CN1831851A - Interface of removable electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

A removable electronic device having an application module for transferring data to or from a host having a plurality of contact terminals, the device comprising a first row of contact pads, each of the contact pads of the first row including a substantially tapered end, and a second row of contact pads, each of the contact pads of the second row including a substantially tapered end that corresponds to the substantially tapered end of at least one of the contact pads of the first row in an interweaving relationship, wherein the first and second rows of contacts pads are configured to receive the plurality of contact terminals.

Description

Interface of removable electronic device

technical field

The present invention relates to removable electronic devices, and more particularly, to removable memory card standards and methods thereof.

Background technique

Memory cards are well known small portable packages containing digital memory, for example, arrays of non-volatile memory such as flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). Memory cards have become popular devices for storing huge bytes of data from personal computers, notebook computers, personal digital assistants, cell phones, cameras, and other electronic devices that support removable data storage devices.

Generally, a memory card includes exposed electrical contacts on its surface so that it can be easily connected to and removed from a jack of a host electronic system or device, especially a portable device. Several memory card standards have been devised, including the MultiMediaCard (MMC) standard defined by the MultiMedia Card Association (MMCA) of Cupertino, California. MMC is a small, removable memory card that can be used to store and retrieve digital information in small, low-power devices. MMC has been used in many mobile electronic applications, such as music players, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, tape recorders, and GPS navigation devices. The MMCA has developed and aligned its open industry standards and defined all kinds of MMCs as industry standards across a variety of host platforms and markets. The physical and electrical specifications of MMC have been published in "The MultiMedia CardSystem Specification", which is updated and announced by MMCA in due course.

Another known standard for removable memory cards is Universal Serial Bus (USB), although this standard is not limited to storage devices. USB is a high-speed serial bus that supports various devices such as printers, keyboards, scanners, pointing devices, and PDAs. USB has become a standard in the computer world because the protocol can interconnect multiple devices with a minimum of connections and is very user-friendly. USB is currently defined by the Universal Serial Bus Specification, written and controlled by the USB Implementers Forum, Inc., a non-profit group founded by a group of companies responsible for developing the USB specification. The specification covers all aspects of USB operation, including electrical, mechanical, and communication characteristics and specifications. One of the important features of USB is that it allows a peripheral device to store information about itself and provide this information when requested by the host. This can remove the need for the host (which may be a computer, operating system, or application) to keep this information for many different devices. Rather, the device itself stores and provides this information.

In the evolution of memory cards, we hope that memory cards can reduce power consumption and provide higher access speeds, while still maintaining backward compatibility with existing protocols (such as MMC and USB specifications).

Contents of the invention

This paper discloses a novel detachable memory card standard. The standard of the present invention includes both detection technology and hardware interface compatibility requirements. Furthermore, the novel standard is backward compatible with MMC and USB applications.

According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a detachable electronic device with an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, the host has a plurality of contact terminals, and the device includes; a first row of contacts point, each of the above-mentioned contact contacts in the first column includes a substantially tapered end; and a second column of contact contacts, each of the above-mentioned contact contacts in the second column includes a substantially tapered end that will a substantially tapered end corresponding to at least one of the contact contacts in the first row in a weaving relationship, wherein the contact contacts of the first and second rows are configured to receive the plurality of contact terminals .

Further in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a removable electronic device having an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, comprising; a housing having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a surrounding; formed on the rows of interlaced contact contacts on the top surface of the housing; substantially U-shaped recesses on the perimeter of the housing; and notches in the corners of the housing for securing the device to the the host.

In addition, according to the present invention, there is provided a removable electronic device with an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, comprising; a housing having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a surrounding; a substantially U-shaped recess on the periphery of the housing; and notches on corners of the housing for securing the device to the host when the device is connected to the host.

Also, according to the present invention, there is provided a detachable electronic device with an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, comprising: a casing having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a surrounding; formed on columns of interleaved contact contacts on the top surface of the housing; and substantially U-shaped recesses on the perimeter of the housing.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a detachable electronic device with an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, comprising: a casing having a top surface, a bottom surface, and surroundings; formed on rows of interlaced contact contacts on the top surface of the housing; and notches on corners of the housing for securing the device to the host when the device is connected to the host.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be understood from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are for purposes of illustration and explanation only, and are not restrictive of the invention claimed herein.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Description of drawings

The foregoing disclosure and the following detailed description of the present invention can be better understood when read with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the present invention, the drawings show specific embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

In each diagram:

1A, 1B, and 1C are functional block diagrams of a general application of a memory card according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flow chart of a method for detecting an operating mode according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

3 is another flowchart of a method for detecting an operating mode according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a pin configuration diagram of a proposed removable electronic device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a pin configuration diagram of a proposed removable electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic diagram of a removable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

6A and 6B are exemplary electronic devices according to embodiments of the present invention.

