in a non-transparent manner. The necessary information for the operation of the access control circuit, such as the 2 plus card as the physical address data necessary for a network card, in order to identify an additional card in network 1. The baseband circuit 26a, the circuit 26B and the radio frequency circuit 26C in the wireless signal module 24 can tune the access control circuit mach # to the baseband, intermediate frequency and radio frequency signals respectively, and the electrical connection = 26C The antenna circuit ANT1 can send the radio frequency signal to the circuit wirelessly. t to ground, if the antenna circuit ANT1 receives the radio frequency wireless signal V, * 1 if the RF circuit 26C in the group 24, the intermediate frequency circuit 26 level of the fundamental frequency thunder circuit = will also decode the signal, and finally become a bit signal Back to the access control circuit MAC1. In other words, the wireless signal connection function is added via the wireless signal module 24 and the antenna circuit ANn. U 便 肖 b 支 On the other hand, the network connection module 28 makes the access control circuit MAC1, and the connection circuit pHV1 &

^ ^ t # it ^ (encode), ϋϋ ^ I ^ ^ m V 2 2-wire circuit PHY1 will also decode (decode) it as a pair 3 = return to the access control circuit MAC. In other words, beacon and connection Line circuit PHY1, network transmission wheel, access circuit MAC1 In addition, it supports wired network connection :::: 8. In addition to this force, the connection circuit PΗγι is also available. 569099 5. Description of the invention (5)

Sensitive Multiple Access / cOUusion Detectione (Carrier Sense Multiple Access and Collision Detection). The connection circuit "^ 彳 The result of the test will be returned to the access control circuit—MAC1 'access control circuit ^ to determine the operation of data transmission based on the results of the primary test (such as retransmitting the signal that was collided after the collision ). &Amp; Zibo tests the electrical characteristics of the signal transmission on the network transmission line 18 to check whether there is a signal collision on the network transmission line 18 (that is, when the signal is transmitted on the network transmission line 丨 8, there is also a signal request Pass in). For example, the IEEE 802.3 standard often used in wired LANs uses the electrical characteristics of the carrier on the network transmission line to detect the collision of debt measurement signals (ie CSMA / CD, cari * iei. The situation can be described as follows: ^ Brain 12 When connecting to the Internet through the add-on card H of the present invention and inputting data to the network, this data can be obtained through the first port i6A and the second connection i6 to Λ mine Control circuit MAC 1. According to the -determined network transmission protocol ^, the control circuit MAC1 will add a header before this data: a2 'This header will contain the physical address of the additional card 10, and Pull second and so on information 1 outside access control circuit ;. ;; :: to error checking code, the additional capital "wired network and wireless network because two ;; network data format to ensure that the wireless network you want to attach the relevant certification information to

If necessary, the data is sealed (two, two, and all). The access control circuit MAClT τ is the first network protocol that conforms to the wireless transmission protocol. 569099 5. Description of the invention (6) Material 3 2 A (for transmission to the wireless network) Channel); or a second network format data 3 2 B that complies with the wired transmission protocol for transmission to the wired network. For example, if you control the wireless network, the wireless network, the intermediate frequency electrical transmission signal is an electrical transmission, the wireless network will send it 24, and its MAC address should also be MAC 1. It will be transmitted as described above by the additional portable. The data to the wireless network 30A will be packaged by the access path MAC 1 as the first network format data 32A (for example, the root area network ΙΕΕ802 · 11 transfer protocol is used for encapsulation), and the path format > material 3 2 Α is transmitted to the number module 2 in the form of bit steam. The baseband circuit 2 6 A, 26B and 26C of the wireless signal module 2 4 are tuned to a radio frequency suitable for wireless transmission. 36, and the antenna circuit ANTI can transmit the first network signal 40 Ait in the form of a converted wave of the radio frequency transmission signal 36 in order to transfer the data to the wireless network 30 A. In contrast, if the antenna circuit a NT 1 receives a network signal in the form of a radio wave from the 30A channel, the antenna circuit ANT & converts it into an electronic signal 3 8 and demodulates it into a network receiving data through a wireless signal module 3 4 Α is transmitted back to the access control circuit because the network received data received by the wireless network 3 OA is based on: according to the wireless network transmission protocol packet, the access control circuit can receive the packet on the network to receive data The data content in 34A is taken out, and the second port 16B of the card 10 is transmitted back to the computer 12 through the first port 16A, so that the portable computer 2 can also receive the wireless network 3 0 A > To achieve the purpose of wireless networking. On the other hand, if the data is to be transmitted to the wired network 30B, this data will be “initialized” * The second network format data 3 2 B (for example, according to the wired network

