Patent ID: 7895387

Claim:
A controller circuit, comprising: a first host idle detection circuit configured to determine when a first host interface (I/F) is in an idle state, the idle state being when the first host I/F is not communicating with the controller circuit; a switch controller circuit configured to enable communication paths between the first host I/F, a second host I/F, and a target device I/F; and a first response circuit coupled to the first host I/F and configured to: output a response when the controller circuit has enabled the communication path between the second host I/F and the target device I/F, disable the communication path between the first host I/F and the target device I/F when the first host I/F is in the idle state and a target device is being accessed via the second host I/F, and respond to communications received via the first host I/F while the target device is being accessed via the second host I/F, wherein the first host I/F is configured to communicate with the switch controller circuit using a first communication protocol, the second host I/F is configured to communicate with the switch controller circuit using a second different communication protocol, and the target device I/F is configured to communicate with the switch controller circuit using a universal serial bus (USB) protocol.