JP2008033906A - Communication system and peripheral device used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card-type storage medium attached to a peripheral device even though the issuing direction of a command for executing a communication event is restricted in one direction from the PC side to the peripheral device side as described above. A communication system capable of easily realizing a communication mechanism for authentication is provided.
The additional information communication mechanism unique to the present invention makes it possible to transmit security reference information acquired on the host device side to the peripheral device as additional information on the survey instruction data. The peripheral device uses the security master information written in the card type storage medium and the security reference information received from the host device to authenticate the access right from the host device side to the card type storage medium. The communication mechanism for security authentication of the card-type storage media attached to the peripheral device can be simplified despite being restricted in one direction from the PC side to the peripheral device side. realizable.
[Selection] FIG.

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system in which a peripheral device is connected to a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as “PC”), a workstation, or the like as a host device, and a peripheral device used therefor.

JP 2005-18645 A JP 2005-107875 A

  In recent years, a so-called memory card (card type storage medium: an example of a recording medium) in which a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory is packaged in a card type is widely known. This memory card is rapidly spreading as a data storage medium used in digital devices such as digital cameras and portable music players. The specifications of the memory card are not unified. For example, compact flash (registered trademark, hereinafter abbreviated as “CF”), smart media (registered trademark, hereinafter abbreviated as “SM”), memory stick (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as “SM”). Various products such as “MS” and SD memory card (registered trademark, hereinafter abbreviated as “SD”) are on the market.

  By using a memory card reader / writer (an example of a peripheral device, hereinafter abbreviated as “reader / writer”) connected to a PC or the like, the memory card can be accessed from the PC. It becomes possible. As a result, data communication can be performed between the PC and the memory card. Such reader / writers include a single slot type having one slot for inserting a memory card, and a multi-slot type having a plurality of slots and capable of reading / writing data from / to a plurality of memory cards (Patent Documents 1 to 3). 2).

  By the way, the reader / writer as described above has also been generalized to perform data transmission with a PC by serial communication due to the background of the dramatic increase in data transfer capacity due to the spread of multimedia. However, in the control for data access, there are many devices that have inherited the method used in the arbitration / access control of peripheral devices for parallel communication from the viewpoint of easy handling of multiple card storage media. . As a typical example, a system designed to perform data communication between a PC and a reader / writer based on a protocol defined by a so-called SCSI standard (hereinafter also referred to as a SCSI protocol) can be exemplified. The SCSI standard is a communication protocol standardized by ANSI (American National Standard Institute) and widely internationally compliant. This protocol is widely used because it can enhance the versatility of PCs and reader / writers. In the following description, the SCSI standard mainly indicates SCSI-2.

  In the SCSI protocol, a PC serving as a host device functions as an initiator to which a communication event activation decision right is given, and a peripheral device is defined as a target that is a communication target of the host device. A command for instructing execution of a communication event is sequentially issued from the PC to the peripheral device, while the peripheral device that has received the issued command performs processing corresponding to the command (for example, data read, write, erase, And various incidental processes) are sequentially executed, and response information corresponding to the execution result is returned to the host device side. The issue direction of the command that controls the execution of the communication event is restricted to one direction from the host device side to the peripheral device side.

  As described above, the SCSI communication is bidirectional communication between the PC and the peripheral device. However, as described above, the command issuing direction for executing the communication event is one direction from the PC side to the peripheral device side. It is regulated, and the initiative to start communication processing is always held by the PC as the initiator. In other words, as long as the SCSI protocol is followed, it is impossible for the peripheral device side to issue a command for starting a communication event to the host device side, and the memory card attached to the peripheral device is authenticated using a password or the like. Communication processing for doing so was also very difficult.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a card type that is mounted on a peripheral device, even though the direction of issuing a command for executing a communication event is restricted in one direction from the PC side to the peripheral device side as described above. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system that can easily realize a communication mechanism for authenticating a storage medium, and a peripheral device used for the communication system.

  A communication system according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problem includes a host device having a communication event activation decision right and a peripheral device to be communicated with by the host device connected to the host device, Are sequentially issued from the host device to the peripheral device, while the peripheral device receiving the issued command sequentially executes the data processing corresponding to the command, and responds according to the execution result. Provided on the host device side in a communication system having a main communication protocol in which information is sent back to the host device side and the command issuance direction is restricted in one direction from the host device side to the peripheral device side And issues a survey request command requesting the peripheral device to perform a survey report process on the peripheral device itself. A survey instruction data creating means for creating survey instruction data having a predetermined frame format indicating the contents of the survey report instruction and having additional information written in a predetermined field of the frame is generated along with the line. Survey instruction data transmitting means for transmitting survey instruction data to the peripheral device, survey report data generating means provided in the peripheral device, receiving survey instruction data, and generating survey report data having a predetermined frame format, Survey report data transmitting means provided in the peripheral device for transmitting the survey report data as response information to the host device, and additional information is extracted from a predetermined field of the received survey instruction data provided on the peripheral device side. An additional information communication mechanism having additional information extracting means is constructed, and the peripheral device A card-type storage medium composed of a non-volatile memory that can be accessed for writing and writing is detachably mounted in the slot, and is configured as a storage device that performs data access to the card-type storage medium by a communication event. In addition, as a functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism, security reference information transmitting means for transmitting the security reference information acquired on the host device side to the peripheral device as additional information on the survey instruction data is provided. The device is provided with authentication means for authenticating the access right from the host device side to the card type storage medium using the security master information written in the card type storage medium and the security reference information received from the host device. It is characterized by being.