Description of main component marking

30 removable electronic device

32 IF mode detectors

34 MMC device controller

35 Interleaver

36 USB physical layer circuit

37 USB device controller

38 application modules

40 Host

42 bus

100 removable electronics

102 Notches

104 adjacent side

106 adjacent side

120 removable electronics

122 Notches

124 depression

126 depression

Detailed ways

In this detailed description, for purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of specific embodiments of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shown in block diagram form. Furthermore, those skilled in the art can easily understand that the specific order of the performance and implementation of the method herein is for explanation only, and the present invention also covers various order changes, and still falls within the spirit and scope of the specific embodiments of the present invention among.

1A, 1B, and 1C are functional block diagrams of a general application of a removable electronic device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 30 (temporarily referred to as Mu card) can support at least one operation mode compatible with USB and MMC, CF (Compact Flash), SM (Smart Media), and SD (Secure Digital). For example, USB compatibility mode includes USB 2.0 applications, while MMC compatibility mode includes one of MMC 4.0 or MMC SPI (Serial-Peripheral Interface) applications. For the purpose of simplification, only the MMC compatibility mode is described in the following specific embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is equally applicable to CF, SM, SD, etc. modes.

The electronic device 30 includes 1, 4, 8, or 16-bit interfaces, and provides low voltage support of 5V/3.3V/1.8V, and has zero power consumption during standby. Furthermore, the electronic device 30 is capable of supporting a wide bandwidth from about 50KB/s to 120MB/s. Conversely, MMC 4.0 supports 1, 4, or 8-bit data transfers at a maximum speed of 52MB/s; while USB 2.0 supports data transfers at a maximum speed of 60MB/s. As a result, the electronic device 30 can provide high-speed applications while maintaining backward compatibility at least with respect to applications such as USB, MMC, MMC SPI, and the like.

FIG. 1A is a functional block diagram of an electronic device 30 operating in USB mode. 1A, the electronic device 30 includes an interface (IF) mode detector 32, a multimedia card (MMC) device controller 34, an interleaver 35, a universal serial bus (USB) physical layer (PHY) circuit 36, a USB device controller 37, and the application module 38. When the electronic device 30 is inserted into the host 40, the IF mode detector 32 detects the operating mode to distinguish the MMC mode, the USB mode, or the Mu mode. Host 40 (for example, a notebook computer, personal computer (PC), cell phone, tablet computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), or digital video camera (DV)/digital camera (DSC)) may include a card reader (Fig. not shown) for receiving the electronic device 30 . In this embodiment, the IF mode detector 32 detects whether the host 40 (connected to the electronic device 30 ) complies with the USB specification. The USB device controller 37 controls data transmission on the shared bus 42 between the host 40 and the application module 38 through the USB PHY circuit 36. The application module 38 may serve as a memory or an input/output (I/O) interface, depending on the mode of operation of the probed column.

FIG. 1B is a functional block diagram of the electronic device 30 operating in the Mu mode. Referring to FIG. 1B , the IF mode detector 32 detects whether the host 40 (connected to the electronic device 30 ) complies with the Mu specification. The USB device controller 37 controls the data transmission between the host 40 and the application module 38 through the interleaver 35 . The interleaver 35 interleaves the call to a function or procedure within another function or procedure. The interleaver 35 converts the 16-bit data into serial data recognizable by the USB device controller 37 or vice versa. In this regard, the interleaver 35 bridges between the Mu bus and the UTMI (USB 2.0 Transceiver Macrocell Interface (USB 2.0 Transceiver Macrocell Interface)) bus. UTMI (which was developed to define the interface specifications of the above-mentioned physical layer circuits and some of the above-mentioned logical layer circuits of USB 2.0) can facilitate a data transfer rate of 480Mbps in high-speed (HS) mode, which is much higher than that of USB 1.1. speed while remaining backward compatible with the USB 1.1 standard.

