Abstract:
A form factor card compatible for use with a host electronic device that is capable of communicating a status of the form factor card to a user of the host electronic device. The form factor card comprises an adapter region for interfacing the card with the host electronic device, an on-card electronic device for performing a task for the host electronic device, an on-card intelligent controller, and an indicator in communication with the on-card intelligent controller to communicate an operational status of the form factor card.

Description:
THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to form factor cards, and more particularly, to a form factor card having a status indicator.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    With the proliferation of portable electronic devices, such as digital cameras, personal digital assistants, and notebook computers, the use of form factor cards adapted for use with these devices is steadily increasing. The term “form factor card” is a general term often used to describe a memory card, such as a SONY memory stick or CompactFlash card, but also applies to cards that perform other functions, including I/O cards such as serial cards, Ethernet cards, fax/modem cards, wireless pagers, and multimedia cards.  
           [0003]    An unfortunate characteristic of form factor cards, particularly memory cards, is their tendency to operate at relatively slow speeds. Furthermore, form factor cards do not have a means to indicate when the cards are being accessed by a host electronic device. The combination of slow operating speed and no indicating means can lead to potential problems. A user of an electronic device employing a form factor card, for instance, might inadvertently remove the card from the host device before the host device has completed accessing the card resulting in loss of data or worse. Prematurely removing a memory card from a digital camera before the camera has completed writing or reading data from the card, for example, can corrupt the file being written or may cause an application to “hang” when reading the file.  
           [0004]    Users of electronic devices employing form factor cards would benefit from a form factor card able to communicate to the user various statuses of the card such as when it is being accessed, failure modes, and other card functions.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention provides a form factor card compatible for use with a host electronic device that is capable of communicating a status of the form factor card to a user of the host electronic device. The form factor card comprises an adapter region for mechanically and electrically interfacing the card with the host electronic device, an on-card electronic device for performing a task for the host electronic device, an on-card intelligent controller, and an indicator in communication with the on-card intelligent controller to communicate an operational status of the form factor card. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one exemplary embodiment of a form factor card having a status indicator according to the present invention.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2A is a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of a form factor card having a status indicator according to the present invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2B is another perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of a form factor card having a status indicator according to the present invention.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3A illustrates one relationship between an uninstalled form factor card according to the present invention and a host electronic device.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3B illustrates one embodiment of a form factor card according to the present invention installed in a host electronic device.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating one exemplary embodiment of a form factor card according to the present invention installed within a host electronic device.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of a form factor card according to the present invention incorporating a plurality of indicating lights.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment of a form factor card according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]    In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims.  
         [0015]    One embodiment of a form factor card according to the present invention is illustrated generally in block diagram form at  100  in FIG. 1. Form factor card  100  includes an on-board intelligent controller  102 , a memory device  104  having a plurality of memory modules, data channels  106 , control channels  108 , an electrical interface  110  for connection to an electronic host device, a status indicator  112  (e.g., a viewable or audible device) and a housing  114 . In one embodiment, form factor card  100  is a CompactFlash storage card meeting the CFt and CompactFlash Specification of the CompactFlash Association (www.compactflashorg). The CFt and CompactFlash Specification is herein incorporated by reference. On-board intelligent controller  102  controls the status of status indicator  112  via a link  116  and communicates with an electronic host device via interface  110  and interface channels  118 . On-board intelligent controller  102  also manages interface protocols with a host electronic device, data storage and retrieval, diagnostics, defect handling, error correcting, and power management and clock control functions. In one embodiment, on-board intelligent controller  102  is a microprocessor. Memory device  104  can be embodied in a plurality of forms, including, but not limited to, flash memory and magnetic random access memory (MRAM). In the exemplary embodiments described herein, status indicator  112  includes a visual indicator such as an indicating light and hereafter will be referred to as indicating light  112 . Indicating light  112  can have several embodiments including, but not limited to, a filament-type lamp or a light emitting diode. Indicating light  112  can also be of myriad colors (e.g., red, green and yellow). Alternatively, another type of status indicator may be used (e.g., sound indicator via an on-card speaker system). Other suitable status indicators will become apparent to one skilled in the art often reading the present application.