TWI273428B - Integrated PC card host controller for the detection and operation of a plurality of expansion cards - Google Patents

Abstract

A controller includes a plurality of readers for reading an associated plurality of expansion cards and for controlling operation of such expansion cards, wherein at least one of the plurality of readers is a flash media reader. A method for controlling the operation of at least one expansion card with an integrated controller having a plurality of readers includes detecting the presence of at least one expansion card, and enabling selected reader of the integrated controller associated with at least one expansion card. Another method of writing data to read only memory in an integrated controller includes unlocking the read only memory, writing information into the read only memory, and locking the read only memory to prevent otherwise unintentional or unauthorized writing to the read only memory is also provided.

Description

。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 This case is considered as a reference. The present invention relates to an integrated controller for detecting and operating one or more expansion cards. More particularly, the present invention is an integrated controller for detecting and operating PC cards (e.g., 16-bit PCMCIA cards and 32-bit CardBus cards, etc.), smart cards, and flash media cards. The particular utility of the present invention can provide an integrated controller for mobile computing devices such as laptops and the like, although other utilities can be considered herein. [Prior Art] As the identification of the face-to-face and paper-based methods of electronic form is becoming more common, the demand for security and privacy naturally increases. The emergence of the global Internet and the rapid expansion of the network in the enterprise for customers and suppliers to access the network from outside the firewall have deepened the demand for solutions based on the public record technology. Examples of several types of services enabled by this technology are the security on the public network (4), the digital signature to ensure image integrity and privacy, and the client (four) server (and its reverse). Certification work. The smart card is a key component in the public key infrastructure, and Microsoft is integrating it into the Windows (Windows) platform, which can be enhanced by smart cards such as customer authentication, login fish security, Lei Gongjie, and other components. A software-only solution. The smart card is basically a converged 1273428 point of a public A key certificate and its related keys, because it can provide anti-interference storage to protect the private key and other types of personal information; it will be related to authentication, digital signature Key exchanges from the other end of the system but "no need to know" and isolated from the security-related calculations; and provide confidentiality between computers in the workplace, at home or portable Portability with other private information c> It is pointed out that the smart card will be an integrated component in the Windows platform, because the backup card will be able to promote the new application service, just as the mouse and CD-ROM were integrated for the first time. Generally in a personal computer (PC). The incompatibility between applications, cards and card readers has been the main reason for the slow growth of smart cards outside of Europe. The ability to interoperate between different vendors' products does encourage consumers to be widely accepted for smart cards, and allows the industry to begin to allocate the necessary conditions for its use in its corporate body.

ISO 7816, EMV and GSM In order to promote the interoperability between smart cards and card readers, the International Standards Organization (ISO) developed the 18〇 7816 standard for contact-type integrated circuit cards. These specifications focus on the interoperability between physical, electrical and data link agreement levels. In 1996, Europay, MasterCard and VISA (EMV) defined an industry-specific smart card specification that adopted the ISO 7816 standard and defined certain additional data types and coding rules for financial services. Industry application. The European telecommunications industry has also adopted the ISO 7816 standard as its "Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)" smart card specification for the identification and authentication of mobile phone users. All of these specifications (ISO 7816, EMV and GSM) are in the right direction, but they are still too low-level or specific applications, and are not supported by the industry. The issues of interoperability, such as device-independent APIs, development tools, and resource sharing, have not been explored in any of these specifications. PC/SC Working Group The PC/SC (Personal Computer/Smart Card) Working Group was established in May 1996 by major PC and smart card vendors: Groupe Bull.

Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Schlumberger and Siemens

Nixdorf et al. The main focus of this work group is to develop specifications that address the aforementioned interoperability. These PC/SC specifications are based on the ISO 7816 standard and are compatible with specific industry specifications for both EMV and GSM. With the participation of the PC/SC working group in the efforts of the vendors, the specifications have been supported by the industry and have a strong willingness to migrate these specifications to standards-independent systems in the future. After the foundation and initial publication of these specifications, several vendors have joined the PC/SC working group. New members include Gemplus, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Toshiba, and Verifone and Microsoft Microsystems. Microsoft's practices include the following: • Used to interface smart card readers, smart cards and Standard model for PC; • Device-independent API for launching smart card-related applications; • Appropriate software development tools; • Integration with Windows (Windows) and Windows NT (Windows NT) platforms. With a standard model of the interface between the card reader and the smart card and the PC, the 1273428 is available for interoperability between card and card reader products from various manufacturers. The device-independent API isolates current and future implementation differences from application developers. By avoiding application obsolescence caused by underlying hardware changes, device independence can also reduce software development costs. At present, the most common method for interfacing a smart card to a notebook computer is to use a PCMCIA Type II smart card reader/writer (as shown in Fig. 。). Currently, the PCMCIA smart card reader can be, for example, like