  Further, the peripheral device of the present invention is a peripheral device constituting the communication system of the present invention, and a card-type storage medium comprising a non-volatile memory capable of data access related to reading and writing of data is provided in the slot. A survey report that is detachably mounted and configured as a storage device that performs data access to the card-type storage medium by a communication event, receives survey instruction data, and generates survey report data having a predetermined frame format Data generation means, investigation report data transmission means for transmitting investigation report data as response information to the host device, additional information extraction means for extracting additional information from a predetermined field of the received investigation instruction data, and card-type storage Security master information written on the media and the host device By using the security reference information signal, and characterized by having an authentication unit, the authenticating access rights from the host device to the card-type storage medium.

  In the present invention, the main communication protocol is mainly for transmitting / receiving data files to / from a storage device constituting a peripheral device, and control processing not supported by the main communication protocol (in particular, a communication event on the peripheral device side). It is necessary to handle the information related to the processing that starts the process as additional information independent of the control information supported by the main communication protocol. It is meaningless to write such additional information in the main body of the data file to be transmitted / received. This is because, when trying to refer to the contents of additional information on the host device side or peripheral device side for control execution etc., it is necessary to launch application software for opening the data file, which is not realistic at all. is there. However, according to the above configuration, the additional information communication mechanism peculiar to the present invention requires that the additional information desired to be transmitted from the host device side to the peripheral device side is requested to the peripheral device for investigation report processing for the peripheral device itself. By using the request event and writing in the predetermined field of the survey instruction data created when the survey request command is issued, the data is transmitted without going through the data file under the control of the main communication protocol. can do.

  In the present invention, the security reference information acquired on the host device side can be transmitted to the peripheral device as additional information on the survey instruction data by the additional information communication mechanism. Then, the peripheral device uses the security master information written in the card type storage medium and the security reference information received from the host device to authenticate the access right from the host device side to the card type storage medium. The communication mechanism for security authentication of the card-type storage media attached to the peripheral device can be simplified despite being restricted in one direction from the PC side to the peripheral device side. realizable.

  As the main communication protocol, in the present invention, the SCSI protocol (either SCSI-1, SCSI-2, or SCSI-3: in particular, SCSI-2 that is still used in many OS kernels) is adopted. However, it is not limited to this.

  In the present invention, a communication interface (for example, IEEE 1394 to 1394b) compliant with another protocol capable of peer-to-peer communication with a peripheral device is incorporated on the host device side, and the peripheral device is connected to the terminal of the communication interface. It is also possible to connect the two. In this hardware configuration, a command for communication processing can be issued from the peripheral device side to the communication interface (that is, the host device). It is possible to shift to a reference technical mode that does not belong to the present invention, omitting the function according to the main communication protocol such as means (peripheral device side). However, this reference technical aspect has a drawback that a module for handling another protocol for enabling the peer-to-peer communication must be incorporated in the system on the host device side, and the cost of the communication interface cannot be avoided. Because it is, it is not realistic.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, the peripheral device and the host device can be polled by the peripheral device from the host device side through a serial communication mechanism in which the reverse polling of the host device from the peripheral device side is impossible. Information transfer between the host device and the peripheral device for connecting and executing a communication event can be configured to be executed by serial communication in a form in which the host device polls the peripheral device. In this configuration, the host device cannot be polled from the peripheral device side (that is, the peripheral device side is not given the right to start communication), so that the effect of the present invention is more effectively exhibited. In addition, the communication interface on the host device side for directly connecting the peripheral devices is greatly simplified, and the system configuration can be reduced in weight and cost. An example of such a serial communication standard is USB (Universal Serial Bus). Further, in this specification, a peripheral device that adopts the SCSI protocol as a main communication protocol and is connected to the host device by a serial communication bus according to the USB protocol is also referred to as a USB / SCSI type peripheral device.

  When USB is adopted, the peripheral device can be configured more specifically as follows. That is, a command analysis step for receiving a command from the host device and analyzing the command content, a data processing step for executing data processing reflecting the analysis content of the command, and response information indicating the result of the data processing are sent to the host device. A response information return step for replying is executed in this order, and an access control device for controlling communication processing on the peripheral device side, and mutual transfer of the command and response information is performed by the host device with a plurality of access control devices. And a serial communication unit that executes serial communication in a polling format. The access control device includes a transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives command and response information to / from the serial communication unit, and a control execution entity that interprets the command and performs data processing according to the content. The transmission / reception unit and the serial communication unit can be integrated in a dedicated IC. In this configuration, commands or response information according to a main communication protocol such as SCSI can be exchanged without problems via a bus for serial communication according to the USB protocol.

