Abstract:
A system in the memory card for converting the input voltage is used to provide the most suitable voltage for the internal devices. The input voltage from external device is limited by association and specification, so is not truly suitable to the voltage demand of the internal devices. This problem could cause the power loss and reduce aging of the internal devices. The present system convert the input voltage for the voltage demand of the internal devices by switching boost-up or step-down, so as to increase the power efficiency, the operation time and having more different choices in internal devices.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a switching module in the small memory card for converting the input voltage, and more particularly relates to a switching module for converting input voltage to convert the stable voltage of the external power to the suitable voltage for internal components according to the needed voltage of the internal components of the memory card.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART  
       [0002]     There are several models of the small memory cards in the market: Secure Digital card (SD card), Mini Secure Digital card (Mini MD card), Multimedia card (MMC), Reduced Size Multimedia card, Compact Flash card (CF card), Smart Media card (SM card), and Memory Stick (MS card). In addition, Secure Digital card and Multimedia card are similar in specifications and looks. Both of then are commonly used in portable electronic products such as Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Digital Camera, Cell Phone and so on. According to small memory cards described above, AND type and NAND type flash memory are the memory components frequently used to write, rewrite and keep the data during long period of time without power.  
         [0003]      FIG. 1  is illustrating a traditional data access and controlled structure of the memory card. According to the transmission standard of the SD card or MMC, when the data is transferred from the memory card golden finger  100  and stored in the memory chip  106 , the process is to operate the data reading or writing from the main controlled chip  103 . The memory card gold finger  100  is used to be the data transfer interface for the memory card and the external device (not shown). Moreover, the main controlled chip  103  is based on the controlled signal of the external device to do the operation of the data reading or writing of the memory chip  106 . The memory chip  106  is used to provide data storing.  
         [0004]     The traditional data access and controlled structure of the memory card is shown in  FIG. 1 . The power of the memory card is provided from the external device and the power wire is from the memory card golden finger to the connection of the main controlled chip  103  and the memory chip  106 . In the traditional structure, the power is directly provided to the main controlled chip  103  and the memory chip  106  by using simple linear voltage step-down that the main reason is to save the cost of the hardware of the memory card. Because the internal space of the memory card is too small, it is hard to add a switching module for converting voltage to convert the supply voltage. Therefore, the voltage can be decreased but not to be increased, and there is some power loss because of the linear voltage step down of the power.  
         [0005]     According to the description above, in the traditional data access and controlled structure of the memory card, the standard power of the external device is directly provided or provided to the main controlled chip  103  and the memory chip  106  after the simple linear voltage step down. However, the standard voltage cannot represent the suitable voltage for the internal electronic components. The following drawbacks will be caused: first, because the memory chip  106  of the memory card is limited by the voltage supply, the choices of the specifications of the memory chip  106  are limited. The specific memory chip  106 , which can be provided in the public, is relying on the supply of the market and the production of the memory card is effect. Second, the voltage is too high or too low will affect the operation of the main controlled chip  103  and the memory chip  106 . If the voltage is too low, the main controlled chip  103  and the memory card  106  cannot be worked. If the voltage is too high, the electricity is wasted. Because the power is lost and the usage time is reduced, the electronic components will be aging quickly.  
         [0006]     According to this, it is necessary to provide a voltage converting system to improve the structure of the data access and controlled in the traditional memory card. In the limited internal space of the memory card, the suitable voltage is provided for the need of the internal components of the memory card by converting the standard input voltage of the external device.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     According to the prior art described above, the input voltage of the data access structure of the traditional memory card is not sure to provide the suitable need of the voltage for the internal components and causes a lot of drawbacks. Therefore, one of the purposes of the present invention is to provide the suitable voltage for the need of the internal components and the choices of the suitable electronic components are became more and more widely. The convenience and the efficiency for developing the product are increased.  
         [0008]     The other purpose of the present invention is to provide a system to convert the input voltage. The efficiency of the usage of the power is increased and the electricity is saved, and the lifetime of the internal components is extended and the probability of the malfunction will be reduced.  
         [0009]     According to the purpose described above, the present invention comprises a switching module in the small memory card for converting the input voltage. The memory card is said to comprise a switching module for converting voltage, which is to boost up and step down the need of the voltage level for the electronic components being the source of the power supply. Therefore, the electric power saving can be achieved by increasing the usage of the power, and delay the aging of the internal components and reduce the probability of the malfunction of the components.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a system block diagram illustrating the traditional small memory card.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a system block diagram illustrating the small memory card with voltage step-down module in one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a system block diagram illustrating the small memory card with voltage boost-up module in one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating the voltage step-down module in one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating the voltage boost-up module in another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]     Some of the detail embodiments of the present invention will be described below. However, beside the detail description, the present invention can be generally used in other embodiments.  