FIG. 1C is a functional block diagram of the electronic device 30 operating in the MMC mode. Referring to FIG. 1C , the IF mode detector 32 detects whether the host 40 (connected to the electronic device 30 ) complies with the MMC specification. The MMC device controller 34 controls data transmission between the host 40 and the application module 38 . MMC applications include one of the following: MMC 4.0, 1, 4, or 8-bit interface; or MMCSPI, 1-bit interface.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for detecting an operating mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2 , at the device side, the host 40 (connected to the electronic device 30 ) will be turned on at step 50 . In step 52 , the power supply voltage VDD of the host 40 is detected to determine whether the VDD is equal to or greater than the voltage level required by the USB application. Typically, USB applications can operate at voltage levels ranging from approximately 4.5V to 5.5V, while MMC or Mu applications can operate at approximately 1.8V or 3.3V. In one specific embodiment, if the VDD level of the host 40 is equal to or greater than 4.4V, the operation mode is determined to be USB 2.0 at step 54 . If the VDD level of the host 40 is less than 4.4V, it will determine the operating mode as Mu application or MMC application.

Then, at step 56 , it is judged whether the command signal CMD0 sent by the host 40 is received by the electronic device 30 . In step 58 , the command signal CMD0 is detected within a predetermined time period. If the preset time is exceeded, at step 60, the host 40 will be turned off or "paused" to save power. If the preset time is not exceeded, the command signal will continue to be detected. When the command signal is received, it is judged at step 62 whether the command signal indicates Mu application. If the command signal is not the Mu command signal, then at step 64 it is determined that the operating mode is MMC application. If it is determined that the command signal is a Mu command signal, at step 66 , the electronic device 30 responds to the host 40 that the operating mode is Mu application. Then, at step 68 , the electronic device 30 waits for a predetermined period of time (for example, 8 clocks) for synchronization. In general, the clock rate depends on the host speed and system clock. Then, at step 70 , the electronic device 30 switches to the Mu interface so as to execute the Mu application at step 72 .

FIG. 3 is another flowchart of a method for detecting an operating mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3 , at the host end, the host 40 sends the Mu command signal Mu CMD0 to the electronic device 30 at step 80 . At step 82, if the electronic device 30 does not send a response signal, the host 40 sends an MMC command signal MMC CMD0 at step 84 to indicate that the operation mode is MMC application at step 86. At step 82 , if the electronic device 30 replies with the Mu response signal, the host 40 sends a preset number of clocks (for example, 8 clocks) at step 88 for synchronization. The electronic device 30 switches to the Mu mode at step 90 . At step 92 , the electronic device 30 optionally sends a signal to the host 40 to indicate that the Mu interface is ready for use.

For example, the command signals MMC CMD0 and Mu CMD0 are respectively defined as the following 6-byte formats "40h, 00h, 00h, 00h, 00h, 95h" and "40h, 4Dh, 55h, BFh, B2h, AAh]. Alternatively, the Mu response signal is defined as the following 6-byte format "19h, [4-byte operating parameters], FFh".

FIG. 4A is a pin assignment diagram of a proposed removable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4A , all pins at the device side remain in a HiZ (high impedance) state until the operating mode between the host and the removable electronic device is determined. For the MMC 4.0 mode, the first pin (ie, DAT 3 ) of the removable electronic device is defined to switch the MMC 4.0 mode to the MMC SPI mode, which is defined in the MMC specification. The second pin (that is, DAT 8) of the Mu interface mode is used to confirm whether the MMC mode or the Mu interface mode is selected. The fourteenth and fifteenth pins (that is, D+ and D−) of the USB mode are a pair of data signals, which can be used to determine whether the USB mode is selected. The pair of data signals (D+, D-) is a complementary pair where when one is at a high level, the other is at a low level. For SIMM (Single-Side Memory Module) card applications, pins 18, 19, 20 are reserved. Therefore, the detachable electronic device of the present invention can support MMC-compatible applications, USB-compatible applications, and Mu-interface applications while retaining flexibility for SIMM applications.

The interface protocol example of the present invention is described as follows:

1. SYNC column

(1) 1-bit: DAT = 0b

(2) 4-bit: DAT[3:0]=xxx0b

(3) 8-bit: DAT[7:0]=xxxxxxx0b

(4) 16-bit: DAT[15:0]=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx0b

where "x" indicates a condition that is not relevant to the agreement.