  More specifically, the serial communication unit on the peripheral device side performs communication processing for transferring command and response information between the communication bus connection terminal for connecting the serial communication bus from the host device and the serial communication bus and the transmission / reception unit. A communication control unit that executes communication protocol unit connected to a communication bus connection terminal, and the protocol engine unit via a bidirectional endpoint for control comprising a FIFO memory. A control command unit that is connected and controls the transfer communication process can be provided. The transmission / reception unit has an input / output path to the protocol engine unit via an input endpoint to the protocol engine unit composed of a FIFO memory and an output endpoint from the protocol engine unit composed of a FIFO memory. Can be connected separately. In addition, the communication control unit receives from the host device side the identification information of the transmission / reception unit to be accessed and the identification information of the endpoint corresponding to the transmission / reception unit, and polls each transmission / reception unit as a target device. It can be configured to be. Endpoints serving as transmission / reception data buffers are provided independently on the transmission side and the reception side, and the data transfer direction can be easily specified depending on which endpoint is designated at the time of polling.

  Next, in the present invention, as the functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism, the authentication result request information for requesting the authentication result reflection information reflecting the authentication result by the authentication means to the peripheral device is added to the additional information on the investigation instruction data. As the response information, the survey report data in which the authentication result reflection information is written as the corresponding additional information corresponding to the additional information from the host device side in the predetermined frame of the survey report data. It is possible to provide an authentication communication means for sending a reply to the host device. In this case, the host device can be provided with authentication result reflection information output means for outputting the returned authentication result reflection information. By the additional information communication mechanism unique to the present invention, the authentication result of the card-type storage medium can be returned from the peripheral device to the host device without any problem. The user can qualify whether or not

  The storage area of the card-type storage medium is a normal area that can be accessed from the host device even if access right authentication is rejected by the authentication means, and only when the access right authentication is accepted by the authentication means. It can be divided into security areas that can be accessed from the device side. In this case, in the peripheral device, an access mode setting means for setting the access mode to the card-type storage medium to one of a normal mode in which only the normal area can be accessed and a security mode in which the security area can be accessed. And an access mode setting control means for causing the access mode setting means to set the access mode to the security mode only when the authentication result by the authentication means is acceptance authentication. Thereby, it is possible to reliably protect the area designated as the security area among the data storage areas of the card type storage medium.

  In the present invention, as a functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism, the access mode report instruction information for causing the peripheral device to report the type of access mode set in the peripheral device is included in the investigation instruction data. Access mode in which the access mode setting means reports the access mode being set as additional information corresponding to the additional information from the host device side in a predetermined frame of the investigation report data. Access mode report communication means can be provided for returning the investigation report data in which the report information is written as response information from the peripheral device side to the host device. In this case, the host device can be provided with an access mode type display means for displaying the type of the access mode acquired by the access mode report communication means. With this configuration, the user can easily grasp what access mode is set in the peripheral device by displaying on the host device side.

  The host device can be provided with an access mode selection means for selecting either the normal mode or the security mode as the access mode. In this case, as the functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism, when the normal mode is selected on the host device side, normal mode shift instruction information for instructing the peripheral device to shift to the normal mode is obtained as the survey instruction data. The normal mode transition instruction information transmitting means for transmitting to the peripheral device as additional information above, and the peripheral device receiving the normal mode transition instruction information, the access mode setting means sets the access mode to the normal mode, and the investigation report Normal mode in which normal mode setting completion report information for reporting completion of setting to normal mode is returned to the host device as investigation report data as corresponding additional information corresponding to additional information from the host device side in a predetermined frame of data Setting completion report information return means can be provided. Thus, when the normal mode is selected on the host device side, it can be transferred to the peripheral device without any problem, and the normal mode can be quickly set on the peripheral device side. On the other hand, the host device has security reference information input means, and the above-described security reference information transmission means can be configured to transmit the input security reference information to the peripheral device as additional information on the survey instruction data. . As a result, when the security mode is selected on the host device side, the security reference information input by the user can be transferred to the peripheral device without any problem. The security mode can be quickly set.

  The security reference information can be a password used as an encryption key. Specifically, in the card-type storage medium, a collation data storage area can be provided in which predetermined collation source data is stored as collation data in a state encrypted with a master encryption key. Can be provided with security master information storage means for storing the original data for verification as security master information. The authentication means uses the information obtained by decrypting the verification data with the encryption key received from the host device side as the verification target information. It can be regarded as a rejection certificate. Data protection can be more reliably achieved by a collation process combining a password and encryption. In the above method, it is not necessary to provide a password registration unit for each user on the peripheral device side, and the password is not directly written to the storage medium. Since it is encrypted information, it is more secure.

