JP2006202336A - Non-volatile memory device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a non-volatile memory device such as an IC card to comply with diversification of interfaces. <P>SOLUTION: The non-volatile memory device is provided with a controller 5C, a non-volatile memory 4 such as a flash memory, and a radio communication circuit 18. The controller allows access control to the non-volatile memory and communication control via the radio communication circuit and has an authentication function. The radio communication circuit can be connected with an antenna 19 for radio communication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for extending the functionality of an IC card and further improving the convenience of a portable information terminal device using the IC card, and is effective when applied to, for example, a Multi Media Card or a compatible memory card thereof. Technology.

  For the purpose of moving information between a mobile phone and a digital network device, a memory card such as a multimedia card that has been reduced in size and weight and simplified in interface is provided. As described in, for example, the interface (December 1999 issue) issued by CQ Publisher, the multimedia card has seven connector terminals as external interface terminals, adopts a serial interface, and uses a PC card or hard disk. Compared to the ATA interface to be adopted, the load on the host system can be reduced, and a simpler system can be used. In addition, this document also describes that an SD card has been proposed as an upward compatible memory card of a multimedia card that employs a serial interface and has nine connector terminals.

Interface issued by CQ Publisher (December 1999 issue)

  The inventor has examined a storage system IC card such as a multimedia card. According to this, storage system IC cards such as PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) compliant PC cards and the above-mentioned multimedia cards also have functions as storage cards. No expansion has been made. In particular, when it is assumed to be applied to portable information terminal devices such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), the user is of various ages and tiers, so even a storage IC card is more user-friendly. The need for expansion has been found by the inventors.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an IC card capable of easily recognizing an access status to a mounted memory and a free capacity state.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an IC card that is easy to use from the viewpoint of protecting the copyright and privacy of information to be stored in the memory when it is stored in the memory and can be circulated and there is a risk of falsification. It is to provide.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide an IC card that can cope with diversification of interfaces.

  Another object of the present invention is to improve the usability of a storage IC card on the mobile terminal device side.

  The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

  The following is a brief description of an outline of typical inventions disclosed in the present application.

  [1] The first aspect of the present invention is to provide the IC card itself with a display function. The first invention makes it possible to display the status during the access operation. That is, an IC card having a card substrate on which a semiconductor integrated circuit is mounted and formed with a plurality of connector terminals, and exposing the connector terminals from the casing, is a controller connected to the connector terminals as the semiconductor integrated circuit. Including a memory that is readable and writable via the controller, and is provided with a light emitting element that is exposed from the casing, and the controller can drive and control the light emitting element to display a state during the memory access operation. To. As a result, the IC card itself can identify the status of the built-in memory being accessed, and it is possible to reduce the occurrence of the situation where data is destroyed by accidentally removing the IC card from the card socket during access. become.

  The second invention makes it possible to display the free memory capacity. That is, an IC card having a card substrate on which a semiconductor integrated circuit is mounted and formed with a plurality of connector terminals, and exposing the connector terminals from the casing, is a controller connected to the connector terminals as the semiconductor integrated circuit. Including a memory that is readable and writable via the controller, and is provided with a light emitting element that is exposed from the casing, and the controller can drive and control the light emitting element to display the state of free space in the memory. It is. As a result, the free space of the memory can be identified by the IC card itself, and it becomes possible to promptly prepare a spare IC card before falling into a situation where the storage area becomes empty during the write operation. .

  When a light emitting element such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) is used as the display mode of the free capacity, the controller uses the difference in the emission color of the light emitting element and the difference in lighting and blinking of the light emitting element. The capacity status may be displayed.

  In the third invention, display on the IC card is made to respond to a command from the outside. That is, an IC card having a card substrate on which a semiconductor integrated circuit is mounted and formed with a plurality of connector terminals, and exposing the connector terminals from the casing, is a controller connected to the connector terminals as the semiconductor integrated circuit. A light-emitting element that is exposed from the casing, and the controller drives the light-emitting element in response to a predetermined command given from the connector terminal. Control.

  Since the display content by the light emitting element is instructed by an external command, when determining the display content according to the internal state of the IC card or the information held by the IC card, it is necessary to output necessary information from the IC card to the outside. For example, in order to display the free space, the memory has a storage area for sector management information, and the controller can read at least information necessary for calculating the free space of the memory from the storage area and output it from the connector terminal. is there. In addition, for displaying the authorization determination result for the storage information in the memory, the memory or the controller has an authorization code storage area, and the controller reads the authorization code from the storage area and reads the authorization code from the connector terminal. Output is possible. In addition, in order to display the result of approval / disapproval of the password, the memory or the controller has a password code storage area, and the controller can read the password code from the storage area and output it from the connector terminal. is there.

  When the IC card intends to bear a part of copyright protection of data stored in the memory, the controller may be provided with a security function for encrypting data to be written to the memory and decrypting data read from the memory. .