Techn〇1〇gies and other companies have purchased it. End users of such smart card readers typically sell for about $15. The cost of this reader is a major part of the overall security solution. The adapter card 104 of Figure 1 depicts the various major functional blocks of the conventional smart card reader. The PCICi machine interface block in the smart card reader provides an electronic interface to the PC Card connector 1〇6, which in turn is connected to the PC Card Control 102. Additional logic is provided to control the interaction between the smart card and the software application. However, as mentioned above, this solution has significant unit cost and thus becomes a less attractive option for a large number of moves to smart card compatibility. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an integrated host controller capable of providing various PC card, smart card and passive rabbit smart card adapters. In addition, there is a need to provide an integrated host controller that replaces the existing motherboard-architecture PC card host controller without reworking or designing the motherboard. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A controller in accordance with the present invention includes a plurality of readers for reading the associated plurality of 1273428 expansion cards and for controlling the operation of the plurality of expansion cards associated with the operation, multiple reads At least one of the extractors is a flash media reader. The controller can also include at least one smart card reader and at least one pc card reader. The controller can also include a plurality of flash media readers, and is further configured to respond to an input signal indicating A flash media reader selected from a plurality of flash media readers, and a selected flash media reader is enabled. A personal computer (PC) configured to accept digital information from at least one expansion card may also include a controller in accordance with the present invention. A method for controlling operation of an expansion card to an integrated controller having multiple readers in accordance with the present invention includes: detecting the presence of at least one expansion card; and enabling association with the at least one expansion card A reader controlled by the integrated control. The detecting step further comprises detecting the presence of an expansion card by using a signal line of a conventional PC card specification, the detecting step comprising: determining a signal state of the first card and the second card detecting signal line; determining the first card and the second card voltage selection Signal state of the signal line; determining that the first measurement signal line, or the first and/or second card voltage selection signal is = a signal state retained by the PC card signal specification; and determining a predetermined unused PC card signal line The signal state, which is related to the state of the reserved signal. Another method of writing read data to a read-only memory in an integrated controller in accordance with the present invention includes: opening a read-only memory; writing information to a read-only memory; and locking the read-only memory to avoid Other careless or unrecognized information is written to it. y For those skilled in the art, it should be understood that the detailed description of the following is a reference to preferred embodiments and methods of use thereof, but the invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments and uses thereof. method. Rather, the invention is to be construed broadly and limited only by the scope of the appended claims. [Embodiment] FIG. 2 illustrates a system level block diagram of how a passive smart card adapter and a smart card system are interfaced to a host controller. The controller is integrated into a PC platform such as a laptop PC. For example, the PC can be configured as shown in the figure 'The controller 10 is operative to detect and control one or more of the expansion device cards inserted into the slot A 12 and/or the wrong B 14 . It should be understood that the control beta 10 of the present invention is suitably adapted to drive the PC card and the smart card. The PC system typically includes a processor 26 and a data bus. The "North Bridge" logic 24 provides communication between the processor 26 and the busbar 20. The controller 10 of the present invention is also similarly adapted to communicate with the busbar 20. In this example, the busbar 20 is a peripheral controller interface (pci) busbar, although other types of busbar technology are also suitable for incorporation into the controller logic. Next, another "South Bridge" logic 22' can be provided as an external bus communication, such as an early device (such as an ISA bus architecture). The South Bridge and North Bridge logic are well known in the industry. The Power 1C chip 28 provides the correct voltage to the pins on the PC card connector (as judged by the card type inserted in slot A or slot B). Once the card type is detected (as judged by the pc card definition table in Fig. 5), the wafer 28 provides the appropriate voltage for the card of the type. In one embodiment, the present invention can provide a passive smart card adapter 18' that is configured to be inserted into slot a 12 or slot B 14 and that is no longer a PC card type Ι/ΙΙ/ A simple slot interface. The I273428 dynamic adapter 18 of the present embodiment includes a suitable connector 84 and passive circuit %. The smart card 16 inserted into the passive smart card adapter 18 can also include a physical contact 88 for interfacing with the physical connector material on the adapter. The adapters and the smart card's pin arrangements 84 and 88 are as described in the smart card specification, such as a smart card specification compatible with PC/SC, which complies with the 18〇7816 electrical specification and T=〇, T=1 agreement. In this embodiment, the adapter 18 is used to provide smart card readability and workability without having to rework the outer casing to accommodate the particular smart card slot. In addition, the pC may also include the smart card slot 14 as shown in FIG. Of course, in this alternative embodiment, # can provide circuitry 86, and connector 84, within the slot 14'. Referring now to Figure 3, this is a detailed block diagram of the integrated controller 1 showing the logical portion of the smart card detection and operation. In this example, the controller 1 includes smart card sensing logic 30A and 30B, smart card multiplexer (Μυχ) logic 32 8 and 32, smart card reader logic 34Α and 34Β, and interface logic 36Α and 36Β. In FIG. 3, only the logic related to the detection and operation capability portion of the smart card and the passive smart card adapter is shown, and it should be understood that the controller 10 further includes additional logic (not shown) for performing Traditional PC card detection and operation. The conventional PC card controller uses a set of card detection pins CD1 and CD2, and a set of voltage sensing pins VS1 and VS2 to detect the card type inserted into the slot. The combination of couplings between the pins (relative to ground) allows the appropriate logic to indicate which type of card is inserted into the slot. For example, as shown in the list in FIG. 5, the face-to-face combination between the pins CD1, CD2, VS1 and VS2 can determine the card system 1 $•12-1273428 bit PCMCIA card inserted into the slot or 32-bit CardBus card. In addition, as shown in the table, the combination can also determine the driving voltage of a particular type of card. For example, 3.3V, 5V, X.XV, and Υ·Υν. The combination of CD1, CD2, VS1 and VS2 listed in the last two columns of Figure 5 is retained in the pc card specification.