  The survey instruction data creation means writes the additional information in the field specified in the main communication protocol so that the information other than the additional information is stored as the main storage information to be stored in the survey instruction data in the form of using the additional information as the main storage information. Can be. When the main communication protocol conforms to an off-the-shelf communication standard such as the SCSI protocol, there is room for newly setting a dedicated field for additional information, which is the first technical concept in the present invention, in the frame of the survey instruction data. May not. At this time, if the additional information (including additional information) is written to the field prepared for the main storage information that is completely different from the additional information as described above, the main storage information is also used. As described above, even when there is no room to provide a dedicated field, additional information can be written without any problem.

  For example, a peripheral device incorporates or is detachably mounted with a card-type storage medium capable of at least data access related to data reading, and performs data access to the card-type storage medium by a communication event. When configured as a storage device, the card-type storage assigned to the read process or the write process when executing a communication event related to reading or writing of data to the card-type storage medium according to the main communication protocol in the survey instruction data A field for setting the allocation length of the memory area on the medium can be secured as the allocation length setting field. In this case, the occurrence report instruction information that is also used as the allocation length information can be written in the allocation length setting field, with the allocation length information as the main storage information. In this way, it is possible to transmit unique additional information not defined in the main communication protocol to the peripheral device side in a form that is also used as allocation length information.

  In the main communication protocol, when the size of the allocation length setting field is determined to be a constant bit length, there is a clever method as follows in order to form an empty area in which the additional information is written in the allocation length setting field. That is, the number of bits when the maximum value that can be set as the allocation length is expressed in bytes is set to be less than the total number of bits in the allocation length setting field. When an allocation length exceeding the maximum value is described in the allocation length setting field, the maximum value is determined as the actual setting value of the allocation length regardless of the described allocation length value. Then, different additional information contents including additional information can be defined in a manner that uniquely associates with a redundant allocation length description value exceeding the maximum value. For example, when a CDB of an inquiry command (to be described later) in the SCSI protocol is used as survey instruction data, this CDB consists only of fields allocated for SCSI protocol control, and there is no room for the user to write new data. Looks like not. However, by setting the maximum value that can be set as the allocation length as described above in the allocation length setting field that is originally the main storage information of the SCSI protocol, the maximum value is set to be less than the total number of bits of the allocation length setting field. It is possible to give a meaning as additional information including additional information to the setting description value of the redundant allocation length that exceeds.

  Next, in the case of the SCSI protocol or the like, there are cases where several types of investigation request commands are prepared. In this case, what type of investigation request command is used may be a problem. For example, a storage device in which a peripheral storage device is detachably mounted with a card-type storage medium that allows data access for both reading and writing of data, and performs data access to the card-type storage medium by a communication event. When configured as a device, the peripheral device includes exchange notification information holding means for holding replacement notification information for notifying the host device of replacement of the card type storage medium when the card type storage medium is exchanged. When the predetermined first type command is received from the host device, the exchange notification information held in the exchange notification information holding means is cleared after the execution of the command, and the second type other than the first type command is also cleared. When a seed command is received, the exchange notification information holding unit holds the exchange notification information holding state even after execution of the command. And exchanging notification information holding control means which may be provided that. In this case, it is strongly recommended to use the second type command as the investigation request command to be used. This is because when the first type command is used for such a purpose, the exchange notification information is cleared at the end of the process, even though it is an additional information transmission event that does not require the exchange notification information. When a system component (for example, a file system) that originally needs the exchange notification information on the device side cannot obtain the information, which leads to troubles such as the stored contents of the card-type storage medium being destroyed Because there is.

  As the investigation request command, for example, a configuration / attribute investigation request command for instructing a peripheral device to report configuration / attribute identification information that is information for identifying the configuration and attributes of the peripheral device itself can be employed. Such a communication event related to specifying the configuration and attributes of the peripheral device itself indicates, for example, what type of peripheral device (device: target in the case of SCSI) is connected on the main communication protocol. In many cases, it is used for the purpose of performing recognition for start-up. In the present invention, this is issued at an arbitrary timing even after the apparatus is started in order to realize the additional information communication mechanism. The communication event defined by the configuration / attribute investigation request command is originally intended only to recognize the so-called “feature” of the peripheral device (which remains unchanged when the device is in use). When the card-type storage medium is exchanged before and after the occurrence, it should not be unnecessarily affected to the holding state of the exchange notification information, so it is desirable to prepare it as the second type command. By diverting this information to the additional information communication mechanism, it is possible to prevent the above-mentioned troubles without affecting the holding state of the exchange notification information, even if the command is repeatedly issued.

  When the main communication protocol is the SCSI protocol, it is desirable to use an inquiry command as the above-mentioned investigation request command. In this case, the investigation instruction data sent from the host device (initiator) to the peripheral device (target) describes the detailed contents of the inquiry command. The investigation report data returned from the peripheral device (target) to the host device (initiator) is inquiry data (the frame format is defined in detail by the SCSI protocol). Table 1 shows a CDB format corresponding to the inquiry command.