         [0016]     A switching system of the memory card for converting input voltage is disclosed in the present invention. The input voltage is converted to the suitable voltage and provided for the internal components of the memory card. The specifications of the memory card in the present invention are included Secure Digital card (SD card), Mini Secure Digital card (Mini SD card), Micro Secure Digital card (Micro SD card), Multimedia card (MMC), High Speed Multimedia card (HS-MMC), Multimedia card plus (HS-MMC), Reduced Size Multimedia card (RS-MMC), High Speed Reduced Size-Multimedia card (HS RS-MMC), Multimedia card Mobile (MMC mobile), multimedia card Micro (MMC micro), Compact Flash card (CF card), Compact Flash type I card (CF type I card), Compact Flash II card (CF type II card), Smart Media card (SM card), Memory Stick (MS), MagicGate Memory Stick (MagicGate MS), Memory Stick Pro (MS Pro), MagicGate Memory Stick Pro (MagicGate MS Pro), Memory Stick Duo (MS Duo), MagicGate Memory Stick Duo (MagicGate MS Duo), Memory Stick Pro Duo (MS Pro Duo), MagicGate Memory Stick Pro Duo (MagicGate MS Pro Duo), and those memory cards had been developed or will be developed. The different of the specifications of those memory cards are changed by using the technology of the prior art.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a system block diagram illustrating one of the embodiments of the present invention. A structure of the data access of the memory card with the voltage step-down module is disclosed herein. There are a memory card golden finger  200 , a controlled chip  203 , a memory chip  206  and a voltage step-down module  209  in this structure. By comparing the structure of the data access of the memory card in the prior art, there is another voltage step-down module  209  using the switching step-down chip to step down the external voltage-and provide voltage by the need of each component in the situation of the lost of the smallest power. According to each block of the  FIG. 2 , the following is the detail description of the individual functions, the transfer of the power or data, and the controlled method.  
         [0018]     The memory card golden finger  200  is used to be the interface for the external device and the internal components. It is used to transfer the data to the external device, such as computer or personal digital assistant (PDA), after reading from the memory chip  206 . On the other hand, the data is from the external device and written in the memory chip  206 . The memory card golden finger  200  is electrically connected to the voltage step-down module  209  and both of them are doing power transfer. Besides, the memory golden finger  200  is electrically connected to the main controlled chip  203  and both of them are doing data transfer.  
         [0019]     The voltage step-down module  209  is also connected to the main controlled chip  203  and the memory chip  206 . The voltage step-down module  209  is received the power provided from the external device by using the power wire between the module and the memory card golden finger  209 . Then, the input voltage is in the step-down procedure and output the converting voltage to the main controlled chip  203  and the memory chip  206 . In the present embodiment, the voltage step-down module  209  is included a switching step-down chip. The chip is included a Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) step-down voltage or a Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM) step-down voltage. The benefits of using the Switching Step-Down chip are to avoid the power lost by the method of the Linear voltage Step-Down and achieve the power saving by completely utilizing the receiving power. Besides, the voltage after transferring is correspond with the need of the voltage level of the main controlled chip  203  and the memory chip  206 . Then the aging of the components is extended.  
         [0020]     The main controlled chip  203  is also connected to the memory chip  206 . The main controlled chip  203  will use the signal wire to transfer the data from the external device and written in the memory chip  206 . Similarly, the data of the main controlled chip  203  is read from the memory chip  206  by the signal line and is transferred to the external device. The main function of the main controlled chip  203  is to transfer the controlled signal and do the operation of reading or writing to the memory chip  206 . The data transfer is in between the main controlled chip  203  and the memory chip  206 .  
         [0021]     The main function of the memory chip  206  is to be the data storage. The operation of the data reading and writing in the memory chip  206  is controlled by the controlled signal of the main controlled chip  203 .  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is the system block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. A structure with voltage boost-up module is used to access the data is disclosed herein. There are a memory card golden finger  300 , a controlled chip  303 , a memory card chip  306  and a voltage boost-up module  309  in this structure. Similarly, to compare with the prior art ( FIG. 1 ), there is another voltage boost-up module in this embodiment of the present invention. The Switching Boost Up chip is used to boost up the external input voltage by the need of the components and then supply the voltage.  
         [0023]     The memory card golden finger  300  is used to be an interface for the external device and the internal components. The data is read in the memory card  306  and transferred to the external device, or the data is written into the memory card  306  from the external device. The memory card golden finger  300  is electrically connected to the voltage boost-up module  309  and the power will be transferred between both of them.  
         [0024]     The voltage boost-up module  309  is also connected to the main controlled chip  303  and the memory chip  306 . The power wire in between the voltage boost-up module  309  and the memory card golden finger  300  is used to receive the power from the external device. The received input voltage is used to boost up the voltage and output the converted voltage to the main controlled chip  303  and the memory chip  306 . In the present embodiment, there is a Switching Boost-Up chip used in the voltage boost-up module  309 . The Switching Boost-Up chip is included a Charge Pump boost-up circuit, a Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) boost-up voltage or a Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM) to boost-up the voltage level. After the input voltage is converted by the voltage boost-up module  309 , a higher converted voltage is provided to the main controlled chip  303  and the memory chip  306 . Therefore, when the main controlled chip  303  and the memory chip  306  are in choosing, there are more different components can be chosen. It is important to shorten the time in developing in today&#39;s market.  
