Abstract:
A method and apparatus for resetting a memory card having a plurality of interfaces and a plurality of function blocks, wherein each function block may be associated with a corresponding interface, may include detecting a reset signal for a selected interface of the plurality of interfaces, and interrupting a function block associated with the selected interface. When the selected interface is the only active interface, all function blocks in the memory card may be reset. If interfaces other than the selected interface are active, only the selected interface may be reset.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a memory card and a reset control method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a memory card having multiple interfaces and reset control method thereof. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Cards, e.g., smart cards, subscriber identification module cards, and flash cards, operate when connected to a host. The types of hosts which operate with such cards are increasing. Such hosts may include, e.g., mobile phones, MP3 players, portable media players, etc. 
         [0005]    In a conventional card, multiple controllers may communicate with a host through corresponding multiple interfaces. For example, a first controller may communicate with the host via a first interface, a second controller may communicate with the host via the second interface, a third controller may communicate with the host via a third interface, etc. The different interfaces may include, e.g., a USB interface, a compact flash interface, an ISO 7816 interface, which is international standard of smart card, etc. The conventional card may also include a reset unit, which may respond to multiple reset signals from the host via the multiple interfaces, and may reset the multiple controllers, i.e., the entire card. 
         [0006]    In other words, when the conventional card receives a reset signal through any of the interfaces, the card is entirely reset. Thus, while the host and card may communicate using the multiple interfaces, the host and card may not communicate simultaneously using the multiple interfaces. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention is therefore directed to a method and apparatus for resetting a memory card having multiple interfaces, which substantially overcome one or more of the problems due to the limitations and disadvantages of the related art. 
         [0008]    It is therefore a feature of an embodiment of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for resetting a memory card having multiple interfaces, which can simultaneously communicate using multiple interfaces. 
         [0009]    At least one of the above and other features and advantages of the present invention may be realized by providing a method of resetting a memory card having a plurality of interfaces and a plurality of function blocks, each function block being associated with a corresponding interface, the method including detecting a reset signal for a selected interface of the plurality of interfaces, and interrupting a function block associated with the selected interface. 
         [0010]    When a power state of the memory card is turned on, all of the plurality of function blocks may be reset. Before interrupting, a status of interfaces other than the selected interface may be determined. When no interface other than the selected interface is active, all of the plurality of function blocks may be reset. 
         [0011]    Detecting the reset signal may include receiving the reset signal, detecting the selected interface associated with the reset signal, and outputting the selected interface to be interrupted. 
         [0012]    At least one of the above and other features and advantages of the present invention may be realized by providing an apparatus for controlling resetting of a memory card having a plurality of interfaces and a plurality of function blocks, each function block being associated with a corresponding interface, the apparatus including an interface detector for detecting an interface of the plurality of interfaces having a reset signal provided thereto, a reset block for receiving a reset signal from the plurality of interfaces and the interface from the interface detector, and for outputting an interrupt signal associated with a selected interface to be interrupted, and a processor for receiving the interrupt signal and for interrupting a function block associated with the selected interface. 
         [0013]    The apparatus may include a power manager for resetting all of the plurality of function blocks, wherein the reset block may output a reset signal to the power manager when a power state of the memory card is turned on. 
         [0014]    The interface detector may further detect a status of interfaces other than the selected interface. The apparatus may include a power manager resetting all of the plurality of function blocks, wherein, when no interface other than the selected interface is active, the reset block outputs a reset signal to the power manager. 
         [0015]    At least one of the above and other features and advantages of the present invention may be realized by providing a memory card, including a plurality of interfaces, a plurality of function blocks, each function block being associated with a corresponding interface, an interface detector detecting an interface of the plurality of interfaces having a reset signal provided thereto, a reset block for receiving a reset signal from the plurality of interfaces and the interface from the interface detector, and for outputting a selected interface to be interrupted, and a processor for interrupting the function block associated with the selected interface. 
         [0016]    The plurality of interfaces and the plurality of function blocks may be in separate portions of the memory card, and the plurality of interfaces and the plurality of function blocks may be in communication with one another. The plurality of function blocks may be integrated in a single controller. 
         [0017]    The memory card may include a power manager for resetting all of the plurality of function blocks, wherein the reset block outputs a reset signal to the power manager when a power state of the memory card is turned on. The interface detector may further detect a status of interfaces other than the selected interface. The power manager may reset all of the plurality of function blocks, wherein, when no interface other than the selected interface is active, the reset block outputs a reset signal to the power manager. 
         [0018]    At least one of the above and other features and advantages of the present invention may be realized by providing an article of manufacture having a machine accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method of resetting a memory card having a plurality of interfaces and a plurality of function blocks, each function block being associated with a corresponding interface, the method including detecting a reset signal for a selected interface of the plurality of interfaces, and interrupting a function block associated with the selected interface. 
         [0019]    When a power state of the memory card is turned on, all of the plurality of function blocks may be reset. Before interrupting, a status of interfaces other than the selected interface may be determined. When no interface other than the selected interface is active, all of the plurality of function blocks may be reset. Detecting the reset signal may include receiving the reset signal, detecting the selected interface associated with the reset signal, and outputting the selected interface to be interrupted. 
