Removable computer with mass storage

• US 20030028699A1
• Filed: 08/02/2001
• Published: 02/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SanDisk Corporation (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Pinto, Yosi, Holtzman, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,418,344 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/301
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/606 by securing the transmission between two devices or processes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/78 to assure secure storage of data address-based protection against unauthorised use of memory G06F12/14; record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3879 for non-native instruction execution, e.g. executing a command; for Java instruction set
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57

Abstract

The present invention provides a detachable add-on card unit to a host system that combines mass storage capability and a processor on the same card. The card can receive data from the host, process the data, and store it in processed form, as well as the reverse process of retrieving stored data, processing it, and supplying it to the host. The non-volatile mass storage memory may contain program storage as well as card system data and user data. The end user of the card can program applications into the program storage. The combination of mass storage and a processor also adds to the capabilities of the on-card processor, allowing the card to store and execute programs. The present invention is able to provide a programmable add-on card unit to a host system. A number of applications can be stored in the card'"'"'s mass storage and loaded as needed by the on-card micro-controller.

Claims

1. An add-on card for detachably coupling to a processing system comprising:

an interface for communicating with said processing system while said add-on card is coupled with said processing system;

a program storage memory storing at least one operating sequence;

a mass storage memory including a program memory portion storing at least one additional operating sequence; and

a processing unit coupled to said interface, said program storage memory, and said mass storage memory, whereby the processor can operate on data transferred between the card and the processing system through the interface according to said at least one additional operating sequence.

2. The add-on card of claim 1, further comprising:

a card bus whereby the processing unit, the interface and the program storage memory are connected; and

a mass storage interface by which the mass storage memory is connected to the card bus.

3. The add-on card of claim 2, wherein the mass storage interface is a non-linear interface.

4. The add-on card of claim 1, wherein the data transferred between the card and the processing system is continuous media.

5. The add-on card of claim 4 further comprising:

a data cache memory connected to the processor and the mass storage memory for buffering the continuous media transferred between the card and the processing system.

6. The add-on card of claim 1, wherein said at least one additional operating sequence includes a decompression program.

7. The add-on card of claim 1, wherein said at least one additional operating sequence includes a compression program.

8. The add-on card of claim 1, wherein at least one additional operating sequence includes a data encryption/decryption routine.

9. The add-on card of claim 1, wherein at least one additional operating sequence includes a voice recognition routine.

10. The add-on card of claim 1, wherein the mass storage memory is a FLASH memory.

11. The add-on card of claim 1, wherein the mass storage memory further includes a portion storing system data, whereby the processor can operate on data transferred between the card and the processing system through the using the system data.

12. The add-on card of claim 1, wherein the mass storage further includes a portion for storing user data.

13. An add-on card for detachably coupling to a processing system comprising:

an interface for communicating with said processing system while said add-on card is coupled with said processing system;

a program storage memory storing an operating sequence;

a processing unit coupled to said interface and said program storage memory; and

a mass storage memory coupled to said processing unit, whereby the processor can operate on data transferred between the interface and the mass storage memory according to said operating sequence.

14. The add-on card of claim 13, further comprising:

a card bus whereby the processing unit, the interface and the program storage memory are connected; and

a mass storage interface by which the mass storage memory is connected to the card bus.

15. The add-on card of claim 14, wherein the mass storage interface is a non-linear interface.

16. The add-on card of claim 13, wherein the mass storage memory includes a program memory portion storing at least one additional operating sequence.

17. The add-on card of claim 13, wherein the data transferred between the interface and the mass storage memory is continuous media.

18. The add-on card of claim 17, further comprising:

a data cache memory connected to the processor and the mass storage memory for buffering the data transferred between the interface and the mass storage memory, wherein the data transferred is stored non-linearly.

19. The add-on card of claim 17, wherein at least a portion of the mass storage memory contains prerecorded continuous media.

20. The add-on card of claim 17, wherein said at least one operating sequence includes a decompression program.

21. The add-on card of claim 17, wherein said at least one operating sequence includes a compression program.

22. The add-on card of claim 13, wherein the data transferred between the interface and the mass storage memory is a navigation data base.

23. The add-on card of claim 13, wherein said at least one operating sequence includes a data encryption/decryption routine.

24. The add-on card of claim 13, wherein said at least one operating sequence includes a voice recognition routine.

25. The add-on card of claim 13, wherein the mass storage memory is a FLASH memory.

26. A method of operating a host system to which an add-on card can be detachably coupled, comprising:

providing an add-on card with a processing unit and a non-volatile mass storage memory;

causing the add-on card to be attached to the host system;

processing data stored in the mass storage memory with the processing unit; and

supplying the processed data to host.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said processing is performed according to an application which the host lacks.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the data stored in the mass storage memory is recorded prior to said causing the add-on card to be attached to the host system.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the data stored in the mass storage memory is continuous media.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the data stored in the mass storage memory is stored in compressed form, and wherein said processing is decompressing.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein the data stored in the mass storage memory is a navigation data base.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein the data stored in the mass storage memory is stored in encrypted form, and wherein said processing is decrypting.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein a plurality of applications are stored on the add-on card, the method further comprising:

causing the selection an application from the plurality of applications, wherein said processing is performed according to the selected application.

34. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

downloading an application from the host to the add-on card subsequent to said causing the add-on card to be attached to the host system, wherein said processing is performed according to the downloaded application.

35. The method of claim 26, further comprising subsequent to causing the add-on card to be attached to the host system and prior to processing data stored in the mass storage memory with the processing unit:

providing data from the host to the add-on card;

processing the data provided from the host with the processing unit; and

storing in the mass storage memory the data from the host processed with the processing unit.

36. A method of operating a host system to which an add-on card can be detachably coupled, comprising:

providing an add-on card with a processing unit and a non-volatile mass storage memory;

causing the add-on card to be attached to the host system;

supplying data from the host to the add-on card;

processing data supplied from the host with the processing unit; and

storing the processed data in the mass storage memory.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein said processing is performed according to an application which the host lacks.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the data stored in the mass storage memory is continuous media.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the data stored in the mass storage memory is stored in compressed form, and wherein said processing is compressing.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein the data stored in the mass storage memory is stored in encrypted form, and wherein said processing is encrypting.

41. The method of claim 36, wherein a plurality of applications are stored on the add-on card, the method further comprising:

causing the selection an application from the plurality of applications, wherein said processing is performed according to the selected application.

42. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

downloading an application from the host to the add-on card subsequent to said causing the add-on card to be attached to the host system, wherein said processing is performed according to the downloaded application.

43. A method of operating a host system to which an add-on card can be detachably coupled, comprising:

providing an add-on card including a processing unit and a non-volatile mass storage memory, wherein the mass storage memory includes a program memory portion in which are stored a plurality of applications;

coupling the add-on card to the host system;

causing one of the applications to be selected;

receiving data from the host on the add-on card;

processing data received from the host with the processing unit according to the selected application; and

supplying the processed data to host.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the selected application is an application which the host lacks.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the data received from the host is continuous media.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the selected application is data decompression.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein the selected application is data compression.

48. The method of claim 43, and wherein the selected application is decryption.

49. The method of claim 43, and wherein the selected application is encryption.

50. The method of claim 43, and wherein the selected application is voice recognition.

51. A method of operating an add-on card for detachably coupling to a processing system comprising:

coupling the add-on card to a first host system, and while so coupled;

transferring data from the first host to the card;

processing the data from the first host according to a first application; and

storing the data processed according to the first application on the card;

decoupling the add-on card from the first host system;

coupling the add-on card to a second host system, and while so coupled;

transferring the stored data from the card to the second host; and

processing the stored data according to a second application, wherein at least one of the hosts lacks the application according to which the processing while the card is attached to said at least one of the hosts is performed.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the first application is data compression and, wherein the second application is data decompression.

53. The method of claim 51, wherein the first application is data encryption and, wherein the second application is data decryption.

54. A method of operating a host processing system to which an add-on card can be detachably coupled, comprising:

providing an add-on card with a processing unit, wherein a plurality of applications are stored in the combined host/card system;

coupling the add-on card to the host system;

causing one of the applications to be selected;

processing data according to the selected application, wherein said processing is performed by the card'"'"'s processing unit and the host processing system together on an application level.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein said processing comprises executing a plurality of tasks, and wherein at least one of the tasks is executed by the host processing system and at least one of the tasks is allocated by the host to be executed by the card'"'"'s processing unit.

56. A secured communication system comprising a first apparatus and a second apparatus wherein

said first apparatus comprising

a first host unit having a data receiver for receiving voice data and a transmitter for communicating with said second apparatus;

and

a first card unit detachably coupling to said first host unit, wherein said first host unit transmits said voice data to said first card unit for processing, wherein said first card unit performs data processing on the voice data received from said first host unit, and wherein said processed data is returned to said first host unit from said first card unit,

said second apparatus comprising

a second host unit comprising a receiver for communicating with said first apparatus, wherein the processed data is received from said first host unit to said second host unit; and

a second card unit detachably coupling to said second host unit, wherein said second host unit transmits said processed data received from said first host unit to said second card unit for processing, wherein said second card unit reconstructs said voice data from said processed data, and wherein the reconstructed voice data is returned to said second host unit from said second card unit.

57. The secured communication system according to claim 56, wherein said first card unit encrypts said voice data received, and said second card unit decrypts the encrypted voice data.

58. The secured communication system according to claim 56, wherein said first card unit compresses said voice data received, and said second card unit decompresses the compressed voice data.

59. A secured apparatus, comprising:

a host unit having an input mechanism for receiving user inputs from an user, wherein said user inputs comprise security data for user verification; and

a card unit detachably coupling to said host unit, wherein said host unit transmits said security data to said card unit for said user verification, wherein said card unit performs said user verification using said security data received from said host unit, and wherein an user verification result is returned to said host unit from said card unit,

wherein when said user verification result indicates that said user is an authorized user, said user is authorized to use said secured apparatus.

60. The secured apparatus according to claim 59, wherein said security data comprises a voice sample captured from said user.

61. The secured apparatus according to claim 59, wherein said security data comprises a password.

62. The secured apparatus according to claim 59, wherein said security data comprises biometric data of said user.