Memory cartridge

Claim 2

A memory cartridge which is attachable to and detachable from a main unit of a personal computer including a central processing unit accessible to a relatively small address space and is loaded in said main unit when used, comprising: a case, a circuit board housed in said case, a first non-volatile memory which is mounted on said circuit board and has a relatively large memory capacity, and whose memory area is divided into a plurality of banks, an active device which is mounted on said circuit board and is for selectively designating a bank of said first memory. a second memory which is mounted on said circuit board and has a relatively small memory capacity conductive patterns which are formed on said circuit board and is for leading address terminals and data terminals of said first memory and said second memory to an edge of said circuit board to enable them to connect to said central processing unit of said main unit, and connecting said first memory and said active device.

Claim 3

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 1, wherein in at least one bank of said first memory, bank selecting data for selecting other banks is stored, and said active device selects said other banks of said first memory based on the bank selecting data given from said first memory.

Claim 4

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 2, wherein a specific bank among a plurality of banks of said first memory is allocated to a first address space of said central processing unit as a bank accessible all the time by said central processing unit, and therein bank selecting data for selecting a bank corresponding to a second address space accessible by said central processing unit is stored, and said active device selects a bank of said first memory by said second address space based on said bank selecting data given from said first memory.

Claim 5

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 3, wherein display data for forming a display screen according to the purpose of use, program data for attaining the purpose of use, and command data for transferring said display data to said second memory as required are stored in the remaining banks of said first memory.

Claim 6

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 4, wherein data of characters are stored as said display data in said remaining bank of said first memory.

Claim 7

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 5, wherein said personal computer main unit constitutes a video gaming machine, and said character data is data of characters used for the game.

Claim 8

A memory cartridge in accordance with any one of claim 1 through claim 6, wherein said first memory includes a RO M , and said second memory includes a RAM.

Claim 9

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 2 or claim 3, wherein said first memory includes address terminals, and said active device includes a semiconductor device which receives the bank selecting data given from said first memory and gives a signal for changing-over the bank to said address terminals.

Claim 10

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 8, wherein said semiconductor device includes holding means for holding said bank selecting data.

Claim 11

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 9, wherein said active device includes gating means which, when given a signal designating a specific bank comprised in said first memory from said central processing unit, give this signal to the most significant address terminals of said first memory, and when not given this signal, gives output of said holding means to said most significant address terminals of said first memory.

Claim 12

An external memory cartridge connected to a central processing unit accessible to a certain address space by an address bus, comprising: a one-chip ROM which has a larger number of memory areas accessible by said central processing unit, and whose address ports are connected to said address bus, wherein memory area of said one-chip ROM is divided into a plurality of banks respectively having a smaller number of memory areas accessible by said central processing unit, wherein said central processing unit and said one-chip ROM are connected by a data bus, and an active device whose input is connected to predetermined bits of said data bus, and whose output is connected to specific bits of said one-chip ROM as a bank selecting code.

Claim 13

An external memory cartridge connected to a central processing unit accessible to a certain address space by an address bus, comprising: a one-chip ROM which has a larger number of memory areas accessible by said central processing unit, and whose address ports are connected to said address bus, wherein memory area of said one-chip ROM is divided into a plurality of banks respectively having a smaller number of memory areas accessible by said central processing unit, wherein said central processing unit and said one-chip ROM are connected by a data bus, and an active device whose input is connected to predetermined bits of said data bus, and whose output is connected to specific bits of said one-chip ROM as a bank selecting code.

Claim 14

A memory cartridge which is attachable to and detachable from a main unit of a personal computer comprising a central processing unit accessible to a predetermined address space and is loaded in said main unit when used, comprising: a case, a circuit board housed in said case, a first memory which is mounted on said circuit board, has a larger number of memory areas accessible by said central processing unit, and is divided into a plurality of banks respectively having a smaller number of memory areas accessible by said central processing unit, wherein a specific bank of said plurality of banks can be accessed all the time by said central processing unit, and therein bank selecting data for selecting arbitrary remaining banks is stored, and in the remaining banks, bank selecting data for selecting other banks as required are stored, an active device which is mounted on said circuit board and is for selectively designating a bank of said first memory by bank selecting data read from said first memory, and conductive patterns which are formed on said circuit board and is for leading address terminals and data terminals of said first memory to an edge of said circuit board to enable them to connect said central processing unit of said main unit, and connecting said first memory and said active device.

Claim 15

A memory cartridge which is attachable to and detachable from a main unit of a personal computer comprising a central processing unit accessible to a predetermined address space and is loaded in said main unit when used, comprising: a case, a circuit board housed in said case, a first memory which is mounted on said circuit board, has a larger number of memory areas accessible by said central processing unit, and is divided into a plurality of banks respectively having a smaller number of memory areas accessible by said central processing unit, wherein a specific bank of said plurality of banks can be accessed all the time by said central processing unit, and therein bank selecting data for selecting arbitrary remaining banks is stored, and in the remaining banks, bank selecting data for selecting other banks as required are stored, an active device which is mounted on said circuit board and is for selectively designating a bank of said first memory by bank selecting data read from said first memory, and conductive patterns which are formed on said circuit board and is for leading address terminals and data terminals of said first memory to an edge of said circuit board to enable them to connect said central processing unit of said main unit, and connecting said first memory and said active device.

Claim 16

A memory cartridge in accordance with claim 12, further comprising a second memory which is mounted on said circuit board and can read and write, wherein in at least one bank of said first memory, display data for forming a display screen according to the purpose of use and command data for transferring said display data to said second memory as necessary are stored, and further comprising means for transferring said display data read from said first memory in response to command data.