  [2] A second aspect of the present invention is to improve the usability of an IC card such as a storage system on the mobile terminal device side. According to a first aspect of the present invention, a state in which an IC card is being accessed is displayed on a portable terminal device. That is, it has an input operation unit, a data processing unit, a display unit, and a card socket, and the data processing unit performs data processing in response to an input from the input operation unit and performs display control of the display unit and a card socket. In the portable terminal device that controls the IC card attached to the IC card, the data processing unit can display a state during an access operation to the memory built in the IC card attached to the card socket on the display unit. You may employ | adopt the liquid crystal display part (LCD) or LED of a dot matrix display or a segment display format as said display part.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, the memory free space display of the IC card is performed by the portable terminal device. That is, it has an input operation unit, a data processing unit, a display unit, and a card socket, and the data processing unit performs data processing in response to an input from the input operation unit and performs display control of the display unit and a card socket. In the portable terminal device that controls the IC card attached to the card, the data processing unit reads predetermined information from the IC card attached to the card socket, and displays the state of memory free space based on the read information. Can be displayed. As the display unit, a dot matrix display unit may be adopted, and the state of the available memory capacity may be represented according to the type of icon or pattern displayed on the dot matrix display unit.

  When determining the display contents according to the internal state of the IC card, it is necessary to output necessary information from the IC card to the outside. Regarding the memory free space display, the predetermined information is information included in the sector management information of the file memory realized by the IC card mounted in the card socket.

  A third invention is a portable terminal device that determines display contents according to information stored in an IC card. That is, it has an input operation unit, a data processing unit, a display unit, and a card socket, and the data processing unit performs data processing in response to an input from the input operation unit and performs display control of the display unit and a card socket. In the portable terminal device that controls the IC card mounted on the card, the data processing unit can display the result of whether the information read from the predetermined information storage area of the IC card mounted on the card socket is valid or not. . At this time, the predetermined information storage area is an area allocated for storing an authorization code or a personal identification code.

  [3] A third aspect of the present invention is to make it possible to cope with diversification of interfaces even for IC cards such as storage systems. That is, an IC card having a card substrate on which a semiconductor integrated circuit is mounted and formed with a plurality of connector terminals, and the connector terminals are exposed from the casing, includes a controller connected to the connector terminals as the semiconductor integrated circuit, and the An infrared transmission / reception module that includes a memory that can be read / written via the controller and is controlled by the controller for transmission / reception is employed as a new interface.

  As an alternative interface, a radio transmission / reception interface module controlled by the controller for transmission / reception may be employed.

  Or you may employ | adopt the radio | wireless communication interface which can make transmission power small. That is, an IC card having a card substrate on which a semiconductor integrated circuit is mounted and a plurality of connector terminals are formed, and the connector terminals are exposed from a casing, the semiconductor integrated circuit is connected to the connector terminals and the controller A memory that can be read / written via the controller, and further includes an antenna that transmits information and a wireless communication control circuit that wirelessly controls the antenna according to data supplied from the controller. The controller has a security function for encrypting data to be written to the memory and decrypting data read from the memory, and information read from a predetermined information storage area in response to a command given from the connector terminal To the wireless communication control circuit. The predetermined information storage area is, for example, an area on the memory or controller allocated for storing an authorization code or a password.

  The effects obtained by the representative ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.

  That is, it is possible to easily recognize the access status to the memory mounted on the IC card and the state of the free capacity of the memory mounted on the IC card.

  When stored in the memory of the IC card and can be circulated and there is a risk of falsification, it is possible to realize an IC card that is more convenient from the viewpoint of protecting the copyright and privacy of the information to be stored in the memory. .

  It can cope with diversification of IC card interfaces. Furthermore, the usability of the storage system or the like IC card can be improved on the portable terminal device side.

《Memory card with display function》
1A shows a terminal surface of a memory card which is an example of an IC card according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B shows a chip mounting surface of the memory card. The memory card MC1 shown in the figure is a memory card conforming to a multimedia card in which a display function is added to the multimedia card. Although not particularly limited, the size of the memory card MC1 conforms to the standard of a multimedia card, and conforms to a standard of thickness 1.4 mm and plane dimensions 24 mm × 32 mm.

  The card substrate 1 of the memory card MC1 has seven rectangular connector terminals 2 of the same shape and equally spaced on the terminal surface of a substrate made of a resin substrate such as glass epoxy resin, and the connector terminal 2 is mounted on the mounting surface. The connection pads 3 are formed in a one-to-one correspondence. The connection pad 3 is formed of a conductive pattern such as aluminum, copper or iron alloy. The connector terminal 2 is formed by applying gold plating or nickel plating to a conductive pattern such as aluminum, copper or iron alloy. The connection between the connection pad 3 and the connector terminal 2 is performed by a wiring pattern (not shown) on the card substrate 1 and through-holes that are electrically connected to the front and back of the card substrate 1.

  On the mounting surface of the card substrate 1, for example, an electrically rewritable flash memory chip 4, a controller chip 5, and an LED module 13 are provided. The controller chip 5 controls a read / write operation with respect to the flash memory chip 4 according to an instruction given from the outside via the connector terminal 2. When considering data security, the controller chip 5 further encrypts the data to be written to the flash memory chip 4 and decrypts the data read from the flash memory chip 4. What is necessary is just to provide a function. The controller chip 5 performs display control for the LED module 13. The LED module 13 has two LEDs, a red LED 13r and a green LED 13g, as light emitting elements. As illustrated in FIG. 22, the LEDs 13r and 13g are exposed on the rear end surface of the casing 12 of the memory card MC1. Even when the memory card MC1 is mounted in a card slot (not shown), it is possible to confirm whether the LEDs 13r and 13g are lit or blinking.