The present invention uses one of the reserved CDs CD2, VS1 and VS2, together with an additional state change signal STSCHG, to indicate whether a smart card has indeed been inserted into the slot (either directly or through An adapter). It is preferred that the state change signal is used as the signal is not used in the conventional PC card detection process, but only when the card type is known. Thus, on the one hand, the smart card sensing logic of FIG. 3 can be regarded as a state machine that can determine the card type inserted in the slot. For this purpose, and referring to Figure 4, the state of the smart card sensing logic 3〇A as shown in Figure 3 is described. As shown in Figure 4, the smart card sensing logic 3〇A accepts, CD2, VSb VS2 and state changes (labeled 4〇, 42, 44, 46, and 48, respectively) as their inputs. According to the CD1, CD2, VS1 and VS2 reservation arrangement as shown in FIG. 5, plus the additional state change signal, the state machine 3〇a # can determine an appropriate logic 32A for the card of the given type. Communicate. For example, some combinations of the CD, CD2, and VS2 (as shown in FIG. 5) indicate that the card inserted in the slot is not a 16-bit PC card, that is, a 32-bit CardBus PC card. In accordance with this, the state machine 30A activates the appropriate logic 50 or 52 for a given card type. It should also be noted that the combination of the four pins can also be used to determine the specific voltage of the card inserted into the slot. Further extending the capabilities of the conventional PC card controller, the present invention can also monitor the-13-1273428 STSCHG pin 'to determine whether the slot is a smart card or a passive smart card adapter, and the same can be activated properly Logic 54 to communicate with smart card logic 32A as shown in FIG. To determine the CD CD2, VS1, VS2 and STSCHG states, the card sensing logic 3a can generate, for example, a pulse train signal on one or more selected external pins, and borrow a pair or A plurality of other pins monitor the signal (relative to ground) and determine the card type inserted into the slot. As shown in the table of Figure 5, the card sensing logics 3a and 30B are operable to detect a smart card or a passive smart card adapter and a PC card. The pin arrangement shown in Figure 5 is designed according to the PC card specifications and is the traditional arrangement of these signal lines. Card identification is determined by the voltage values of columns 1-4, namely CD2, CD1, VS2 and VS1. The smart card and the passive smart card adapter detection operation are both operated by utilizing the reserved pin combinations, using additional pins such as, for example, the STSCHG signal line. The list in Figure 7B summarizes the concept. The table shows the pins used to detect the PC Card, Smart Card and Passive Smart Card Adapter Card. The signal bar of the smart card or passive smart card adapter detection operation includes one of the areas reserved for CD1, CD2, VS1 and VS2, as shown in the last two columns in the list in Figure 5. It should be noted that although the figures are described using the signal line STSCHG (which is provided by conventional PC card specifications), the present invention is generally applicable to any of the PC card specifications that are not used during card detection. foot. In other words, from a time point of view, during the card detection process, some of the signal lines in the PC card specification are still unused. The present invention utilizes one or more of the signal lines and combines the reserved CD1, CD2, VS1 -14· 1273428 with VS2 for smart card or passive smart card adapter inspection . As such, the diagram only shows a number of examples of an additional signal pin that can be used as a smart card detection application. A flowchart 60 in Fig. 6 illustrates a card type detection processing program. For the sake of simplicity, the reference numbers for detecting and operating the corresponding logic of the PC Card, Smart Card or Passive Smart Card Adapter Card (ie, as shown in Figures 2 and 3) are omitted. Initially, the detection logic detects the presence of CD1, CD2, VS1, VS2 and STSCHG 62. If not, or not available, it is assumed that no card is inserted into the slot and the card detection signals (CD1 and CD2) are blocked 64. The detection logic monitors the negative edge trigger 66 of CD1 or CD2 when the card is inserted. According to the P C card specification, it can be judged whether or not a card appears. Once the card is detected, the detection logic of the present invention toggles CD1, CD2, VS1, VS2, and STSCHG to determine the inserted card type 68. The above-mentioned cut can be a pulse train signal or other type of cut signal method. The detection logic polls CD1, CD2, VS1, VS2 and STSCHG in the following manner. First, the logic determines if VS1 and CD2 are grounded 70. If not, as shown in the table in Figure 5, it can be known that the interpolator is a 