2. PID column

(1) 1-bit: LSB first

DAT＝PID[0]PID[1]PID[2]PID[3]nPID[0]nPID[1]nPID[2]nPID[3]

(2) 4-bit:

DAT[3:0]=PID[3:0]nPID[3:0]

(3) 8-bit:

DAT[7:4] = inverse of PID[3:0]

DAT[3:0]=PID[3:0]

Among them, "nPID" represents the reverse signal of PID. PID data transactions will be protected by the reverse mirror data of PID and nPID. The controllers in the host side and the device side should verify the legality of the PID. The PID code should be in Table 1 below.

Table 1 PID code PID type PID name PID<3:0> illustrate mark OUTINSOFSETUP 0001B1001B0101B1101B Host to function transaction address + end point number Function to host transaction address + end point number Frame start marker and frame number The host that establishes the control channel to the address in the function transaction + the end point number data DATA0DATA1DATA2MDATA 0011B1011B0111B1111B Data packet PID pair Data Packet PID Odd Data packet PID high-speed, high-bandwidth isochronous transactions in microframes Data packet PID high-speed separation and high-bandwidth isochronous transactions handshake ACKNAKSTALLNYET 0010B1010B1110B0110B Receiver receives error-free data packet The receiving device cannot receive data and the transmitting device cannot send data end point stop or control channel request not supported no recipient response special PREERRSPLITPINGReserved 1100B1100B1000B0100B0000B (flag) header published by the host. Enables downstream bus communication to low-speed devices (handshake) split transaction error handshake (reuse PRE value) (mark) high-speed separation transaction mark (Mark) High-speed flow control detection of aggregation/control endpoints Reserve PID

^* Note: PID bits are shown in MSb sequence, when transmitting over USB, the rightmost bit (bit 0) is transmitted first.

3. Address, end point, CRC5 column

(1) Address => 7 bits, ADDR[6:0]

(2) End point => 4 bits, EndP[3:0]

(3) Token CRC＝＞5 digits, TCRC[4:0]

{ADDR[6:0]&EndP[3]}+{EndP[2:0]&TCRC[4:0]}

Among them, TCRC is a 5-digit Token CRC, and the CRC on the Mu card is optional.

If CRC is enabled, CRC checks will be present in both the host and the device. However, if the CRC is removed, the interleaver must generate the CRC for the USB controller. Since the default value is to cancel the CRC, there will be no CRC column when the CRC is canceled.

4. EOP column

(1) 1-bit: DAT0 = 1b

(2) 4 bits: DAT[3:0]=xxx1b

(3) 8 bits: DAT[7:0]=xxxxxxx1b

(4) 16 bits: DAT[15:0]=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx1b

where "x" means "ignore" the condition. In order to solve the even/odd byte problem in 16-bit mode transactions, the OddByte bit will be added to b[15] of the EOP column. If OddByte=1, then the last byte in DATA[15:8] is invalid. If OddByte=0, then the last byte in DATA[15:0] is valid.

5. Mark the packet format

The marker packet is composed of 3 bytes of SYNC and EOP. Tag packets support at least 1-bit, 4-bit, and 8-bit modes.

(1) 1 bit: (LSB first)

SYNC+PID+ADDR+ENDP+CRC5+EOP

(2) 4 bits: {DAT[3:0]}

SYNC+PID+not(PID)+A[3:0]+{ENDP[0]&A[6:4]}+{CRC0&ENDP[3:1]}+CRC[5:1]+EOP

(3) 8-bit mode: {DAT[7:0]}

SYNC+{not(PID)&PID}+{EP[0]&A[6:0]}+{TCRC[4:0]&EP[3:1]}+EOP

5.1. Frame start format

SYNC+{not(PID)&PID}+{FN[10:3]}+{FN[2:0]&TCRC[4:0]}+EOP

where FN represents the frame number.

6. Data packet format

6.1. Data field format

(i) 1 bit: (LSB first)

DAT0

Byte N-1 Byte N Byte N+1

(ii) 4 digits

DAT3DAT2DAT1DAT0

DAT3DAT2DAT1DAT0

Byte N-1 Byte N Byte N+1

(iii) 8 bits

DAT7DAT0

DAT7DAT0

(iv) 16 bits

DAT15DAT8DAT7DAT0

The 16-bit mode is only used in data packets.