  The controller chip 5 has a vertically long shape along the arrangement direction of the connector terminals 2, and a plurality of connector interface terminals 5Pi connected to the connector terminals 2 via the connection pads 3 on the connector terminal 2 side. A plurality of memory interface terminals 5Pj connected to the memory chip 4 are provided on the memory chip 4 side. The memory chip 4 has a plurality of controller interface terminals 4Pk connected to the controller chip 5 on the controller chip 5 side. The connection pad 3 is connected to the connector interface terminal 5Pi of the controller chip 5 with a bonding wire 7. The memory interface terminal 5Pj of the controller chip 5 is connected to the controller interface terminal 4Pk of the memory chip 4 by a bonding wire 8. 9 is a relay pattern.

  Further, the card substrate 1 has a test terminal 10 connected to the controller chip 5 and the memory chip 4 by a bonding wire (or wiring pattern) 11. The card substrate 1 is mounted and fixed to the casing 12 with the mounting surface facing inward, the mounting surface is covered and protected by the casing 12, and the terminal surface is exposed from the casing 12. Note that an example of the connection by the bonding wires 7, 8, and 11 is illustrated, and terminals not shown are similarly connected by bonding wires or the like.

  Here, terminal numbers # 1 to # 7 are attached to the connector terminals 2 on the terminal surface for convenience. In the multimedia card mode, # 1 is a reserved terminal (open or fixed to a logical value “1”), # 2 is a command terminal (command input and response signal output are performed), and # 3 and # 6 are circuit ground voltages (ground ) Terminal, # 4 functions as a power supply voltage supply terminal, # 5 functions as a clock input terminal, and # 7 functions as a data input / output terminal. In SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) mode, # 1 is a chip select terminal (negative logic), # 2 is a data input terminal (for inputting data and commands from the host device to the card), and # 3 and # 6 are circuit ground voltages ( (Ground) terminal, # 4 functions as a power supply voltage supply terminal, # 5 functions as a clock input terminal, and # 7 functions as a data output terminal (data and status output from the memory card to the host device). The multimedia card mode is an operation mode suitable for a system that uses a plurality of multimedia cards simultaneously. The multimedia card is identified by a card identification ID (relative address) set on the multimedia card by a host device (not shown). Use. The SPI mode is optimal for use in a simple and inexpensive system, and a multimedia card is selected by a chip selection signal supplied from the host device to the # 1 connector terminal. In any operation mode, the controller chip 5 performs access control of the memory chip and interface control with the host device in response to a command given from the host device.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the memory card MC1. The controller chip 5 includes an interface controller 50, an LCD driver 51, a flash memory controller 52, an encryption / decryption circuit 53, and a security circuit 54. The interface controller 50 is connected to a host device (not shown) via the terminal 2, decodes a command given from the host device, and performs overall control inside the memory card and interface control with the host device. Such a control program or state transition control logic is not particularly limited, but is provided inside the interface controller 50. It is also possible to place the control program in the flash memory 4.

  The interface control is interface control in multimedia card mode or SPI mode via the terminal 2. The overall control inside the memory card is as follows: first, authentication control using a security circuit; second, encryption / decryption control for encrypting write data to the flash memory chip 5 and decrypting read data; Third, access control as a file memory of the flash memory chip 4 via the flash memory controller 52, and fourth, display control via the LCD driver 51.

  The access control is control in consideration of compatibility with a file system in which, for example, a sector is the basis of data management. For example, in order to manage data or files in units of sectors such as 512 bytes, the memory array of the flash memory chip 4 is divided into a data area for each 512 bytes corresponding to one sector and a management area for each data area. It is like that. The management area includes information indicating the use status of the sector, such as whether or not valid data is held in the corresponding data area, and pointing information to subsequent sectors. These management areas constitute a sector management table 55 as a whole. In access control, a sector of an access target file is associated with a physical address of the flash memory chip 4 and memory operations such as reading, erasing, writing, and verifying are performed.

  In the encryption / decryption control, data to be written to the flash memory chip 4 is first encrypted by the encryption / decryption circuit 53, and the encrypted data can be written to the flash memory chip 4, and the flash memory controller 52 The data read from the flash memory chip 4 is decrypted by the encryption / decryption circuit 53, and the decrypted data is output from the interface controller 50 to the outside.

  The authentication control will be described. Assuming that the memory card MC1 is used for distribution of music information, literary information, etc., it is desirable to consider the copyright protection of such information. In addition, when deposit information, insurance information, mobile phone billing information, telephone numbers, etc. are stored and used in a memory card, it will be required to protect the privacy of such information.

  With regard to copyright protection, for example, an authorization code related to the copy right is notified from the host device and set in the authorization code management table 56 of the security circuit 54, and music information associated with the authorization code is downloaded from the host device and flashed. The data is written in the memory chip 4 and the write memory address is set in the authorization management table 56 of the security circuit 54 in association with the above authorization code. In response to an access request from the host device, the interface controller 50 uses the authorization management table 56 to determine whether the memory address of the file to be accessed is a memory area associated with the authorization code on the authorization management table 56. Then, the security circuit 54 makes a determination. If it is associated with the authorization code, the security circuit 54 requests the interface controller 50 to input the authorization code, and allows the file access as long as the entered authorization code does not match the authorization code held by the security circuit 54. I won't let you. The authorization code management table 56 may be constituted by an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory. This authorization code management table 56 may be arranged in the interface controller 50 or the flash memory 4.