16-bit PCMCIA card or a 32-bit Card Bus card. If so, the logic determines if VS2 and CD1 are interconnected 74. If not, as shown in the table in Fig. 5, it is also known that the inserter is a 16-bit card or a 32-bit Card Bus card 76. If yes, it is determined whether CD1 and STSCHG are connected to each other 78, and it can be judged whether the smart card or the passive smart card adapter exists. It is determined at 82 that the passive smart card adapter is inserted into the slot or a smart card is directly inserted into the smart card slot. Another feature of the present invention is to provide an integrated controller 10 that can be directly integrated with existing PC Card Controller Logic 1273428. The traditional PC card controller logic is 1C packaged, directly mounted on the motherboard, with 208 pins, and each pin is assigned via PC card specifications. Another feature is the provision of a controller 10 that can directly replace a conventional controller without having to reset the pin arrangement, add additional pin configurations, change the motherboard, or change the desired processing. To this end, and in conjunction with the table of Figure 7A, the controller 10 of the present invention contains compatible interface card signals and smart card signals that are compatible with conventional ones. As shown in the table, the same pins (leftmost column) for interfacing conventional 16- and 32-bit cards can be used to interface with the smart card of the present invention. Therefore, there is no need to add extra pins. Referring again to Figure 3, if a smart card insertion slot is detected, logic 30A or 30B will communicate with and be enabled with logic 34A or 34B to enable smart card readability. The logic 34A and 34B can enable the slot multiplexer logic 32A or 32B to allow the slot (A or B) to communicate with the Cardbus/PCI controller logic 36A or 36B, which in turn is associated with the PCI bus 20 Communication (via PCI interface 3 8). It should be understood that the logic 30A, 30B, 34A, and 34B of the present invention can interface directly with the multiplexer logic 32A and 32B and communicate with the bus interface controllers 36A and 36B using conventional PC card communication protocols. If a conventional card is inserted into the slot (slot A or B), the conventional logic (not shown) incorporated into the controller 10 can be used to activate the multiplexers 32A and 32B, and utilize conventional The PC Card protocol communicates with the bus interface controllers 36A and 36B. To facilitate direct integration with a conventional PC Card logical group, the present invention controls a predetermined number of predetermined pins to communicate with the smart card. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the pins 17, 51, 58, 47, 32, ground (GND), 18, 1273428 ι fans 16 and 40' are calibrated as in the Pc card specification, and are used by the present invention to operate the smart card. Both. Therefore, the controller 10 does not require an additional pin for the smart card operation. In operation, once the smart card is detected (as previously described and considered in Figures 3-6), logic 34A or 34B is reassigned to the % card pin operation shown in Figure 7A to provide smart card readability. The signal assignment operation, as shown in the smart card "signal" in Figure 7A, is for the signal required to read the smart card. ° This table and Figure 7A contain the checklist required to operate the pc card as a controller of the present invention. Similarly, the list in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7] 8 is also included in the controller 10 as a checklist for detecting the pc card and the smart card. To this end, and to treat logic 30A and 30B as state machines (as shown in Figure 4), the state machine can compare the input signals to the look-up tables in Figures 5 and 7B to couple the appropriate logic to The card. For those skilled in the art, it should be recognized that the CD, VS1 and VS2 contain card detection and voltage selection signals, respectively, as specified in the conventional card specifications. In the list of Figures 5, 7 and 7; 8 and the flow chart of Figure 6, the nomenclature for these signal lines may include, for example, Cm #, cD2 #, VS1Lu#, VS2#, etc., all of which are conventional The official name of the signal line. However, the use of the CD1, CD2, VS1 and VS2 as short names for their official names and interactive applications is extremely obvious. Therefore, it is apparent that the present invention can provide an integrated smart card controller and smart card detection program, which can satisfy the goals and objectives described herein. For those who have a stable skill in this project, it should be understood that the person can be modified. For example, although the present invention is described by reference to smart card detection and operation, -17-1273428 the present invention is equally applicable to detection and operation.