6.2. Data packet format

SYNC+{not(PID)&PID}+{DAT[7:0]}*(0～1024)+{DCRC[15:8]}+{DCRC[7:0]}+EOP

Among them, DCRC is the data CRC of 16-bit polynomial: X16+X15+X2+1 (SEED=800Dh)

7. Handshake packet format

(1) 1 bit: (LSB first)

SYNC+PID+EOP

(2) 4 bits: {DAT[3:0]}

SYNC+PID+not(PID)+EOP

(3) 8-bit mode: {DAT[7:0]}

SYNC+{not(PID)&PID}+EOP

8. Special packet format

8.1. Echo (Ping) format

(i) 1 bit: (LSB first)

SYNC+PID+ADDR+ENDP+CRC5+EOP

(ii) 4 bits: {DAT[3:0]}

SYNC+PID+not(PID)+A[3:0]+{ENDP[0]&A[6:4]}+{CRC0&ENDP[3:1]}+CRC[5:1]+EOP

(iii) 8-bit mode: {DAT[7:0]}

SYNC+{not(PID)&PID}+{EP[0]&A[6:0]}+{TCRC[4:0]&EP[3:1]}+EOP

9. Transmission type

The above-mentioned transfer types are intrinsic to the USB standard, and include (1) control, (2) interrupt, (3) bulk (Bulk), and (4) isochronous (Isochronous).

10. Signal Integrity

The signal or data transmission in this bus has 3 kinds of protection:

(1) PID will be protected by the reverse mirror of PID and nPID. Among them, nPID is the reverse signal of PID.

(2) The marked packet and frame start will be protected by CRC5, and its polynomial and data source (SEED) are as follows:

X5+X2+1 with SEED＝01100b

(3) The data packet will be protected by CRC16, and its polynomial and data source (SEED) are as follows:

X16+X15+X2+1 with SEED＝800Dh

11. Bus width and setting

The device is powered in 1-bit bus mode. The host can set the 1-bit (initial), 4-bit, 8-bit, or 16-bit bus width to operate at both ends.

(1) 1 bit: flag (1 bit), handshake (1 bit), special (1 bit), data (1 bit).

(2) 4 bits: mark (4 bits), handshake (4 bits), special (4 bits), data (4 bits).

(3) 8 bits: mark (8 bits), handshake (8 bits), special (8 bits), data (8 bits).

(4) 16 bits: mark (8 bits), handshake (8 bits), special (8 bits), data (16 bits).

FIG. 4B is a pin configuration diagram of a proposed removable electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4B illustrates a 3-pin configuration for an 8-bit application, as opposed to the 20-pin configuration for a 16-bit application shown in Figure 4A. The eleventh and twelfth pins of the USB mode are defined for D- and D+ respectively, and can be used to determine whether the USB mode is selected. Furthermore, pins 11, 12, and 13 are defined for SIMM card applications.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a removable electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5 , the electronic device 100 includes a notch 102 at the upper left corner to avoid inserting the electronic device 100 by mistake. In addition, the notch 102 and associated anti-components can achieve backward compatibility of MMC and USB applications, but not vice versa. In one approach, notch 102 intersects adjacent sides 104 and 106 at substantially the same angle (about 45 degrees).

The electronic device 100 also includes a plurality of interleaved contacts 1 to 20 corresponding to the pins shown in FIG. 4A . The interleaved design of these contacts allows for additional pins to appear in the same area. Therefore, a different number of contact contacts can also be used. These contacts, which are connected to a memory circuit chip (not shown) in the electronic device 100 , are placed in twenty dimples on the top surface along the front side 104 and the notch 102 . The above-mentioned contacts can be divided into a first row and a second row. Each of these aforementioned contact contacts comprises a substantially tapered end such that the contact contacts of the first row can be aligned with the corresponding contact contacts of the second row by means of their substantially tapered ends. The above-mentioned substantially tapered ends can smoothly contact the contact terminals of the host.

6A and 6B are schematic diagrams of a removable electronic device 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A is a top view of an electronic device 120 with a housing (not numbered). Referring to FIG. 6A, the housing includes a top surface, a bottom surface, and a surrounding. The electronic device 120 includes a notch 122 and a substantially "U-shaped" recess 124 around the periphery of the housing to allow for a low profile design. Specifically, the recessed portion 124 allows a card reader (not shown) in the host computer to grasp the electronic device 120 and fix the electronic device 120 through the recessed portion 124, which is different from the known applications that use the bulk of the memory card to fix it in the memory card. location in the host. In this regard, the notch design of the memory card of the present invention can reduce the design considerations of the memory card and minimize the design of the memory card. Accordingly, the height of the card reader in the host can also be minimized.

