EP0672987A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Portable PCMCIA interface for a host computer
Assignee: Sun Microsystems Inc
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Filing: 1995-03-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2015-03-10
Abstract
Abstract A portable PCMCIA interface for a host computer having a system bus. In one embodiment, the host computer is a SPARC based computer having an SBus and running the UNIX operating system. The PCMCIA interface provides a user application with access to a PCMCIA card. In this embodiment, the PCMCIA interface includes software and hardware components. The software component includes a hardware-independent portion and a hardware-dependent portion. By implementing the software in a suitable high level language such as "C", the software can be easily ported to other hardware platforms by merely adapting the hardware-dependent portion. The hardware component includes an ASIC coupled between the system bus and a couple of PCMCIA sockets. In some embodiments, the hardware also includes a 5 volt to 12 volt DC-DC converter between the system bus and the PCMCIA sockets.
Inventors
- 👤 Michael S. Bender
- 👤 Charles F. Patton
- 👤 Douglas Mccallum
- 👤 Duong Minh Vo
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 19:18
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F13/00; G06F13/10; G06F13/102
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
102 words
A PCMCIA interface for providing communications between a user application running on a host computer and a PC card, said interface comprising: a hardware-independent nexus for processing an external PCMCIA access request from said user application and generating a corresponding internal PCMCIA access request; a hardware-dependent driver coupled to said hardware-independent nexus for processing said internal PCMCIA access request and for causing a corresponding system bus signal to be generated on said system bus; and a PCMCIA adapter coupled between said system bus and said PC card for converting said system bus signal into a PC card signal for said PC card.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
34 words
The PCMCIA interface of claim 1 wherein said external PCMCIA access request is a PCMCIA card service request and said hardware-independent nexus includes a Card Services provider for processing said PCMCIA card service request.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The PCMCIA interface of claim 2 wherein said hardware-independent nexus further includes a PCMCIA nexus driver coupled to said Card Services provider for converting said card service request into said internal PCMCIA access request for said hardware-dependent driver.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
48 words
The PCMCIA interface of claim 3 wherein said hardware-independent nexus further includes an events manager coupled to said PCMCIA nexus driver for providing a communication channel between said PC card and said user application enabling said PC card to generate an unsolicited event report to said user application.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
The PCMCIA interface of claim 1 wherein said hardware-dependent driver includes an adapter driver for converting said internal PCMCIA access request into a system bus signal for said PC card.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The PCMCIA interface of claim 2 wherein said Card Services provider includes an interpreter for parsing an information tuple from said PC card.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
The PCMCIA interface of claim 1 wherein said host computer is a SPARC based computer system.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
15 words
The PCMCIA interface of claim 1 wherein said system bus is a SPARC based SBus.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
16 words
The PCMCIA interface of claim 1 wherein said host computer is a UNIX based computer system.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
96 words
A method of providing communications between a user application running on a host computer and a PC card coupled to a system bus of said host computer, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of: processing said external PCMCIA access request; generating an internal PCMCIA access request in response to said external PCMCIA access request; processing said internal PCMCIA access request; generating a system bus signal on said system bus in response to said internal PCMCIA access request; and converting said system bus signal into a PC card signal in response to said system bus signal.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the step of processing said external access request includes the step of providing PCMCIA card services.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 10 further comprising the computer implemented step of providing a communication channel for said PC card to generate an unsolicited event report to said user application.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 10 further comprising the computer implemented step of parsing an information tuple from said PC card.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the step of converting said system bus signal includes the step of converting an SBus signal.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
51 words
A PCMCIA adapter for interfacing between an SBus of a host computer and a PC card, comprising: a PCMCIA socket for accommodating said PC card; a buffer for storing information to be transferred between said SBus and said PCMCIA card; and a core logic for controlling a transfer of said information.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
The PCMCIA adapter of claim 15 further comprising a switch for applying and removing power between said SBus and said PCMCIA socket
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
17 words
The PCMCIA adapter of claim 15 further comprising a DC-DC voltage supply coupled to said PCMCIA socket.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
25 words
The PCMCIA adapter of claim 15 further comprising a boot PROM for booting said host computer with a boot image retrieved from said PC card.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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