  Regarding privacy protection, for example, once a password is set from the host device in the password code management table 57 of the security circuit 54, the first read access request to the flash memory chip 4 every time the initialization process of the memory card is completed. At this time, the security circuit 54 requests the interface controller 50 to input a password, and until the password that matches the password set in the password management table 57 is input from the outside, the security circuit 54 Do not start memory access control in response to a read request. The code code management table 57 may be constituted by an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory. This authorization code management table 56 may be arranged in the interface controller 50 or the flash memory 4.

  The display control includes an access state display process for the flash memory chip 4, a free space display process for the flash memory chip, and an authentication result display process for displaying the result of the authentication control.

  The display control is not particularly limited, but is performed in response to a command input in a command input waiting state (standby state). The standby state is first realized after the initialization process of one or more memory cards MC1.

  First, initialization processing for a memory card by the host device will be described with reference to FIG. For example, the initialization process is started by turning on the power to one or more memory cards MC1 (S1), and then the host device inputs a clock signal to the memory card MC1 at a predetermined number of cycles, Initialization is performed (S2), and then the memory card MC1 is selected (S3). In the SPI mode, the host system selects the memory card MC1 with a chip selection signal. For the selected memory card MC1, the host device outputs the card unique identification information held in the card ID register in the interface controller 50 to the host device (S4), and the host device corresponds to the card unique identification information. The relative address of the memory card MC1 is notified (S5). As a result, the memory card MC1 is distinguished from other memory cards by its relative address, is set in a standby state (S6), and is in a command input waiting state. On the other hand, in the initialization process, in the multimedia card mode, the memory card MC1 is selected by a command. The selected memory card MC1 is distinguished from other memory cards by determining the relative address of the memory card MC1 corresponding to the card unique identification information in the same manner as described above, and is set in a standby state and in a command input waiting state. Is done.

  FIG. 4 shows a control flow of access state display processing by the interface controller 50. When there is an access request from the host device in the standby state (S6) (S7), the interface controller 50 erases, writes, and writes to the flash memory chip 4 via the flash memory controller 52 until the access request is completed. Each time an operation such as reading or verifying is instructed (S8), the LED module is driven to blink by the LCD driver 51 (S9). For example, the blinking operation at that time is alternate blinking of red and green. The processes of steps S8 and S9 are repeated until all the access requests from the host device are responded (S10). The memory card is returned to the standby state again (S6), and the above process is repeated as long as the standby state continues.

  Since the state during the memory access operation can be displayed, the memory card MC1 itself can identify the state during the access operation of the built-in memory 4, and the memory card MC1 is mistakenly removed from the card socket during the access and the data is transferred. It is possible to reduce the occurrence of a situation where it is destroyed.

  FIG. 5 shows a control flow of the free space display processing of the flash memory chip by the interface controller 50. In the standby state (S6), upon receiving a free capacity display command from the host device (S11), the interface controller 50 reads information indicating the use status of the sector from the sector management area of the flash memory chip 4 (S12). Then, it is calculated whether the free space in the data area of the flash memory chip corresponds to, for example, 100 to 70%, 70 to 50%, 50 to 20%, or 20% or less (S13). The interface controller 50 drives the LCD module to emit light for a predetermined period by the LCD driver 51 in accordance with the calculation result (S14). For example, when the free space is 100 to 70%, the LED 13g is lit in green. When the free space is 70 to 50%, the LED 13g is blinked green. When the free space is 50 to 20%, the LED 13r is red. When the available capacity is 20% or less, the LED 13r is lit in an empty color. After the light emission driving for a predetermined period, the memory card MC1 is returned to the standby state (S6).

  Since the interface controller 50 can drive and control the LED module 13 to display the state of free space in the memory 4, the memory card MC1 itself can identify the free space in the memory, and in the middle of the write operation. It is possible to encourage the preparation of a spare memory card in advance before the storage area becomes full.

  FIG. 6 shows a control flow of the authentication result display process by the interface controller 50. When the security circuit 54 starts authentication control (S20), that is, the authorization code related to copyright protection is input from the host device via the interface controller 50, or the security circuit 54 interfaces the password code related to privacy protection. When inputting from the host device via the controller 50, the security circuit 54 causes the interface controller 50 to drive the LED module 13 to emit light via the LED driver 51 (S21). The light emission driving at this time is not particularly limited, but is red-green in-phase flashing. The security circuit 54 determines the validity of the input authorization code or password, responds to the approval of the validity (S22), stops the blinking of the LED module 13 (S23), and ends the authentication result display process. To do.

  As described above, the result of the authentication control can be recognized via the memory card MC1. In other words, when it is stored in the memory card MC1 and can be circulated and there is a risk of falsification, the usability of the memory card MC1 is improved from the viewpoint of copyright protection and privacy protection of information to be stored in the memory. .

  FIG. 7 illustrates several types of driving modes of the LED module 13. The drive formats shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are forms in which the LEDs 13r and 13g can be independently controlled by the control signals Sre and Sgr. On the other hand, FIG. 7D shows a form in which the anodes and cathodes of the LEDs 13g and 13r are reversed and connected in parallel, and the power source of the drive inverter of the LED drive circuit is driven as + V and −V. The drive control signal Sco is common to both LEDs 13r and 13g. In this drive format, the LEDs 13r and 13g cannot be lit or blinked in completely parallel, but if the frequency of the control signal Sco is constantly increased, light can be emitted in orange, which is a mixed color of green and red. If the control signal Sco is intermittently switched between a constant level and a high frequency, red and orange alternate blinking and green and orange alternate blinking can be realized. When (D) in FIG. 7 is adopted instead of (A), (B), and (C) in FIG. 7, red and orange alternate blinking is employed instead of red and green in-phase blinking, and red Instead of alternately flashing green and green, alternating green and orange flashing may be employed.