In addition to a plurality of interleaved contacts (not numbered) located in the first and second columns, electronic device 120 also includes contacts 128 extending across the first to second columns. In one specific embodiment, the total number of contacts in the first row and the contacts in the second row is 20.

FIG. 6B is a bottom view of the electronic device 120 . Referring to FIG. 6B , the electronic device 120 includes a plurality of additional recesses 126 on its periphery for locking the electronic device 120 to the casing at the host side.

Those who are familiar with this technology should immediately understand that the above-mentioned specific embodiments can be changed without departing from the broad inventive concept. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed herein, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (22)

1. A detachable electronic device with an application module for transmitting data to or from the host, the host has a plurality of contact terminals, and the device includes: a first column of contact contacts, each of said contact contacts in the first column comprising a substantially tapered tip; and A second column of contacts, each of the aforementioned contacts in the second column comprising a substantially tapered end that would correspond in an interlaced relationship to the substantially tapered end of at least one of the aforementioned contacts of the first column end, Wherein the above-mentioned first and second rows of contact contacts are all configured to accommodate the above-mentioned plurality of contact terminals. 2. The device of claim 1, further comprising contact contacts extending across said first and second columns of contact contacts. 3. The device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a substantially U-shaped recess on the periphery of the removable electronic device. 4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a notch formed in a corner of the removable electronic device. 5. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the total number of contact contacts in the first column and contact contacts in the second column is 13. 6. The device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first row of contacts and the second row of contacts is defined for single-side contact memory module applications. 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the application module comprises one of the following: memory or input/output (I/O) interface. 8. A removable electronic device with an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, characterized by comprising: an enclosure having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a surrounding; rows of interleaved contact contacts formed on the top surface of the housing; a substantially U-shaped depression on the periphery of the housing; and The notches on the corners of the casing are used to fix the device to the host when the device is connected to the host. 9. The device according to claim 8, wherein said plurality of rows of interleaved contact contacts comprises a first row of contact contacts and a second row of contact contacts, each of which has a substantial A tapered end corresponding to a substantially tapered end of at least one of the second row of contact contacts. 10. The device of claim 8, further comprising a plurality of contact contacts for Single Sided Memory Module (SIMM) card applications. 11. The device of claim 8, wherein the application module comprises one of the following: a memory or an input/output (I/O) interface. 12. A removable electronic device with an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, characterized by comprising: an enclosure having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a surrounding; a substantially U-shaped depression on the periphery of the housing; and The notches on the corners of the casing are used to fix the device to the host when the device is connected to the host. 13. The device of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of rows of interleaved contacts, including a first row of contacts and a second row of contacts, each of the first row of contacts having A substantially tapered end corresponding to a substantially tapered end of at least one of the contact contacts of the second row. 14. The device of claim 12, wherein the application module comprises one of the following: a memory or an input/output (I/O) interface. 15. A removable electronic device having an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, comprising: an enclosure having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a surrounding; rows of interleaved contact contacts formed on the top surface of the housing; and A substantially U-shaped recess on the periphery of the housing. 16. The device according to claim 15, wherein said plurality of rows of interleaved contact contacts comprises a first row of contact contacts and a second row of contact contacts, each of which has a substantial A tapered end corresponding to a substantially tapered end of at least one of the second row of contact contacts. 17. The device as claimed in claim 15, further comprising a notch on a corner of the housing for fixing the device to the host when the device is connected to the host. 18. The device of claim 15, wherein the application module comprises one of the following: a memory or an input/output (I/O) interface. 19. A removable electronic device with an application module for transmitting data to or from a host, characterized by comprising: an enclosure having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a surrounding; rows of interleaved contact contacts formed on the top surface of the housing; and The notches at the corners of the housing are used to fix the device to the host when the device is connected to the host. 20. The device according to claim 19, wherein said plurality of rows of interleaved contact contacts comprises a first row of contact contacts and a second row of contact contacts, each of which has a substantial A tapered end corresponding to a substantially tapered end of at least one of the second row of contact contacts. 21. The device of claim 19, further comprising a substantially U-shaped recess on the periphery of the housing. 22. The device of claim 19, wherein the application module comprises one of the following: a memory or an input/output (I/O) interface.

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