As previously indicated, the present invention first describes any form of expansion card in addition to a conventional PC card with reference to a smart card. In addition, the detection and operation of the PC card only stayed. For example, in another t

F' is equally applicable to the detection of various expansion cards. In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, a controller 1A can also be adapted to detect or operate one or more flash media cards. Flash media cards can be used in many "digital devices" and come in a wide variety of shapes, capabilities, and storage capacities. For example, digital TV camcorders, digital cameras, portable music players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or similar "digital products" that store digital information on various flash media cards, Some types of flash media cards include SmartMediaTM,

CompactFlashTM, and MemoryStick® cards. In order to convert these digital messages to and from the storage of the PC, various flash media readers are required. As with the previously described example of a smart card and with reference to Figure 1, a standard method of interfacing a flash media card with a PC utilizes an external reader/writer associated with a particular flash media card having a dedicated connector. For example, one • 18-1273428

The MemoryStick.^ flash media card can have its own fast flash reader. This allows users of all types of digital products to purchase and utilize discrete flash media readers for digital information transmitted to and from the PC. In addition, each reader typically also utilizes its own specific ASIC to interface with various flash media cards. This standard solution typically requires multiple flash media readers, multiple ASICs, and dedicated connectors for each flash media card. Some flash media readers can read more than two different flash cards. Advantageously, as shown in FIG. 8A, a controller 丨〇a according to the present invention includes one or more flash media readers 804_1, 804-2, ... 804-n, etc. Used to read and control related flash media cards. This allows an integrated controller 10A to control the associated plurality of flash media cards. The integrated controller i〇A with multiple flash media readers 804-1, 804-2, ... 8〇4-n also allows omission

Specific ASICs and dedicated connectors are required for the external flash media reader as detailed above. Also. The same integrated controller 1 〇 A can be equipped with detection and control devices to detect and control PC cards (16-bit PCMCIA cards and 32-bit CardBus cards) and the aforementioned smart cards. The H controller 10A can respond to the input 彳s number transmitted to the controller 10A via the input path 803. The input L number may indicate a particular expansion card, and the controller may act on the basis of the input signal to enable and/or disable various flash media readers 804-1, 804_2, ... 804-n. , which will be described more fully later. Controller 10A may also allow a reader to be selected from a number of flash media readers, 804-2, ..... 804-n for individual testing. For example, an individual test 彳§ number can be connected to the input path $ via the test terminal 8〇7, and the finger -19-1273428 will be selected for the selected reader. In this case, the target reader can be enabled for testing. Jumping to Figure 8B, the input signal transmitted via input path 8〇3 can also be based on a particular flash media card 810 and corresponding slot 8〇5. The slot 805 can be further coupled to a motherboard of a related PC. For example, the slot 805 can be a Memory Stick® configured to accept only a particular card 810 such as a Memory Stick 8 flash media card. Once the MemoryStick.^ flash media card is coupled to slot 8〇5, the input signal indicates the presence of that particular card. Those skilled in the art will appreciate a wide variety of methods for triggering an input signal based on the presence of the test expansion card 810. In addition, the controller 1A can also be coupled to a plurality of slots, which are more connected to the motherboard of the associated PC, where space or other conditions permit. The three example slots 806-1, 806-2, 806-3 are due to Figure 8C. Some slots 806_1, 806-2 may be further configured to accept associated expansion cards 8〇8-1, 808-2. The input signal can then respond to the slots 806-1, 806-2 to indicate when one or more of the slots have been occupied by their associated expansion cards 8〇8-:1, 808-2. For example, 'one slot 806_1 can be configured to accept one MemoryStick® flash media card' and another slot 806-2 can be configured to accept a SmartMedia8 flash media card. If a MemoryStick® flash media card is inserted into a slot 806-1, an input signal is transmitted to the controller 10A via the input path 8Q3 in response to this condition to indicate the presence of the card by the controller 10A. Once again, those skilled in the art are aware of the various ways in which various cards that actually exist in a slot are detected. In addition, the other slot 806-3 can be a standard PC card type Ι / Π / ΙΠ interface. Such an interface can accept a passive adapter 811 that can further accept a variety of expansions of the 1273428 charging card 808-3. As previously detailed, such adapter 811 can further include a smart card slot to accept a smart card. Other types of passive adapters 811 can be used on the same PC card interface and accept flash media cards. For example, a MemoryStick® adapter accepts a MemoryStick® card and connects to a standard PC Card type interface. Turning to Figure 9, a more detailed block diagram illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an integrated controller i〇A. As depicted, a PC card (a 16-bit PCMCIA card and a 32-bit CardBus card), or a passive card that accepts a smart card or flash media card, can be coupled to slot 904 or 906. The detection and _ operation capabilities of PC cards and smart cards are similar to those described above with reference to Figures 3-7. Controller 10A may also include a number of flash media logics 910, 912, 914 and registers to control the connection of the flash media card to the host system. For example, such logic is available for reading

