Use of Small Electronic Circuit Cards With Different Interfaces in an Electronic System
First Claim
1. An electronic card that is removably insertable into a receptacle which makes electrical contact with contacts on the card, wherein a physical shape of the card and an arrangement of the contacts conform with a first published card standard, while an electrical interface through the contacts conforms to a second published card standard, the first and second card standards specifying incompatible physical card shapes, arrangements of contacts and electrical signal interfaces.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Electronic systems, such as automobile radios, portable and other computing devices, and global positioning system receivers, often require that a correct security code be inputted from a small memory card that is removably inserted into a card slot of the system before the system is rendered operable in total or in part, or before certain data can be retrieved. The same type of memory card is also used to store digital data that is utilized by the system in conjunction with its function that is enabled by the security code, such data cards being removably inserted into the same card slot as the card containing the security code. Alternately, both the utilization data and the security code are included on a single card. An example application is an automobile radio wherein data supplied by the second card are of music that is reproduced through the radio'"'"'s audio system.
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Citations
24 Claims
- 1. An electronic card that is removably insertable into a receptacle which makes electrical contact with contacts on the card, wherein a physical shape of the card and an arrangement of the contacts conform with a first published card standard, while an electrical interface through the contacts conforms to a second published card standard, the first and second card standards specifying incompatible physical card shapes, arrangements of contacts and electrical signal interfaces.
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7. A method using removable data memory cards, comprising:
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providing a first card having a physical shape, arrangement of electrical contacts and an electrical interface through the contacts according to a first published card standard, providing a second card having a physical shape and an arrangement of electrical contacts according to the first card standard and an electrical interface through the contacts according to a second published card standard, wherein the first and second card standards specify incompatible physical card shapes, arrangements of contacts and electrical signal interfaces, inserting the first and second cards into at least one receptacle that electrically engages their contacts according to the arrangement of electrical contacts of the first card standard, reading data stored in the first and second cards through a system electrically connected with the receptacle, and utilizing the data read from the first and second cards by the system in a cooperative manner. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A method of operating an electronic device, comprising:
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inputting a security code to the electronic device by inserting a first non-volatile memory card into a receptacle of the device on which the security code is stored, comparing the inputted security code with a security code stored in a non-volatile manner within the device, and, if the security codes compare, enabling operation of the electronic device, after inputting the security code from the first card, removing said first card from the receptacle, thereafter inputting data to the electronic device that is utilized in the operation thereof by inserting a second non-volatile memory card into said receptacle on which the data is stored, and thereafter operating the enabled electronic device with the use of said data. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An electronic device, comprising:
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at least one receptacle into which a first electronic card having a shape and arrangement of contacts of a first published card standard is removably insertable to form an electrical connection between the contacts of the card and the device but wherein a second electronic card having a shape and arrangement of contacts of a second published card standard is not operatively insertable into the receptacle to make said connection, and wherein the first memory card includes electronic functions and an electrical interface according to the second card standard that are distinct from electronic functions and an electrical interface of the first card standard. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An electronic device, comprising:
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an electronic system that performs at least one designated function, a stored security code, at least one receptacle into which at least one type of non-volatile memory card is removably insertable, a circuit connected to said at least one receptacle to receive a security code from a memory card inserted into said at least one receptacle and enable the electronic system to perform said at least one designated function when the received security code matches the stored security code, and another circuit connected to said at least one receptacle to receive data from a memory card inserted into said at least one receptacle and supply that data to the electronic system for use in the performance of said at least one designated function. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. Sound apparatus, comprising:
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at least first and second memory cards that each have a given physical format and pattern of electrical contacts from which data stored therein can be read, and an audio unit for installation in a vehicle, including;
an audio amplifier, a slot to receive insertion of one of the memory cards at a time and contact the given pattern of electrical contacts of an inserted memory card, a security circuit that enables operation of the audio unit in response to a specific security code for the radio, and a card interface circuit connected with the slot to provide a security code to the security circuit and audio data to the audio amplifier according to data contained on a card inserted in the slot, said first memory card containing security code data to which the security circuit responds and the second memory card containing audio data to which the audio amplifier responds to reproduce sound according to the audio data.
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Specification