Patent ID: 8832719

Claim:
An interface system, comprising: a secure digital (SD) driver module configured to communicate with an SD card over a bus; a secure digital input/output (SDIO) driver module configured to communicate with an SDIO card over the bus; a multiplexer configured to operate in one of a first mode or a second mode, wherein (i) while the multiplexer is operating in the first mode, the multiplexer couples the bus to the SD card, and (ii) while the multiplexer is operating in the second mode, the multiplexer couples the bus to the SDIO card; an input/output port configured to communicate with the SDIO card independently of the multiplexer; and a bus control module configured to enable operation of the multiplexer in either the first mode or the second mode, wherein the bus control module is further configured to enable the operation of the multiplexer the first mode in response to a request for access to the bus by the SD driver module, and while the multiplexer is operating in the first mode, (i) listen for a notification signal arriving from the SDIO card via the input/output port, wherein the notification signal indicates that at least one interrupt is pending at the SDIO card, and (ii) in response to arrival of the notification signal, enable the operation of the multiplexer in the second mode to allow the SDIO card to transmit the at least one interrupt to the SDIO driver module via the multiplexer.