《Mobile phone device》
Next, a portable terminal device having a function of displaying the status of the memory card will be described. FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of the mobile phone device 100.

  The sound is taken in as an analog sound signal by the microphone 101, converted into a digital sound signal by the A / D converter 102, and input to the data processor 103. The data processor 103 performs voice coding processing and channel codec processing as layer processing on the received digital voice signal, and outputs the processed signal as a transmission signal. The voice encoding process and the channel codec process are not particularly limited, but are performed using a DSP. Although not particularly illustrated, the data processor 103 may include an accelerator for the channel codec or voice codec.

  The transmission signal generated by the data processor 103 is modulated by, for example, the GMSK modulation circuit 104, further converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 105, and transmitted through the antenna 107 by the high frequency transmission unit (RF transmission unit) 106. Is done.

  A reception signal received by the antenna 107 is received by a high frequency reception unit (RF reception unit) 108, converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter 109, and taken into the data processor 103. The data processor 103 performs Viterbi decoding processing, audio decoding processing, and the like, and extracts and outputs an audio signal. Viterbi decoding processing, audio decoding processing, and the like are performed by a DSP or an accelerator (not shown).

  The audio signal output from the data processor 103 is converted into an analog audio signal by the D / A converter 110 and output from the speaker 111 as audio.

  8, the data processor 103 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 112, a direct memory access controller (DMAC) 113, a read only memory (ROM) 114 holding an operation program of the CPU 112, and the CPU 112. A random access memory (RAM) 115 used for the work area, and an input / output circuit (I / O) 116 such as an input / output port and a serial interface. Although not particularly limited, in the example of the cellular phone device 100 of FIG. 5, the data processor 103 performs operation programs such as speech codec processing for speech coding and decoding, channel codec processing as layer processing, and system control processing, as the ROM 114. Is held by. The transfer control condition setting process for the DMAC 113 is performed by the CPU 112 executing the operation program stored in the ROM 114.

  Although not particularly limited, an input switch unit 120, a display controller 121, and a card interface controller 122 are connected to the I / O 116 of the data processor 103. The input switch unit 120 has a large number of input switches capable of inputting numbers, characters, and the like by function designation. The card interface controller 122 performs interface control between the memory card MC2 mounted in the card socket 123 and the data processor 103. Here, the memory card MC2 does not include the LDE module 13 as compared with the memory card MC1, and controls the display control function by the interface controller 50, that is, the access state display process, the free space display process, and the authentication result display process. The difference is that it has no function. The display control is performed by the data processor 103 of the mobile phone device 100 using the display controller 121, the liquid crystal display 125, and the LED module 126. In the cellular phone device 100, in addition to the access status, free space, and authentication result display control functions, the data processor 103 displays the status of the cellular phone device 100 such as a transmission telephone number, an incoming telephone number, a communication status, and a battery voltage. The display controller 121 has a function of appropriately controlling display on the liquid crystal display 125. Further, in order to display the state during the battery charging operation by the LED module 126, the data processor 103 turns on the red LED 126r in the charging incomplete state and turns on the green LED 126g in the charging completed state. The drive format of the LED module 126 may be configured in the same manner as in FIG.

  Control functions of the access state display process, free capacity display process, and authentication result display process by the data processor 103 will be described. The display control target by these processes may be the LED module 126 as described above. Alternatively, a liquid crystal display 125 may be used.

  The access status display process by the data processor 103 is performed as follows. In other words, when the data processor 103 issues an access command to the memory card MC2, the LED processor 126 is driven to blink until the end of access is notified after a response is returned from the memory card MC2. For example, the blinking operation at that time is alternate blinking of red and green.

  The display mode of the free space display by the data processor 103 is not particularly limited, but is performed by icon display represented by (A) to (C) in FIG. 9 on the liquid crystal display 125, or (A) to (C) in FIG. ) Is displayed with a level indicator represented by In the icon display, the area of the black area with respect to the overall size of the icon indicates the free capacity as a relative value, and a plurality of icons with different black area ratios are selected and displayed according to the decrease in the free capacity. ing. In the level indicator display, the number of black pieces relative to the number of pieces indicates the free capacity as a relative value, and the number of black pieces is decreased one by one as the free capacity decreases. The display mode of the free space display may be the LED display described above.

  FIG. 11 shows a control flow of the free capacity display processing of the flash memory chip with a built-in memory card MC2 by the data processor 103. In the standby state of the memory card MC2, the data processor 103 issues a free space information acquisition command to the memory card MC2 (S30). As a result, the interface controller of the memory card MC2 reads information indicating the use status of the sector from the sector management area of the flash memory chip and returns it to the data processor 103. The data processor 103 inputs information indicating the sector usage status (S31), determines the free capacity of the data area of the flash memory chip based on the information (S32), and displays display data in response to the determined free capacity as the display controller 121. (S33), and the available capacity is displayed on the liquid crystal display 125 according to the loaded display data (S34). If the icon is displayed, icon data corresponding to the free space at that time is selected and displayed at a predetermined position on the liquid crystal display 125. If the level indicator is displayed, the number of pieces corresponding to the free space at that time is displayed. It is displayed black on the liquid crystal display 125. The issuance of the free space information acquisition command by the data processor 103 is repeated at predetermined intervals when the memory card MC2 is mounted in the card socket 123, and the display data immediately before is maintained in the register between the intervals, and the free space display is displayed. It can be done all the time.