SmartMediaTM, CompactFlashTM, and MemoryStick® cards. A controller 10A in accordance with the present invention can also be configured to enable selected readers and other readers. More advantageously, this allows for power savings and simplifies the operation of the integrated controller 10A. In addition, it also allows the selected readers to be individually tested&apos; as previously detailed. In order to enable a particular flash media reader, an integrated controller 1 〇 external one of the SEEPROMs can be utilized. This SEEPROM can load data information into the read-only configuration register when the system power is turned on. This information may include a number of different information, such as PC manufacturer information and system configuration instructions, including information indicating the readers to be enabled and intended to be disabled. A preferred method of enabling a particular flash media reader can include a software that plans to integrate the media register 908 within the controller 21 </ RTI> 1273428 10A based on the input signals transmitted on the input path 〇3. To accomplish this, the media register 908&apos;, especially the &apos;socket-on-demand&apos; register, can be programmed with values that may otherwise be stored in the external SEEPROM. The plan of the scratchpad can occur in a specific state, for example: a &quot;power on" reset state, or at other times described below. Take Figure 10 as an example 'flowchart 1 〇〇〇 how the data is A particular state is written to the scratchpad, such as a "power on," state. In the first step 1002, the "power on" state is initiated, which generates a reset function. At this point, as indicated by step 1004, the &apos;slot demand (s〇eket-on-demand)&quot; register enters the planable state. In the next step 1 〇〇6, a software schedule in accordance with the present invention writes data to the scratchpad. This information may include customer-specific 0EM data that may be stored in the SEEPROM. This information may also include information on testing or selecting an expansion card as described earlier. The 'lock-on' function is then activated at 1 〇〇 8 to avoid subsequent accidental or unauthorized writes to the scratchpad. A lock function can be a predetermined one-lock bit, a predetermined read/write lock sequence, or a predetermined data lock pattern. Thereafter, the &quot;slot requirement&quot; register becomes &quot;read only,, register 1010. Jump to Figure 11, the &quot;slot requirement&quot; register remains in read-only state 11〇2 until power Turn on the "Reset function is restarted, or until, unlock, the function is caused by the month b 1104. An unlocking function can include a predetermined unlock bit, a predetermined read/write string, or a predetermined data unlock bit string. After this unlocking function, the software according to the present invention writes the batting to the register in the next step. For example, a three-bit data sequence can be used for -22· 1273428 to provide instructions to the controller to enable or disable certain flash media readers. - A &quot;000" string can be used to disable all flash readers and a &quot;〇〇1&quot; serial can cause this particular flash media reader. The flash media reader can be caused Can be detected in response-test signals or specific flash media cards in a particular slot. Afterwards, as described in the previous steps, the lock function is enabled 1108 = prevent undesired data from being written to the scratchpad Therefore, the &quot;slot requirement&quot; register becomes &quot;read only&quot; register 1110. The specific examples described herein are only a few examples of the use of the present invention, and only The present invention is not limited by the examples, and many other embodiments that are apparent to those skilled in the art can be appreciated by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Spirit and Category. [Simple Description of the Drawings] The other features and advantages of the present invention are apparently exemplified by the detailed description of the drawings and the accompanying drawings, which are similar to the components, and wherein: φ Figure 1 is a description of a smart card for PC applications. Figure 2 is a block diagram of the system of the integrated smart card reader of the present invention; Figure 3 is a detailed block diagram of the integrated smart card reader of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state machine block diagram of a conventional smart card reader; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional PC card detection and voltage sensing pin arrangement manner, and an example of a smart card detection pin arrangement used by the controller of the present invention; The exemplary smart card of the present invention is coupled with a passive smart card reader. A flow chart of the detection rule of the -23- 1273428; FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams for describing the functional pins of the conventional pCMCIA assignment and are respectively applied to the smart card interface. And FIG. 8A illustrates another embodiment of the present invention, which illustrates a controller having one or more flash media readers responsive to an input signal; FIG. 8B A method for generating an input signal of FIG. 8A based on a specific slot, the slot accepting a specific expansion card; FIG. 8C illustrates another method of generating the input signal 10 of FIG. 8A based on a plurality of slots;Figure 9 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of a controller having two flash media readers and two PC card type ΙΙ/ΙΙ/蜇 介 slots; Figure 1 An exemplary flow chart illustrating a method for planning data to a read-only memory in a controller when the controller is in power-on state; and FIG. 11 is an exemplary flowchart, It illustrates a method for planning data to a read-only memory in a controller when the controller is not in the power-on state. [Main component symbol description] ίο, 10Α 12, 14, 14f 16 18 Controller Slot Smart Card Processor Smart Card Adapter-24- 1273428 20 Data Bus 22 South Bridge Logic 24 North Bridge Logic 26 Processor 28 Power 1C Chip 30A, 30B Smart Card Sense Logic 32A, 32B Smart Card Multiplex Logic 34A, 34B Smart Card Reader Logic 36A, 36B Bus Interface Controller / Interface Logic 38 Peripheral Controller Interface (PCI) Interface 40, 42 , 44 ' 46 , 48 Pin / Input 50 , 52 , 54 Logic 60 card type Test Procedure 62-83 Steps for Card Type Detection Procedures 84, 841 Connector 86 ^ 86f Passive Circuit 88 Physical Contact Point 102 Host Controller / PC Card Controller 104 Adapter Card 106 &gt; 108 PC Card Connector 803 Input Path 804-1, 804-2~804-n Flash Media Reader 805 &gt; 904, 906 Slots 806-1~806-3 Slot-25- 1273428 807 Test Path 806-1 ~ 808-3 Expansion Card 810 Flash Media 811 Passive Patching 908, 913 Register 910 &gt; 912, 914 Flash Media 1000 Flowchart 1002-1010 Step 1102-1110 Step Card Logic