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views of one general embodiment of form factor card  100  illustrated by FIG. 1. FIG. 2A is a front perspective of form factor card  100  and illustrates housing  114 , including a leading edge  120  and a trailing edge  122 . Front edge  120  further includes electrical and mechanical interface  110 . Electrical interface  110 , as illustrated in FIG. 2A, comprises an array of female connectors, but can take the form of a plurality of embodiments, including but not limited to an array of male pin-connectors.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2B is a rear perspective of form factor card  100  and again illustrates outer body  114 , leading edge  120 , and trailing edge  122 . Form factor card  100  further includes indicating light  112  at trailing edge  122 . While indicating light  112  is illustrated by FIG. 2B as being located at trailing edge  122 , indicating light  112  can be located anywhere where the light will be visible to a user of a host electronic device. Also, while FIG. 2B illustrates indicating light  112  as being located at and extending above trailing edge  122 , indicating light  112  can be located anywhere where the light is visible to a user and can be mounted in myriad fashions including, but not limited to, recess, surface, or flush-mounted. Additionally, while indicating light  112  is shown in FIG. 2B as being spherical in shape, it can be of substantially any shape (e.g., an oval or square shape).  
         [0018]    [0018]FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective views illustrating the relationship between form factor card  100  and a host electronic device  130 . Host device  130  can be any device utilizing a form factor card including, but not limited to, digital cameras, digital camcorders, personal digital assistants, laptops, and notebook computers on other mobile computing devices. FIG. 3A depicts form factor card  100  in an uninstalled position and shows the relationship between form fact card  100  and a host slot  132 . FIG. 3B depicts form factor card  100  in an installed position, after form factor card  100  has been slideably inserted into host slot  132  and engaged by host device  130 .  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating form factor card  100  of FIG. 1 in an installed position within host device  130 , with host interface channels  134  engaged with electrical interface  110 . Interface channels (i.e. bus)  134  transfer data between host device  130  and form factor card  100  and provides electrical power to form factor card  100  via electrical interface  110  and interface channels  118 . On-board intelligent controller  102  manages interface protocols with host device  130 , data storage and retrieval functions, error-correcting functions, defect handling and diagnostic functions, and power management and clock control functions. On-board controller  112  also controls the on/off status of indicating light  112  via line  116  to thereby indicate a status of form factor card  100  to a user of host electronic device  130 .  
         [0020]    Form factor card  100  is capable of communicating a plurality of statuses of the form factor card to a user of host device  130 . In one embodiment, form factor card  100  utilizes a green indicating light  112  to communicate to the user that the card is properly installed and ready for operation. In the uninstalled position, indicating light  112  is not illuminated. However, after form factor  100  is slideably inserted into host device  130  and all connections are properly made between electrical interface  110  and host device  130 , controller  102  illuminates indicating light  112 , thereby informing the user that the card is ready for use. If form factor card  100  is not properly seated within host device  130 , indicating light  112  is not illuminated, thereby informing the user that the card is not properly installed.  
         [0021]    In one embodiment, controller  102  monitors for activity data channels  106  and interface channels  118 , and utilizes a red indicating light to communicate to the user whether the card is currently being accessed by electronic host device  130 . When controller  102  detects no activity on channel  106  or  118 , indicating light  112  is not illuminated, thereby informing the user that form factor card  100  is not being accessed by host device  130  and that it is safe to remove the card from the host device is so desired. When controller  102  detects activity on channel  106  or  118 , controller  112  illuminates indicating light  112 , thereby informing the user that form factor card  100  is being accessed by host device  130  and should not be removed. Controller  102  illuminates indicating light  112  continuously or flashes it on and off.  
         [0022]    In one embodiment, controller  102  monitors the amount of memory being used in memory device  104 . When the amount of memory being used reaches a predetermined threshold, form factor card  100  utilizes a yellow indicating light to communicate to the user that memory device  104  is nearing its maximum capacity. When the memory threshold is reached, controller  102  illuminates yellow indicating light  112  continuously or flashes it on and off, thereby informing the user that memory device  104  is nearing capacity.  