  FIG. 12 shows a control flow of the authentication result display process by the data processor 103. When the security circuit of the memory card MC2 starts authentication control, that is, the data processor 103 supplies the authorization code relating to the copyright protection to the interface controller of the memory card MC2, or the data processor 103 provides the secret code relating to the privacy protection. When supplying the security circuit via the interface controller of the memory card MC2 (S35), the data processor 103 causes the liquid crystal display 125 to display “authentication processing” via the display controller 121 (S36). The security circuit determines the validity of the input authorization code or password. When the data processor 103 receives the determination result of the correctness by the security circuit (S37), this time, “authentication OK” is displayed on the liquid crystal display 125 via the display controller 121, and the indication is maintained for a certain time ( S38), the authentication result display process is terminated.

  As described above, it is possible to improve the usability of the memory card MC2 such as the access status display, the free space display, and the authentication result display on the mobile phone device 100 side.

<Diversification of interfaces>
Next, a memory card provided with a non-contact interface in addition to or instead of the connector terminal will be described.

  FIG. 13A shows a terminal surface of another memory card, and FIG. 13B shows a chip mounting surface of the memory card. The memory card MC3 shown in the figure is a memory card that realizes upward compatibility with a multi-media card having a data terminal of 8 bits and adds an infrared interface function. The difference in terminal surface with respect to the memory card MC1 is that 13 connector terminals 2 and 13 connection pads 3 are arranged. The terminal numbers # 1 to # 7 have the same layout configuration as the multimedia card-compliant memory card MC1, and the added six connector terminals are terminal numbers # 8 to # 13. A flash memory chip 4, a controller chip 5A, and an infrared transmission / reception (IrDA) module 14 are provided on the mounting surface of the card substrate 1A. The IrDA module includes an infrared light emitting diode 14tr and an infrared photodiode 14rc.

  The connector terminals 2 of # 1 to # 7 constitute a first connector terminal row with respect to the card substrate 1A, and the added connector terminals 2 of # 8 to # 13 are connector terminals of the first row. A second connector terminal row that is spaced from the row is configured. The sizes of the connector terminals 2 of # 9 to # 12 are the same as the sizes of the other connector terminals 2. The first row of connector terminal rows and the second row of connector terminal rows are displaced from each other in the row direction arrangement of the connector terminals. If attention is paid to the inter-terminal region of the connector terminal 2, the arrangement of the inter-terminal region of the first connector terminal row and the arrangement of the inter-terminal region of the second connector terminal row are shifted from each other in the column direction. Yes. In short, the connector terminals of the first row and the second row are arranged in a staggered manner between the rows.

  In this memory card MC3, terminals # 2 to # 7 are assigned to the same function as the multimedia card mode of the multimedia card compliant memory card MC1, and the terminal # 1 which is a reserved terminal in the multimedia card mode is the fourth bit. The second data terminal DATA3, the added terminals # 8, # 9, # 10, # 11, # 12, and # 13 are the second bit data terminal DATA1, the fifth bit data terminal DATA4, and the seventh bit. The data terminal DATA6 of the eighth bit, the data terminal DATA7 of the eighth bit, the data terminal DATA5 of the sixth bit, and the data terminal DATA1 of the second bit. The data terminal DATA0 of the first bit is the same terminal # 7 as in the multimedia card mode. Therefore, the memory card MC3 is different from the memory card MC1 in that data input / output is enabled in parallel in 8 bits in the multimedia card mode of the memory card MC1.

  Furthermore, the memory card MC3 has a backward compatibility mode with respect to the multimedia card-compliant memory card MC1. That is, the controller chip 5A has a 1-bit mode using 1 bit # 7 among the 8-bit data terminals # 1, # 7 to # 13, and the 8-bit data terminals # 1, # 7 to # 13. A 4-bit mode that performs 4-bit parallel input / output using 4 bits # 1, # 7, # 8, and # 13 of 13 and the 8-bit data terminals # 1 and # 7 to # 13 are used. And an 8-bit mode for performing 8-bit parallel input / output.

  The operation mode may be set in response to a predetermined connector terminal state or a command input state from the predetermined connector terminal. For example, when the memory card MC3 is inserted into the card socket of the multimedia card compliant memory card MC1, the terminals # 8 to # 13 are in a floating state, so that the controller chip 5A can recognize the difference from the 4-bit mode when the power is turned on. By detecting the floating state of both or one of the data terminals DATSA1 and DATA2 in software or hardware (using software exclusively or using a hardware configuration), the memory card MC3 The 1-bit mode may be set in

  Further, when the memory card MC3 is inserted into a dedicated card socket, the terminals # 9 to # 12 are electrically connected to the socket terminals of the card socket. Therefore, when the power is turned on, the controller chip 5B has at least all of the data terminals DATSA4 to DATA7. Alternatively, the 8-bit mode may be set in the memory card MC3 by detecting that a specific signal or command is supplied in part from the host device.