Page 10 569099

Transmission protocol of IEEE80 2 · 3), and the bit stream circuit PIm. The connection and line circuit PHY1 will transmit its code ^ connection 4 0B 'and transmit it through the network. Line 18 will connect the second network signal to network 30B. In contrast, if a network signal is transmitted through the network exclusively: the wired side is more reliable, P Η V 1 earth-seeking transfer Γ line 1 8 is transmitted to the connection circuit PHYi, and the connection circuit 1 > 1 ^ 1 can decode it into a network. Road connection number 34B. The packeted data in the network receiving signal 3 "will be taken out by the access control circuit MAC1, and will be transmitted back to the portable computer & brain 12 via the second port 16B and the first port" A ". In this way, the portable computer 12 can access the source with two networks 3 0B. In short, the access control circuit is transparent. The add-in card 10 of the present invention can provide wired and wireless networking. Functions: Wired and wireless networking function for portable electric 12. Eight one refer to Figure two. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an additional card 50 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiment is that the add-on card 50 is a first component 5 1 A and a second component knife 5 1 B which are pluggable and separated or combined with each other. Similar to the configuration of the first embodiment, the first component 5 丨 A has a second connection 崞 5 6 B ′ for the portable computer 丨 2 (only a part of which is shown in FIG. 3) in the first slot 14 Port 16A is connected. The second component 51B also has a port 60B, which is used to cooperate with the insertion port 60a of the transmission line 58 so that the network transmission line 58 can be plugged into the second component 5B. In addition to the configuration similar to the previous embodiment, the first component 5: 1 A and the second component 5 丨 B are respectively provided with corresponding transmission ports 53A and 53B; when the transmission ports 53A and 53B are combined with each other, the first component 51A and the second member 51B can be combined with each other.

Page 11 569099 V. Description of the Invention (8) Operation ^ Continue with reference to Figure IV. Figure 4 is a functional block diagram of the add-in card 50 and the portable computer 12 '. Access control circuit MAC2 in add-on card 50, memory M3, non-volatile memory M4, wireless signal module 64 wedge, circuit 66A, intermediate frequency circuit 66B and radio frequency circuit 66c, and network connection with the same name ^ Medium Both the antenna circuit MT2 and the connection circuit ρΗγ2 have the same function as the f-energy block when the add-in card is used; the situation in the large add-on card 10 in which each functional block cooperates is eliminated. The add-on card 50 and the add-on card 10 are separated from each other by placing the functional blocks on the first component of the separable combination at the first component 51β. In the add-in card 50, a command is set to the 'network connection module 68'. 51B; the other related circuits are set in the first component 5ΐA, and two ^ two workers two 51 ^ second component 51B transmission port 53A, 53B in the first component u input port 55 heart 55 limb second transmission Ports 57A, 57B. The wireless signal module 64 in the file 5 1 Α can pass through 55A ^ The access control circuit MAC2 in the 51 A can also pass 57Bt ^ ^ ^ 51Bt ^ ^ ^ t; ΡΗΥΓ Λ V; the first component 5 1 Α and The second component 5 i β is connected to 乂 乂, s ^ ^ ^ ^ -fi ^ ^, after connection, the access control circuit MACm: control, the wire rigging group 64, and the antenna circuit ANT2 is connected to the helmet 3 0 A, can also be connected through the connection circuit p only ",,, * ', · through the network transmission line 58 to the connection" "/ In this embodiment, the network connection module 68 is separately set at ΐ in ^ μ φ m ^ ^ ^, the advantages of this configuration 疋 users need to replace,. Temple Road connection module. Because the network needs to use different power antennas during the network construction, there are different types of network connection modules for the 'tapping sample'-corresponding to the network connection; such as not _ page 12 569099 5. Description of the invention ( 9) Antenna circuits and network transmission lines of the same power will have different impedance matching and related circuit designs. In the separated design of this embodiment, different network connection modules can be designed in different second components. The user only needs to replace the second components equipped with different network connection modules to match the original first component. ' It can flexibly meet the needs of different network perimeter construction, and use the add-on card of the present invention to perform wired and wireless Internet access. In addition, the antenna ANT2 can also be designed to be removable, so that the antenna circuit ANT2 can be removed and replaced directly from the second component. In the conventional technology, the add-on card used to expand the Internet access function can only have ^ line or wireless networking functions, and cannot meet the needs of modern information ^ = source access. In contrast,… of the 20th: ^ Brain: single-slot 'can expand the computer's wired and non-dagger at the same time: Therefore, it fully meets the needs of multiple network connections and resource access. In the embodiments, all applications according to the present invention shall fall within the scope of the patent of the present invention. The above description is only equivalent changes and modifications made to the preferred patent scope of the present invention.

