Patent ID: 7587544

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a plurality of secure digital input output (SDIO) device card slots, wherein an SDIO card slot comprises a slot capable of isolating interrupts when the associated card is deselected; a bus of a host controller to simultaneously connect a plurality of expansion cards to a host device via the plurality of SDIO device card slots, wherein the plurality of expansion cards includes at least a secure digital (SD) memory card and a secure digital input output (SDIO) device; a multiplex portion which is operable to select one of the plurality of expansion cards such that the host device may interact with the selected card via the host controller, wherein the multiplex portion: includes one or more switches operable to select one of the multiplexed expansion cards; and is configured to multiplex between the host controller and the plurality of expansion cards via a clock pin: an interrupt isolation portion of the host controller configured to: connect an interrupt signal associated with at least one expansion card via the bus when the expansion card is selected; and isolate the interrupt signal from the bus when the at least one expansion card is deselected; when the SD memory card is selected: the interrupt signal of the SDIO device is routed via a general purpose input output (GPIO) pin of the host device, wherein the GPIO pin of the host device is isolated from the host controller; and the interrupt isolation portion of the host controller associated with an SDIO device card slot employed to connect the SD memory card is deactivated; and when the SDIO device is selected the interrupt signal is routed via a data pin of the host controller.