  The controller chip 5A is different from the controller chip 5 in that the number of data input / output terminals connected to the connection pad 3 is eight. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 1, and circuit elements having the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 14 shows a functional block diagram of the memory card MC3. The controller chip 5A includes an interface controller 50A, an IrDA controller 51A, a flash memory controller 52, an encryption / decryption circuit 53, and a security circuit 54. The interface controller 50A is connected to a host device (not shown) via the terminal 2, decodes a command given from the host device, and performs overall control inside the memory card and interface control with the host device. The overall control inside the memory card is the same as that of the memory card MC1, authentication control using a security circuit, encryption / decryption control for the flash memory chip 4, and files of the flash memory chip 4 via the flash memory controller 52. Access control as a memory. A control program or state transition control logic for overall control inside the memory card and interface control with the host device is not particularly limited, but is provided inside the interface controller 50A. It is also possible to place the control program in the flash memory 4.

  The interface control includes interface control in the multimedia card mode or SPI mode via the terminal 2 similar to the memory card MC1, and infrared interface control using the IrDA module 14. An operation program for infrared interface control by the IrDA controller 51A is stored in, for example, the flash memory 4 or the interface controller 50A. The infrared interface control conforms to a known medium / low speed communication standard of 2.4 to 115.2 Kbps standardized by, for example, the Infrared Data Association, and uses an RZ (Return to Zero) system as a biased system. Adopted, the pulse width can be varied from 1.6 μsec to 3/16 of the bit time.

  The memory card MC3 is inserted into, for example, a card slot of the cellular phone device 100 as shown in FIG. Communication control condition setting and communication operation instructions for the IrDA controller 51A are given as commands from the data processor 103 via the interface controller 50A.

  The memory card MC3 mounted on the cellular phone device 100 can perform infrared communication with a personal computer 200 having an infrared communication function as exemplified in FIG. When the personal computer 200 is equipped with a mobile phone modem circuit or a mobile phone modem card, the mobile phone device 100 is used as a communication terminal for the modem. At that time, data communication between the mobile phone device 100 and the personal computer 200 can be performed by infrared rays.

  The IC card equipped with the infrared communication function is not limited to the storage system IC card represented by the memory card MC3. For example, if an infrared communication function is added to a modem card so that the modem card can be attached to a mobile phone device, the personal computer 200 can be used with the mobile phone device 100 as a communication terminal even if the personal computer 200 does not have a mobile phone compatible modem. Data communication.

  The memory card MC3 or IC card can also be applied to a wireless local area network (LAN) using infrared rays, and if the communication protocol for that purpose is stored in the ROM or the like in the IrDA controller 51A or the interface controller 50A. Good.

  FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a memory card MC4 that supports a radio wave (electromagnetic wave) LAN as another example of the wireless LAN. The memory card MC4 has a radio wave LAN interface module 16 and an antenna 17 on a card substrate, and also has a ferroelectric memory chip 4B and a controller chip 5B called FRAM (registered trademark). The controller chip 5B and the radio wave LAN interface module 16 may be configured as one chip.

  The ferroelectric memory chip is a memory in which a ferroelectric material such as PZT (lead zirconate titanate), for example, is used for a capacitor serving as a memory element. One stable state is associated with logical values 1 and 0, and a nonvolatile RAM is realized. Ferroelectric memory chips have features such as high-speed rewriting and low power consumption compared to non-volatile memories such as flash memories.

  The radio wave LAN interface module 16 transmits the transmission signal given from the interface controller 50B from the antenna 17 as a high frequency signal, detects the high frequency signal received by the antenna 17, amplifies and quantizes the detected signal component, and performs the interface controller 50B. To give. The interface controller 50B provides data to be transmitted to the wireless LAN interface module 16 according to a wireless transmission / reception command given from the host device, and receives and processes the received data from the wireless LAN interface module 16. The wireless LAN interface module 16 may be used for inputting / outputting a personal identification code for the authentication control, or for outputting an authorization code for the access control.

  The frequency band of a wireless LAN such as a radio wave LAN is a 2.4 GHz band, a 19 GHz band, or the like. Since the communication range of the wireless LAN is usually narrower than the communication area by the mobile phone device, the transmission power is low, and the communication cost is low because the mobile phone network is not used. In this sense, when an IC card such as the memory card MC4 provided with a wireless LAN interface unit is mounted on the mobile phone devices 200A and 200B to perform data communication with each other as shown in FIG. In addition, there is an advantage of reducing communication costs.

  An EEPROM controller and an EEPROM chip may be used instead of the ferroelectric memory controller indicated by 52B and the ferroelectric memory chip indicated by 4B.

  19 and 20 show specific examples of the antenna 17. The example of FIG. 19 is an example when a single-layer wiring board in which a conductive pattern is formed only on the terminal surface having the terminals 2 is used. The antenna 17 is formed as a conductive pattern on the terminal surface. The radio wave LAN interface module 16 is provided on the mounting surface of the wiring board. Both ends of the antenna 17 are exposed to the mounting surface through the openings 17A of the board, and the portions are connected to the bonding pads of the radio wave LAN interface module 16 by the bonding wires 17B. Is done. In the figure, the ferroelectric memory 4B is not shown.

  The example of FIG. 20 is an example when a two-layer wiring board in which a conductive pattern is formed on both the terminal surface and the mounting surface is used. The antenna 17 is formed as a conductive pattern on the terminal surface. The radio wave LAN interface module 16 is provided on the mounting surface of the wiring board, and both ends of the antenna 17 communicate with the wiring pattern 17D on the mounting surface through the through holes 17C. It is connected to the bonding pad of the interface module 16. In the figure, the ferroelectric memory 4B is not shown.

