Media Card Command Pass Through Methods

• US 20090182919A1
• Filed: 11/07/2008
• Published: 07/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sandisk Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Soffer, Meytal, Yan, Mei, Barzilai, Ron, Yuan, Po, Qawami, Bahman, Sabet-Sharghi, Farshid, Tanik, Haluk Kent, Chang, Robert Chin-Tse, Dwyer, Patricia, Hutton, Henry Ricardo
• Granted Patent: US 8,078,788 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/106
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4291 using a clocked protocol

Abstract

Methods for transmitting application specific or extended commands between a host and a memory card are disclosed. Commands for an extended card protocol are embedded in messages, along with a marker, in the data or command portion of a base card transmission protocol that is used to communicate between the host and the memory card. This allows for the transmission of application specific commands that lack a corresponding command in the base card protocol. The method can be implemented on the host side at the device driver level or the file level. In order to implement a read command in the extended card protocol, a write command in the base card protocol with an encapsulated read command in the extended protocol is first sent to a logical address, followed by a read command to the same logical address. Message set identifiers associate embedded commands and data received in separate transmissions.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting a message to a memory card, comprising:

in a system comprising a memory card and a host, the host exchanging commands and data with the memory card according to a base card protocol, transmitting a message formatted in an extended card protocol to the memory card by the host;

dividing the message into a plurality of message parts; and

transmitting the plurality of message parts to the memory card, the transmitting of each message part comprising;

encapsulating the message part in a data field of a command formatted in the base card protocol; and

transmitting the command to a logical block address of the memory card, where the logical block address corresponds to a base address and an offset determined from a size of the plurality of message parts already transmitted.