Page 13 569099 Brief description of the diagram Brief description of the diagram: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the add-in card of the present invention used in a portable computer. Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the add-in card in Figure 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic external view of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the embodiment in FIG. 3. Explanation of symbols: 10 '50 add-on card 12 portable computer 13. Housing 14 slot 16A first port 16B, 56B second port 18 network transmission line 20A> 60A plug-in port 20B, 60B port 2 [64 wireless signal module 26A, 66A base frequency circuit 26B, 66B intermediate frequency circuit 26C, 66C radio frequency circuit 28> 68 network connection module

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569099 Schematic description of 30A wired network 30B wireless network 32A, 32B network format data 34A, 34B network reception data 36 transmission signal 38 reception signal 40A first network signal 40B second network signal 51A first component 51B Section •-Parts 53A, 53B Transmission Ports 55A, 55B First Sub Transmission Ports 57A, 57B Second Sub Transmission Ports ANTI, ANT2 Antenna Circuit PHY1 'PHY2 Connection Circuit Mb M3 Volatile Memory M2, M4 Non-Volatile Memory MAC1 ^ MAC2 access control circuit

Claims (1)

569099 6. Scope of patent application-5 Add-on card for a computer, the computer includes: a first port, which is arranged on the casing; the add-on card includes: "port port" for pluggable Way to connect to the first-connected car = the first connection cock receives data from the computer; the connection circuit, electrically connected to the second port, can convert the second data-into a first Network format data and a second network 'electrically connected to the access circuit a transmission signal; and A wireless signal module converts the network format data into a network connection module. The network connection module includes: ^ an antenna circuit connected to the wireless signal module for converting the transmission signal into an electric wave The first network signal in the form is transmitted wirelessly so that the 1 2 3 4 first network signal can be transmitted to a wireless network; the connection circuit is connected to the access control circuit and is used to connect the The second network format data is converted into a second network signal; and a network transmission line is connected to the connection circuit for transmitting the second network signal to a wired network. Page 16 1 · If the add-in card of the first patent application scope, the antenna circuit can receive 2 wireless signals from 4 wireless networks and convert them into a 3 receiving signal; the wireless signal module The receiving signal can be demodulated into a network 4 receiving data; and the access control circuit can convert the network receiving data into 569099 6. The data corresponding to the scope of patent application and transmitted to the computer. 3. As attached to item 1 of the scope of patent application, + receive the wired network through the network to receive the signal that the connected circuit can receive; the access control = thunder = the signal sent and converted For-change to the corresponding data and transmit to the electric circuit: the circuit can transfer the network receiving signal 4. If the additional card in the scope of the patent application is used, the memory is used to store the access control circuit. There is information required for the operation of a non-volatile circuit. 5 · If the additional card in the scope of patent application, the 1-bit memory, is used to temporarily store the information needed for the access control electric transport and another volatile continuous cropping. 6. As for the add-in card in the first scope of the patent application, A > is connected to the access control circuit 5 " in a pluggable manner. Network connection module 7 · If the add-in card in the scope of patent application No. 1 is used, the basin is connected to the network connection module in a pluggable manner. "Antenna circuit 8: If the additional card of the scope of application for patent i, the format of the number is in accordance with the provisions of IEEE 802 · 11. K 9 · > Application for patents ㈣Ml additional card ' Comply with the requirements of IEEE 8 02. 3. Λ 569099 6. Application scope of patent 10. If the additional card of the scope of patent application is item 1, the access control circuit is to add the data transmitted through the second port A header is used to form the web-formatted data. 11. If the additional card of the scope of patent application is item 11, the header includes a physical address corresponding to the additional card. 1 2. The add-in card according to item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the access control circuit adds a check code to the data transmitted through the second port to form the network format data. Page 18