In the SCSI protocol, the type of inquiry data returned from the peripheral device (target) can be specified on the host device (initiator) side. Specifically, a field called EVPD (Enable Vital Product Data) (1 bit) and a field called page code (8 bits) are formed in the CDB corresponding to the inquiry command. As shown in Table 2, for a CDB in which “0” is described in the EVPD field (hereinafter abbreviated as CDB (0)), the inquiry data is related to the peripheral device specifications as shown in Table 3. Instead, standard inquiry data (hereinafter abbreviated as S / I data) whose format and contents are defined in common is returned. Of the S / I data, a free area that is not directly used for communication control by the SCSI protocol can be used as a description field of corresponding additional information unique to the present invention.

  For example, in the S / I data, a fixed-length field (hereinafter referred to as a vendor-specific area) for describing information specific to a device vendor is provided. If there is a free area in this field, It can be used as a description field for response information unique to the present invention. Further, although the number of bits is very small, the following free space can also be used as a description field for response information unique to the present invention. In other words, the additional data length field (data length after byte 5 of S / I data) set to 8 bits may have a maximum data length of less than 8 bits due to the upper limit of the data frame length in S / I data. is there. In this case, when a data length exceeding the maximum data length is specified in the additional data length field, the maximum data length is specified regardless of the description content of the additional data length field. As a result, the range of bit values exceeding the maximum data length can be utilized as a “free area” for describing the corresponding additional information substantially.

  On the other hand, as shown in Table 4, a CDB in which “1” is described in the EVPD field (hereinafter abbreviated as CDB (1)) provides detailed or device-specific information to the host device (initiator). As shown in Table 5, special inquiry data called VPD (Vital Product Data) is returned.

The VPD are defined several types, or to specify the VPD of which type to describe (specifically page code field of the CDB, pages Listing (Page _Code: 00 h), FRU ASCII information (page _code: 01 h _~7F h), the unit serial number (page code: ₈₀ h), the operation mode definition (page _code: 81 h), ASCII operation mode definition (page code: ₈₂ h), and vendor-specific format (page _code: C0 h _~FF h)). The peripheral device creates a VDP of the type specified in the page code field and returns it to the host device. In particular, in the VPD in the FRU ASCII information format and the ASCII operation mode definition format, a data length field in which necessary ASCII information is written and an ASCII information field specified by the data length are formed following the page length field. However, the subsequent fields can be used as a “free area” for describing the corresponding additional information as a vendor-specific area. For example, in the ASCII operation mode definition format VPD, if the ASCII information field is defined as a field having a small number of bytes (for example, 1 to 3 bytes) for describing the version information of the device, the remaining vendor-specific area It is possible to ensure a relatively large field length, and to write corresponding additional information that is somewhat large in size.

  In the SCSI protocol, an event or a state on a target (peripheral device) or one or a plurality of logical units included therein (or one or a plurality of card-type storage media mounting slots when the peripheral device is a storage device) When this change occurs asynchronously with the operation of the host device (initiator), a function is provided for generating a unit attention condition for notifying the initiator of this change. When the card type storage medium is exchanged in the peripheral device, the exchange notification information is reflected in the generated unit attention condition. In the SCSI protocol, when an inquiry command is issued to a peripheral device that has such a unit attention condition pending, the peripheral device does not clear the pending unit attention condition (however, Copy The issued Inquiry command is executed (created / returned Inquiry data) only when the Aborted (CA) state is generated. Therefore, when the response request event for the corresponding additional information is started, the unit attention condition including the replacement notification information is maintained even when the card-type storage medium is replaced by using the inquiry command. Therefore, loss of exchange notification information can be prevented. It is clear that the inquiry command corresponds to the above-described second type command.

  In the SCSI protocol, another investigation request command called a Request Sense command can also be used. The Request Sense command is a command for requesting sense data for reporting, for example, an error cause and type to a peripheral device (target), and the sense data is described and returned as a survey report data in a frame of a prescribed format. In the present invention, it is also possible in principle to write the corresponding additional information using the empty space of the sense data and return it to the host device. However, in the SCSI protocol, in the SCSI protocol, when a Request Sense command is issued to a peripheral device holding a unit attention condition, the peripheral device clears the pending unit attention condition. (However, only before the generation of the Copy Aborted (CA) state) When the card-type storage medium is exchanged, the unit attention condition including the exchange notice information is cleared, and the exchange notice information is obtained. May be lost. That is, the Request Sense command corresponds to the first type command described above.

  Hereinafter, a communication system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. 1 is a perspective view of a multi-reader / writer 2 (storage device: an example of a peripheral device) applied to the communication system 1, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the multi-reader / writer 2, and FIG. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of PC3 (an example of a host apparatus) performed. Note that the configuration of the communication system 1 described below is merely an example for embodying the present invention, and it is natural that the configuration can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the multi-reader / writer 2 includes a first slot 16 for inserting a first memory card 11 (for example, CF) as a removable card-type storage medium on the front surface, a second slot 16 A second slot 17 for inserting a memory card 12 (for example, SM), a third slot 18 for inserting a third memory card 13 (for example, MS), and a fourth memory card 14 (for example, SD) are inserted. And a fourth slot 19 for the purpose. In the present embodiment, the multi-reader / writer 2 is described as an example of the peripheral device, but the present invention can also be applied to a single slot type reader / writer. Also, when a disk recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM or a removable hard disk is used instead of a memory card such as CF or SM, an insertion section is provided that allows the disk recording medium to be detachably inserted. This is a so-called changer-type drive peripheral device. The present invention is also applicable to a communication system configured with the peripheral device.

