Patent ID: 8301822

Claim:
A method of communication between a host device and a storage device, the method comprising: in a bridge comprising a controller, a switching system, a bi-directional converter, a host interface configured to interface with a host device that uses a first storage device protocol, and a storage device interface configured to interface with a storage device that uses the first storage device protocol or that uses a second storage device protocol different from the first storage device protocol, the controller performing: determining, in response to the storage device being operatively connected to the bridge via the storage device interface, whether the storage device uses the first storage device protocol or whether the storage device uses the second storage device protocol; in response to the storage device using the second storage device protocol, configuring the switching system such that the bi-directional converter is functionally connected between the host interface and the storage device interface and converting communicated data from either of the first storage device protocol and the second storage device protocol to the other of the first storage device protocol and the second storage device protocol, and in response to the storage device using the first storage device protocol, configuring the switching system to bypass the bi-directional converter when connecting the host interface to the storage device interface, wherein one of the first storage device protocol and the second storage device protocol is a secure digital (SD) over universal flash storage (UFS) protocol.