         [0025]     In  FIG. 3 , the main controlled chip  303  is also connected to the memory chip  306 . The data of the main controlled chip  303  is written to the memory chip  306  from the external device by the signal wires. Similarly, the data of the main controlled chip  303  is read from the memory chip  306  and transferred to the external device by the signal wires. The main function of the main controlled chip  303  is to transfer the controlled signal, which is used to control the data reading and writing of the memory chip  306 . The data transfer and access is in between memory chip  303  and the memory chip  306 . The main function of the memory chip  306  is used to be the data storage. The memory chip  306  is operated by the controlled signal of the main controlled chip  303  to do the data reading and writing.  
         [0026]     The voltage step-down module  209  ( FIG. 2 ) and the voltage boost-up module  309  ( FIG. 3 ) can also be replaced by the converting voltage module (not shown). There is a Switching Boost Up/Step Down circuit used in the converting voltage module. Boost Up/Step Down is represented doing boost-up or step-down respectively or at the same time. Therefore, the Switching Boost Up/Step Down circuit can do the operation of boost-up or step-down to the input voltage or do the operation of boost-up and step-down to the input voltage at the same time. Then, there is a converting voltage output to the internal components of the small memory card.  
         [0027]      FIG. 4  is one embodiment, which is satisfied the voltage step-down module  209  in  FIG. 2 . The present embodiment is a voltage step-down circuit in the prior art. The creation of the present embodiment is to find compatible electronic components to achieve stepping down voltage in the limited space of the small memory card. Generally, because of the cost control of the circuit and the limited space of the small memory card, in the prior art, it is not easy to add the voltage step-down circuit or just add a simple linear step-down component. Referring to  FIG. 4 , a switching step-down chip  400  is the main component in the voltage step-down circuit. The function of each pins of the switching step-down chip  400  is: Pin  1  is used to receive the active signal to activate the chip. Pin  2  is used to activate the chip by the software controlling the signal. Pin  3  is used to be the feedback control, which controls the converting voltage level. Pin  4  and Pin  10  have no functions, so there is no wire connected to the circuit. Pin  5  and Pin  6  are grounded. Pin  7  is used to connect to inductance. Pin  8  and Pin  9  are connected to the power in order to operation the chip. In the present embodiment, the input voltage is connected to the Pin  1  of the voltage step-down chip  400  and connected to the capacitance C 2  and the resistance R 1 , the other pin of the C 2  is grounded. Pin  2  is connected to the capacitance C 1  and the other pin of the capacitance is grounded. Pin  3  is connected in between the resistance R 2  and the resistance R 3 . Pin  4  and Pin  10  are not connected to anything. Pin  5  and Pin  6  are grounded. Pin  7  is connected to the inductance L 1  and the other pin of the L 1  is connected to the resistance R 1  and the resistance R 2 . Pin  8  and Pin  9  are short at the beginning and are connected in between the capacitance C 2  and resistance R 1 . Resistance R 1 , resistance R 2  and resistance R 3  are connected together with series connection.  
         [0028]     In  FIG. 4 , the purpose of the capacitance C 1  and the capacitance C 2  are used to filter and stabilize the voltage supply. The resistance R 1 , the resistance R 2  and the resistance R 3  are series connection to divide the voltage. The different pins are able to receive suitable voltage. The purpose of the inductance L 1  is to stabilize the current and be the phase compatible component.  
         [0029]      FIG. 5  is one embodiment, which is satisfied the voltage boost-up module  309  in  FIG. 3 . The present embodiment is a voltage boost-up circuit in the prior art. The creation of the present embodiment is to find compatible electronic components to achieve boosting up the voltage in the limited space of the small memory card. Referring to  FIG. 5 , a switching boost-up chip  500  is the main component in the voltage boost-up circuit. The function of each pins of the switching boost-up chip  500  is: Pin  1  is used to be the feedback control. Pin  2  is used to receive the active signal in order to activate the chip. Pin  3  is used to receive the input voltage. Pin  4  and Pin  5  are grounded. Pin  5  is connected to the negative of the capacitance. Pin  7  is used to connect to the positive of the capacitance. Pin  8  is used to output the converted voltage. In the present embodiment, the input voltage is connected to the Pin  2  and Pin  3  of the voltage boost-up chip  500  and a capacitance C 3 , and the other pin of the capacitance C 3  is grounded. There is no connection in between Pin  2  and Pin  3 . Similarly, there is no connection in between Pin  1  and Pin  8 . Both of them are connected to the capacitance C 5 , and the other pin of the capacitance C 5  is grounded. Pin  4  and Pin  5  are grounded. There is a capacitance C 4  to be the connection in between Pin  6  and Pin  7 . In  FIG. 5 , The purpose of the capacitance C 3 , the capacitance C 4  and the capacitance C 5  are to be the filter and stabilize the converted voltage supply.  
         [0030]     The foregoing description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. In this regard, the embodiment or embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly and legally entitled.