  The multi-reader / writer 2 is configured as a USB / SCSI type peripheral device, and a USB terminal 24 for connecting a USB cable 25 (see FIG. 2) is provided on the rear surface thereof as shown in FIGS. 1B and 2. Yes. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the SCSI-2 protocol is adopted as the main communication protocol. As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-reader / writer 2 includes therein a CPU 27 that controls each component, a ROM 28 that stores a control program, various data, and the like, and a RAM 29 that is a work area for operations by the CPU 27. An input / output control LSI 31 and a USB chip 32 are provided, and these are connected via a bus 33 so that data can be transferred to each other. The multi-reader / writer 2 performs data communication according to the SCSI protocol with the PC 3 to which the multi-reader / writer 2 is connected.

  Specifically, the ROM 28 stores a communication control program created based on the SCSI protocol and a table list of analysis data used for analyzing data (CDB) transmitted from the PC 3. In order for the reader / writer 2 to function as a target of a SCSI compatible device, a communication event execution control process corresponding to the received SCSI command is performed. The first to fourth memory cards 11 to 14 that are detachably mounted in the slots 16 to 19 are, for example, compact flash (CF: registered trademark), smart media (SM: registered trademark), memory stick (MS). : A registered trademark), an SD memory card (SD: registered trademark), and the like, a card-type storage medium equipped with a flash memory capable of data access such as data writing, rewriting, erasing, reading, and media loading confirmation by the PC 3.

  In accordance with the SCSI protocol, the PC 3 is given the right to determine a communication event as a host device, and the multi-reader / writer 2 connected to the PC 3 (host device: initiator) becomes a communication target (target) of the PC 3 (host device). . SCSI commands for instructing execution of communication events are sequentially issued from the PC 3 (host device) to the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device), while the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) that has received the issued command. ) Sequentially executes data processing corresponding to the SCSI command, and returns response information corresponding to the execution result to the host device side. Also, the issuing direction of the SCSI command is restricted to one direction from the PC 3 (host device) side to the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) side.

  Next, the USB chip 32 includes a command / data / status transmission / reception unit (hereinafter simply referred to as “transmission / reception unit”; transfer element transmission / reception unit) 341 provided in common to the external memory input / output control units 51 to 54. The USB protocol engine (protocol engine unit) 321 connected to the USB terminal (communication bus connection terminal) 24 and the USB control unit (control command unit) 331 for controlling the transfer communication processing are integrated.

  Here, a portion composed of a USB protocol engine (protocol engine unit) 321 and a USB control unit (control command unit) 331 corresponds to the communication control unit, and this communication control unit and a USB terminal (communication bus) The portion composed of the connection terminal 24 corresponds to the serial communication unit.

  Each USB control unit 331 is connected to a corresponding USB protocol engine 321 via a bidirectional endpoint for control including a FIFO memory. The transmission / reception unit 341 inputs / outputs the USB protocol engine 321 via an input endpoint to the USB protocol engine 321 including a FIFO memory and an output endpoint from the USB protocol engine 321 including a FIFO memory. Routes are connected in a separate form.

  Each of the communication control units including the USB protocol engine 321 and the USB control unit 331 receives the specific information of the transmission / reception unit 341 and the specific information of the endpoint corresponding to the transmission / reception unit 341 from the PC side. By polling the transmission / reception unit 341 as a target device, the data access destination is the external memory input / output control units 51 to 54 and the data transmission / reception direction is specified. As a matter of course, reverse polling of the PC 3 as the host device from the transmission / reception unit 341 side serving as the target device is not permitted in the USB protocol.

  The transmission / reception unit (transfer element transmission / reception unit) 341 performs transmission / reception with the USB protocol engine 321 according to the SCSI protocol. Here, the transfer element is a command (SCSI command) for specifying the content of the communication event exchanged with the PC 3 via the USB bus, and is returned from the peripheral device side corresponding to the execution of the communication event process. (If the processing content specified in the SCSI command is data access processing related to transmission / reception of data stored in the memory card, the data is also a transfer element).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the transmission / reception unit 341 includes a control register 81 (see FIG. 4), a status register 82 (see FIG. 5), a SCSI command buffer 83, a SCSI status buffer 84, a SCSI data DMA address register 85, a SCSI A data DMA count register 86 is provided. Details of these will be described later.

  The CPU 27 analyzes the command analysis step for analyzing the SCSI command received by the transmission / reception unit 341 and the communication event having the content specified by the SCSI command into the target external memory input / output control units 51 to 54 (that is, the reader / writer 2). When the target is a target, an event execution step performed with a plurality of logical units) and a status transmission step for transmitting the status to the transmission / reception unit 341 are performed in this order.