         [0020]    At least one of the above and other features and advantages of the present invention may be realized by providing a reset control system, including a host, a card, a plurality of interfaces between the host and the card, a plurality of function blocks on the card, each function block being associated with a corresponding interface, an interface detector on the card detecting an interface of the plurality of interfaces having a reset signal provided thereto from the host, a reset block on the card for receiving a reset signal from the plurality of interfaces and the interface from the interface detector, and for outputting a selected interface to be interrupted, and a processor on the card for interrupting the function block associated with the selected interface. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]    The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which: 
           [0022]      FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic block diagram of a card in communication with a host in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic block diagram of a reset block in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0024]      FIG. 3  illustrates a flow chart of a method of resetting a card in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0025]    The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the figures, the dimensions of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity of illustration. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  illustrates a card  100  in communication with a host  110  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As may be seen therein, the host  110  may include a host block  10  including multiple interfaces, e.g., interface 1   11 , interface 2   12 , and interface 3   13 . 
         [0027]    The card  100  may include a memory  32 , an interface block  50 , an interface detector  55 , a system bus  60 , a power management unit (PMU)  62 , a central processing unit (CPU)  64 , a controller  70  and a reset block  80 . The interface block  50  may include multiple interfaces, e.g., interface 1   51 , interface 2   52 , and interfaces  53 . The controller  70  may include multiple function blocks, respectively corresponding to the multiple interfaces, e.g., function block 1   71 , function block 2   72 , and function block 3   73 . Interfaces in both the host  110  and the card  100  may be any desired interface, e.g., an MMC interface, a USB interface, compact flash, an ISO 7816 interface, etc. 
         [0028]    The interface detector  55  may detect which of the interfaces in the interface block  50  are communicating with the host  110 , and may supply this information to the reset block  80 . The reset block  80  may also receive a reset signal RST from the host  110  via the interface block  50 . The reset block  80  may output a signal in accordance with which interface within the interface block  50  the reset signal RST came from and which interfaces are active as detected by the interface detector  55 . 
         [0029]    For example, if the only active interface is the interface sending the reset signal RST, the reset block  80  may output a reset signal to the PMU  62 , which in turn, may reset the entire memory card  100 , i.e., all function blocks within the controller  70 . If another interface, in addition to the interface sending the reset signal RST, is indicated as being active, the reset block  80  may output an interrupt signal to the CPU  64 , which may only reset only a corresponding specific function block, from which the reset signal RST was sent, within the controller  70 . 
         [0030]    As a particular example, assume the memory card  100  simultaneously communicates with the host  110  via the interface 1   51  and the interface 2   52 . If the reset block  80  receives the reset signal RST via the interface 2   52 , the reset block  80  may output the interrupt signal to the CPU  64 . The CPU  64  may respond the interrupt signal from the reset block  80 , and may only reset the function block 2   72 , corresponding to the interface 2   52 . Now, if the reset block  80  receives the reset signal RST via the interface 1   51 , the reset block  80  may output the reset signal to the PMU  62 . The PMU  62  may respond the reset signal from the reset block  80 , and may reset entire memory card  100 , i.e., all function blocks in the controller  70 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 2  illustrates a detailed schematic block diagram of the reset block  80  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen therein, the reset block  80  may include a reset manager  81 , a power on reset (POR)  82 , and a software (SW) reset  83 . The reset manager  81  may receive signals from any of the interfaces in the interface block, i.e., the interface 1   51 , the interface 2   52 , the interface 3   53 , from the interface detector  55 , from the POR  82 , and from the S/W reset  83 . In accordance with received signals, the reset manager  81  may output the reset signal to the PMU  62  or the interrupt signal to the CPU  64 . 
         [0032]    When the memory card is power-on, POR  82  may output the reset signal to the reset manager  81 . S/W reset  83  may generate the software reset signal, i.e., the interrupt signal, while the memory card  100  operates normally. When the reset signal is output from the POR  82 , the PMU  62  may reset the entire memory card  100 . When the interrupt signal is output from the SW reset  83 , the CPU may only reset a specific function block within the memory card  100 . 
         [0033]    A method of resetting the card  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the flow chart of  FIG. 3 . Step S 110  may determine whether a POR signal has been activated. If so, then the method may proceed to step S 160 , which, in turn, may send the reset signal to the PMU  62  to reset the entire card  100 . Otherwise, the method may proceed to step S 120  to detect a reset signal RST. In step S 130 , it is determined whether a reset signal RST has been detected. If not, the method returns to step S 120 . If so, then the method may proceed to step S 140  to determine whether another interface is active. If not, then the method may proceed to step S 160 , which, in turn, may send the reset signal to the PMU  62  to reset the entire card  100 . If so, then the interrupt signal may be sent to the CPU  64  to reset only the interface that sent the reset signal RST. 
         [0034]    Thus, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, individual function blocks, rather than the entire card, may be reset. Therefore, simultaneous communication between a host and a memory card using multiple interface may be realized. 
         [0035]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed herein, and although specific terms are employed, they are used and are to be interpreted in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purpose of limitation. For example, the resetting of the memory card of the present invention may be implemented in software, e.g., by an article of manufacture having a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to reset the memory card in accordance with methods of the present invention. Accordingly, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.