         [0023]    In one embodiment, controller  102  monitors the amount of memory being used in memory device  104 . When memory device  104  has not reached its full capacity, indicating light  112  is not illuminated. When memory device  104  has reached full capacity, controller  102  illuminates red indicating light  112  to thereby indicate to a user that memory device  104  is full and that form factor card  100  should be replaced with a card having memory capacity prior to performing additional functions with host device  130 . Controller  102  illuminates indicating light  112  continuously or flashes it on and off.  
         [0024]    In one embodiment, a user of host electronic device  130  can disable the status indicating light  112 . When host electronic device  130  is not connected to line power, but is operating on battery power, the user can selectively disable the indicating lights to reduce the power consumed by form factor card  100 , thereby extending the life of the battery. The indicating lights could be disabled by a manual switch that is integral to form factor card  100  or could be disabled using a code transmitted to controller  102  from host electronic device  130  via interface channels  134 .  
         [0025]    As shown at  140  in FIG. 5, which illustrates form factor card  100  in an installed position within host electronic device  130 , one embodiment of factor card  100  utilizes a plurality of indicating lights  142  to communicate to a user of host device  130  a plurality of operational statuses of form factor card  100 . Indicating lights  142  comprise a plurality of colors with each representing a particular status of form factor card  100 . Controller  102  controls the on/off status of indicating lights  142  independently via a plurality of lines  144 .  
         [0026]    In one embodiment, controller  102  utilizes the plurality of indicating lights  142  to communicate to a user of host electronic device  130  the statuses described above, including whether card  100  is properly installed, whether there is activity on the data channels  106 , whether memory device  104  is nearing or has reached its maximum capacity. When card  100  is properly installed within host electronic device  130 , controller  102  turns on and continuously illuminates a green LED. When controller  102  senses activity on data lines  106 , controller  102  flashes a red LED on and off to warn the user that card  100  should not be removed. When memory device  104  is nearing capacity, controller  100  flashes a yellow LED on and off and turns the yellow LED on continuously when memory device  104  has reached maximum capacity.  
         [0027]    Form factor card  100  is not limited to use as a memory device. As shown by block diagram in FIG. 6, which illustrates form factor card  100  installed within host device  130 , form factor card  100  is also utilized as an I/O device  146 . I/O device  146  has a plurality of embodiment including, but not limited to, serial cards, Ethernet cards, fax/modem cards, and wireless pagers. When utilized as an I/O device, as when utilized as a memory device, form factor card  100  is capable of communicating myriad statuses of form factor card  100  to a user of host electronic device  130  via a plurality of indicating lights  142  and lines  144 .  
         [0028]    In one embodiment, form factor card  100  illuminates a green indicating light to communicate to a user that card  100  is properly installed within host electronic device  130  and is ready for operation. In one embodiment, controller  102  monitors data lines  106  and control lines  108 , and flashes a green indicating light on and off to communicate to a user that the I/O device  146  is transmitting/receiving data and should not be removed from host device  130 . In one embodiment, controller  102  flashes a red indicating light on and off to communicate to a user that an error has occurred within I/O device  146  or form factor card  100 .  
         [0029]    In summary, a form factor card according to the present invention reduces the potential for losing and/or corrupting data and files by indicating a status, or statuses, of the form factor card to a user of a host electronic device employing the form factor card. For instance, an indicating light informing the user that the form factor card is currently being accessed by the host electronic device reduces that likelihood that the user will inadvertently remove the card while such operations are taking place, thereby avoiding damage to data or having an application “hang.” As another example, in the case of a form factor card being used as a memory card in a digital camera, an indicating light informing the user that the card has reached its storage capacity could potentially avoid the loss of a once in a lifetime photograph by allowing the user to install a “fresh” memory card in a timely fashion. Furthermore, by allowing the user to selectively disable the indicating means, the user can extend the operational time of a battery-powered host device.  
         [0030]    Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those with skill in the chemical, mechanical, electromechanical, electrical, and computer arts will readily appreciate that the present invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of embodiments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the preferred embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.