  In the multi-reader / writer 2, when reading / writing data from / to the inserted memory card, a memory area used for reading data from the memory card or a memory area used for storing data in the memory card Is assigned. The data length of the allocated memory area is called an allocation length. Generally, the allocation length is set to a specified data length from the PC 3 that accesses the multi-reader / writer 2, but in this embodiment, the maximum allocation length that can be set by the multi-reader / writer 2 is determined from the PC 3 side. It is set to less than the maximum value that can be specified.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the PC 3 includes a CPU 41 that controls each component, a ROM 42, a RAM 43, an HDD 44 that stores various software programs and data, a video control LSI 45, a USB chip 46, and a video terminal 47. And a USB terminal 48 having a plurality of input / output ports, which are connected to each other via the bus 100 so as to be able to transfer data to each other. These parts are integrated into a main control board called a so-called mother board. A display 56 is connected to the video terminal 47 via a video cable. The USB terminal 48 has a USB hub function. Input means such as a keyboard 57 and a mouse 58 are connected to the USB terminal 48, and the multi-reader / writer 2 is further connected.

  The ROM 42 stores data to be transmitted to the multi-reader / writer 2 and instructs the CPU 27 of the multi-reader / writer 2 to execute a predetermined process. The instruction data is stored in the HDD 44 or the ROM 42 in the form of a table list. In the program storage area of the HDD 44, an R / W application for enabling writing and reading of data to / from the Windows 3 SP3 (hereinafter referred to as “WIN2000”), which is an operation system of the PC 3, and the multi-reader / writer 2. Software programs such as are stored. These software programs are read by the CPU 41 and subjected to predetermined calculation processing, whereby each application can operate on the PC 3. The program storage area stores a data communication program in accordance with the SCSI protocol with the multi-reader / writer 2. In this embodiment, the PC 3 on which WIN2000 is installed will be described as an example. However, an OS such as a Linux series or a MacOS series may be installed. Of course, SP3 of Windows 2000 can be replaced with SP4 or Windows XP (registered trademark).

  The R / W application, the data communication program on the PC 3 side, and the control program on the reader / writer 2 side cooperate with each other to perform processing for functionally realizing the following means.

Survey instruction data transmission means: provided on the PC 3 (host device) side, issues a survey request command requesting the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) to perform a survey report process for the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) itself. In response to issuance of the survey request command, survey command data creation that creates a survey command data having a predetermined frame format indicating the content of the survey report command and in which additional information is written in a predetermined field of the frame The means and the created survey instruction data are transmitted to the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device).
Survey report data generation means: provided in the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device), receives survey instruction data, and generates survey report data having a predetermined frame format.
Survey report data transmission means: provided in the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device), and transmits survey report data to the PC 3 (host device) as response information.
Additional information extraction means: provided on the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) side, extracts additional information from a predetermined field of the received survey instruction data. The above constructs the additional information communication mechanism referred to in the claims.

The functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism are as follows.
Security reference information transmission means: transmits security reference information acquired on the PC 3 (host device) side to the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) as additional information on the investigation instruction data.

Correspondingly, as will be described below, the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) uses security master information written in the card-type storage medium and security reference information received from the PC 3 (host device). Thus, authentication means for authenticating the access right from the PC 3 (host device) side to the card type storage medium is formed.
Authentication communication means: Multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) using authentication result request information requesting authentication result reflection information reflecting the authentication result of the authentication means to multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) as additional information on the survey instruction data The survey report data in which the authentication result reflection information is written as the corresponding additional information corresponding to the additional information from the PC 3 (host device) side in the predetermined frame of the survey report data is sent as the response information to the multi-reader A reply is sent from the writer 2 (peripheral device) to the PC 3 (host device).

Correspondingly, authentication result reflection information output means for outputting the returned authentication result reflection information is formed in the PC 3 (host device).
Access mode report communication means: Access mode report instruction information for causing the multi reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) to report the type of access mode set in the multi reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) Is transmitted to the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) as additional information, and the access mode setting means sets corresponding additional information corresponding to the additional information from the PC 3 (host device) side in a predetermined frame of the survey report data. The investigation report data in which the access mode report information for reporting the access mode is written is returned as response information from the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) side to the PC 3 (host device).

Correspondingly, an access mode type display means for displaying the type of the access mode acquired by the access mode report communication means is formed in the PC 3 (host device).
Normal mode transition instruction information transmission means: Normal mode transition instruction information for instructing the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) to transition to the normal mode when the normal mode is selected on the PC 3 (host device) side, It is transmitted to the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) as additional information on the survey instruction data.
Normal mode setting completion report information return means: The multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) that has received the normal mode shift instruction information sets the access mode to the normal mode in advance as the investigation mode data is set in advance. As the corresponding additional information corresponding to the additional information from the PC 3 (host device) side, the normal mode setting completion report information for reporting the completion of setting to the normal mode is returned to the PC 3 (host device) as the investigation report data in the determined frame. To do.