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Claims (1)

I273428 X. Patent Application Range: An expansion card and a plurality of readers for controlling the plurality of associated expansion cards, wherein at least one of the plurality of readers is an Iflash media reader . '', 2. For a controller of the patent scope W, wherein the plurality of readers further includes at least one smart card reader and at least one PC card reader. 3. Please patent scope! The controller of the item 'where the plurality of expansion cards are selected from the group consisting of a PC card, a smart card, and a flash media card. 4. The controller of claim j, wherein the plurality of readers comprise a plurality of flash media readers, and the controller is configured to respond to an input signal 'the indication thereof from the fast A flash media reader selected in the intermediate media reader to enable the selected flash media reader. 5. The controller of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to disable all other flash media readers of the plurality of ten flash media readers. a personal computer having an integrated PC card capability for receiving digital information from at least one expansion card coupled to the personal computer, comprising: a controller comprising a plurality of At least one of the plurality of expansion cards and the plurality of readings for controlling the operations of the plurality of associated expansion cards are at least one of the flash media readers. A personal computer as claimed in claim 6, wherein the plurality of readers further comprises at least one smart card reader and at least one pc card reading 103980-940926.doc 1273428. 8. A personal computer as claimed in claim 6, wherein the plurality of expansion cards are selected from the group consisting of a PC card, a smart card, and a flash media card. 9. The personal computer of claim 6, wherein the plurality of readers comprise a flash media reader, and the controller is configured to respond to an input signal indicating that it is from the fast A flash media reader selected in the flash media reader to enable the selected flash media reader. 10. The personal computer of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to disable all other flash media readers of the plurality of flash media readers. 11. The personal computer of claim 6, wherein the at least one expansion card is a predetermined flash media card that is connected to the personal computer by inserting into a slot of the personal computer, the slot system Configuring to accept the predetermined flash media card, and the input signal is determined according to a state in which the predetermined flash media card is inserted into the slot. 12. A method of controlling operation of at least one expansion card, wherein the operation of the expansion card is controlled by an integrated controller having a plurality of readers, the 4 reader comprising at least one flash memory read The method includes: detecting the presence of the at least one expansion card; and enabling a reader associated with the at least one expansion card and selected from the integrated controller. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the detecting step detects the presence of at least one flash media card. 14. The method of claim 12, which further comprises the incorporation of the integrated control 103980-940926.doc 1273428 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. All other unselected readers of the device step. The method of claim 12, wherein the enabling step comprises: releasing a locked state of the read-only memory in the integrated controller; and writing data to the read-only memory according to the result of the detecting step Point out the reader that you want to enable. The method of claim 15, wherein the enabling step further comprises: locking the hexadecimal hexagram to avoid inadvertent or unauthorized writing to the readable memory. The method of claim 12, wherein the detecting step comprises detecting the presence of the expansion card by using a conventional PC card specification signal line, comprising: determining a signal state of the first and second card detection signal lines; determining the first sum a signal state of the second voltage selection signal line; determining whether the first and/or second card detection signal lines, or the first and/or first voltage selection signal lines comprise a signal state of one of the pc card signal specifications; and A signal state of a predetermined unused PC card signal line is determined, which is related to the state of the reserved signal. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of: determining the presence of a smart card by determining whether the first card detection signal and the second voltage selection signal are combined. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of determining the states of the signal lines comprises polling the signal lines with a predetermined input signal and measuring an output signal. The method of claim 17, wherein the detecting step is based on a 103980-940926.doc 1273428 whether the flash media card is present in an associated slot to detect the presence of the flash media card. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. A system for detecting and operating a smart card, comprising: a slot for accommodating a smart card; and an integrated controller for detecting the wisdom a first logic circuit group of the card, a second logic circuit group enabled by the first logic circuit group to operate the smart card, enabled by the first and second logic circuit groups to utilize a conventional PC card communication protocol A multiplexer logic circuit that provides communication between the smart card and a bus interface controller. The system of claim 21, further comprising: a second slot for accommodating a PC card; the integrated controller further comprising logic circuitry for detecting and operating the PC card, the logic circuit enabling The worker logic circuit provides communication between the PC card and the bus interface controller by using the conventional PC card communication protocol. For example, in the system of claim 21, the integrated controller further includes a bus interface to allow the bus interface controller to communicate with a bus. The system of claim 23, wherein the bus includes a peripheral controller interface bus, and the bus interface controller includes a peripheral controller interface bus and a conventional PC card communication protocol. The system of claim 22, wherein the Pc card is selected from the group consisting of a CardBus card or a PCMCIA card. A method for detecting and operating a plurality of expansion cards, comprising the following steps: 103980-940926.doc 1273428 Detecting whether a card is inserted into a card slot; determining the type of the card using a conventional PC card signal line; In the form of a smart card reader logic circuit or a conventional PC card reader logic circuit; and enabling a multiplexer logic circuit to provide the card and a bus interface controller using a conventional PC card protocol Communication function. 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of determining the type of the card further comprises the steps of: determining a signal state of the first and second card detection signal lines; and determining signals of the first and second voltage selection signal lines a state of determining whether the first and/or second card detection signal line or the first and/or second voltage selection signal line includes a signal state retained by a PC card signal specification; determining that the PC card is not used during the detection period a signal state of the PC card signal line; and the first and/or second card detection signal line, and/or the first and/or second voltage selection signal line, and/or the unused PC card signal line The signal status determines the presence of an expansion card that conforms to the PC card specification and/or the presence of an expansion card that conforms to specifications other than the PC card specification. 2 8 · The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of: using the bus interface controller to interface the card to a busbar to provide a communication function between the busbar and the card. 29. A system for detecting and operating a plurality of expansion cards, comprising: a first slot for accommodating a first expansion 103980-940926.doc 1273428 card conforming to a PC card specification; a second insertion a slot for accommodating a second expansion card conforming to a specification other than the pc card specification; and an integrated controller including a first logic circuit group for detecting and operating the first expansion card, Providing the first and/or second expansion cards and the first and/or second logic circuit groups to detect and operate the first and/or second expansion circuit cards to provide the first and/or second expansion cards and A multiplexer logic circuit for communication functions between bus interface controllers. 3 0. The system of claim 29, wherein the first card comprises a CardBus card. 3 1 The system of claim 29, wherein the second card comprises a smart card. 32. The system of claim 29, wherein the integrated controller further comprises a bus interface to allow the bus interface controller to communicate with a bus. 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the bus includes a peripheral controller interface bus, and the bus interface controller includes a peripheral controller interface bus and a conventional PC card protocol. 34. The system of claim 29, wherein the second logic circuit group detects the second card using a conventional PC card signal line. 35. An integrated controller for reading a plurality of expansion cards, comprising: a first logic circuit group for detecting and operating a first expansion card; and a second for detecting and operating a second expansion card And the first and/or second logic circuit group is enabled to utilize the conventional PC card 103980-940926.doc 1273428 communication protocol for the first and/or second expansion card and a bus interface controller A multiplexer logic circuit that provides communication functions. 36. An integrated controller for reading a smart card, comprising: a first logic circuit group for detecting the smart card, and a second enabled by the first logic circuit group to operate the smart card A logic circuit group, a multiplexer logic circuit enabled by the first and second logic circuit groups to provide a communication function between the smart card and a bus interface controller using a conventional PC card communication protocol. 3 7. The controller of claim 36, wherein the first logic circuit group detects the smart card using a conventional PC card signal line. 3 8. The controller of claim 36, further comprising a PC card logic circuit for detecting and operating a PC card, the PC card logic circuit enabling the multiplexer logic circuit to utilize the conventional PC card communication The agreement provides communication between the PC card and the bus interface controller. 39. The controller of claim 36, further comprising a bus interface to allow the bus interface controller to communicate with a bus. 40. The controller of claim 39, wherein the bus includes a peripheral controller interface bus, and the bus interface controller includes a peripheral controller interface bus and a conventional PC card communication protocol. 103980-940926.doc