  FIG. 21 shows a memory card MC5 that employs a wireless communication control circuit that can reduce transmission power. The memory card MC5 has a wireless communication control circuit 18 and an antenna 19 on the card substrate, and also has a flash memory chip 4 and a controller chip 5C. The controller chip 5C and the wireless communication control circuit 18 may be configured as one chip. The wireless communication control circuit 18 performs transmission or reception in a manner in which carrier information is placed on the antenna 19 in accordance with data supplied from the interface controller 50C. The predetermined information storage area is, for example, a table 56 or 57 allocated for storing an authorization code or a password, or a data area of the flash memory 4.

  For example, the antenna 19 is a dipole antenna, which is formed as a conductive pattern on a card substrate, and is shaped so as to generate, for example, a half-wave current distribution of radio waves irradiated from the outside. The radio communication control circuit 18 has a switching transistor that is disposed between dipole antennas and can be opened and closed, for example, as antenna control. The antenna 19 is short-circuited by closing the switching transistor, and the characteristic impedance of the antenna 19 is adjusted by opening the switching transistor. Set to a predetermined value. The switching control signal of the switching transistor is a transmission signal having a logical value of 1 or 0 given from the interface controller 50C. Therefore, the termination resistance of the dipole antenna 19 is set to 0 or a predetermined value according to the signal to be transmitted. The maximum received power can be obtained when the radiation impedance of the dipole antenna 19 is equal to the load impedance. However, if the load impedance is 0, the received voltage output to the antenna terminal is 0, and the current flowing through the antenna itself is determined. The standing wave ratio increases and the re-radiated power increases. That is, at this time, the dipole antenna 19 operates as a reflector. If a signal having a predetermined frequency is radiated from the outside to the dipole antenna 19, the reflected wave can be received outside. If the reflected wave that changes with time is received externally, the received signal can be regarded as a signal modulated according to the impedance change of the dipole antenna 19, in other words, a signal transmitted by the interface controller 50C. . Thus, since the dipole antenna 19 does not require transmission power, low power consumption may be realized.

  Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited thereto and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

  For example, the IC card is not limited to a memory card or a modem card, and the present invention can be applied to a composite card having a memory card function and a modem card function. The memory chip is not limited to a nonvolatile memory, and may be a volatile RAM. The size of the card substrate, the number of connector terminals, the function of the connector terminals, and the like are not limited to the above description and can be changed as appropriate. Further, the wireless communication control is not limited to the antenna control that performs the characteristic impedance conversion of the antenna as described above.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the terminal surface and chip | tip mounting surface of a memory card which are examples of the IC card concerning this invention. It is a memory card functional block diagram concerning the 1st example. It is a flowchart for the initialization process for the memory card by the host device. It is a flowchart which shows the access status display process by an interface controller. It is a flowchart which shows the free capacity display process of the flash memory chip by an interface controller. It is a flowchart which shows the said authentication result display process by an interface controller. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the drive format of a LED module. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a mobile telephone apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the display mode in the case of performing the free space display by a data processor by icon display. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the display mode in the case of performing the empty capacity display by a data processor by a level indicator display. It is a flowchart which shows the free capacity display process of the flash memory chip with a built-in memory card by a data processor. It is a flowchart which shows the said authentication result display process by a data processor. It is explanatory drawing which shows the memory card based on a 2nd example with a terminal surface and a chip | tip mounting surface. It is a functional block diagram of the memory card of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which mounts | wears with the memory card of FIG. 13 in the card slot of a mobile telephone apparatus. It is a perspective view which illustrates the state which performs infrared communication between the memory card mounted in the mobile telephone apparatus, and a personal computer. It is a block diagram of memory card MC4 concerning the 3rd example which supports electric wave LAN. It is a perspective view which shows the communication state using memory card MC4 provided with the interface means by wireless LAN. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the antenna formed with the conductive pattern of the 1 layer wiring board of a memory card. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the antenna formed with the conductive pattern of the two-layer wiring board of a memory card. It is a block diagram of the memory card based on the 4th example which employ | adopted the antenna control circuit which can make transmission power small. It is a perspective view which shows the state from which LED was exposed from the rear-end surface of a memory card.

Explanation of symbols

MC1 memory card 1 card board 2 connector terminal 5 controller chip 4 flash memory chip 13 LED module 50 interface controller 51 LED driver 52 flash memory controller 53 encryption / decryption circuit 54 security circuit 55 sector management table 56 authorization code management table 57 secret code Code management table MC2 Memory card 103 Data processor 121 Display controller 122 Card interface controller 123 Card socket 125 Liquid crystal display 126 LED module MC3 Memory card 14 IrDA module 5A Controller chip 50A interface controller 51A IrDA controller MC4 Memory card 4B Strong Collector memory chip 5B controller chip 16 radio LAN interface module 17 antenna 50B interface controller 52B ferroelectric memory controller MC5 memory card 5C controller chip 18 wireless communication control circuit 19 antenna 50C interface controller

Claims (1)

A controller, a non-volatile memory, and a wireless communication circuit;
The controller enables an access control to the nonvolatile memory and a communication control via the wireless communication circuit, respectively, and has an authentication function,
The wireless communication circuit is a non-volatile memory device to which an antenna for wireless communication can be connected.

Images