Patent ID: 6041374
Filing Date: 2000-03-21
Classification: G01D,G06F

Abstract:
A process for decoding alphanumeric characters from electrical signals generated by an input device which generates output electrical signals encoding said alphanumeric characters and making said decoded alphanumeric characters available to a host computer, comprising:storing data other than said alphanumeric characters in nonvolatile expansion memory on a PCMCIA card, hereafter sometimes referred to as a PC card, coupled to said host computer by a PCMCIA interface, said data being data needed by one or more application processes in execution on said host computer;receiving at a PCMCIA card coupled to said host computer said output signals generated by said input device which encode said alphanumeric charactersdecoding said output electrical signals into one or more alphanumeric characters on said PCMCIA card and storing the decoded alphanumeric character in a memory location on said PCMCIA card which is mapped into the Input/Output address space of zone 3 of the memory map of said PCMCIA card;retrieving said decoded alphanumeric characters using I/O cycles of said host computer and a PCMCIA bus coupling said PCMCIA card to said host computer while allowing said data stored in said nonvolatile memory on said PCMCIA card to also be accessed by said host computer via memory cycles and said PCMCIA bus without having to reboot the host computer.