  The PC 3 (host device) and the PC 3 (host device) have access mode selection means for selecting either the normal mode or the security mode as an access mode, security reference information input means, By selecting the security mode, input control means for receiving input of security reference information from the input means is formed. The above-described security reference information transmitting means transmits the input security reference information to the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) as additional information on the survey instruction data.

  First, an outline of data communication performed between the PC 3 and the reader / writer 2 connected to the PC 3 via the USB-I / F 78 based on the SCSI command will be described with reference to FIG. The OS 70 includes a GUI (Graphical User Interface) 71, a file system 72, and an OS kernel 73, and the basic system is configured. The GUI 71 is a user interface that realizes a user input operation using a computer graphics and a pointing device such as a mouse, and the file system 72 is a method and a management system for managing data using files and folders inside the computer. It is. The OS kernel 73 is software that implements basic functions such as monitoring applications and peripheral devices. The PC 3 is preinstalled with driver software 74 so that the reader / writer 2 can be accessed, and the driver software 74 is mounted on the OS kernel 73 in a modular state.

  For example, it is assumed that an explorer 75 and an R / W application 76, which are examples of applications for accessing the reader / writer 2, are activated on the PC 3. As is well known, the explorer 75 is for managing files and folders. The explorer 75 is created in conformity with the OS 70 system and is generally recognized as a function of the OS 70. Therefore, the explorer 75 communicates with the reader / writer 2 via the file system 72. On the other hand, the R / W application 76 is unique application software developed by the manufacturer of the reader / writer 2, for example, and performs a process of writing data to a recording medium inserted in the reader / writer 2 or a process of reading data. Is. Generally, the R / W application 76 is created without conforming to the OS 70 because the specification of the file system 72 is not disclosed.

  First, a case where the reader / writer 2 is accessed from the explorer 75 will be described. When the OS 70 is activated and the explorer 75 is activated, the explorer 75 issues an inquiry command to the OS kernel 73 via the file system 72. All SCSI commands including the inquiry command are issued to the SCSI command processing entrance 79 virtually provided in the OS kernel 73. When the inquiry command is issued, the corresponding CDB (here, CDB (0); Table 2) is transmitted to the reader / writer 2, and the reader / writer 2 receives the model, device name, SCSI-ID, Inquiry data (in this case, S / I data (Table 3)) including configuration information such as presence / absence of LUN (Logical Unit Number) and memory card type is created and returned to the PC 3. Thereby, the reader / writer 2 is recognized.

  When the reader / writer 2 is recognized, a drive icon of the reader / writer 2 is generated on the explorer 75 by the GUI 71. When a data read instruction is input, for example, when the user accesses the drive icon using a mouse or the like, the explorer 75 works on the file system 72 to read the OS kernel 73 with a Read command (SCSI command). Issue an example). On the other hand, similarly, when a write instruction is input, a write command (an example of a SCSI command) is issued to the OS kernel 73. These command data are transferred to the reader / writer 2 via an I / F such as a USB, and reading or writing according to the command is executed on the reader / writer 2 side. The Inquiry command is also issued when the reader / writer 2 is connected to the PC 3 or when the power of the PC 3 is reset while the reader / writer 2 is connected.

  Next, a case where the reader / writer 2 is accessed from the R / W application 76 will be described. When the R / W application 76 is activated, a request to release the data bus only to the R / W application is issued to the OS kernel 73. In response to this request, the OS kernel 73 makes the R / W application 76 occupy the data bus. In other words, the SCSI command issued from the file 72 to the SCSI command processing entrance 79 is not accepted by the SCSI command processing entrance 79. Therefore, the file system 72 cannot access the reader / writer 2 while the R / W application 76 is activated. When the R / W application 76 is activated, an input screen (user interface screen) programmed by the R / W application 76 is displayed on the display by the GUI 71. Also, the driver software 74 issues an inquiry command to the OS kernel 73, and returns the inquiry data (in this case, S / I data in Table 3) as response information. Configuration information is acquired. Thereby, the reader / writer 2 is recognized. Thereafter, reading or writing of data is executed on the reader / writer 2 side in accordance with a Read command or a Write command issued to the OS kernel 73 by the driver software 74.

  Recognition of the reader / writer 2 is performed as follows. That is, first, CDB (0) (Table 2) generated when an inquiry command is issued to the OS kernel 73 is transmitted to the reader / writer 2. The reader / writer 2 that has received the CDB (0) refers to various information included in the CDB (0), generates configuration information according to the information, and generates S / I data including the configuration information ( Table 3) is returned to PC3. The reader / writer 2 is recognized based on the returned S / I data.

  When a memory card is exchanged (that is, an event or a state is changed) on any slot (or external memory input / output control unit: logical unit) on the reader / writer 2 (target: peripheral device), A unit attention condition for notifying the PC 3 (initiator) is generated. The file system of the PC 3 recognizes the exchange of the memory card with reference to the unit attention condition, and updates file information such as FAT (file allocation table). When an inquiry command is issued toward a logical unit that is holding such a unit attention condition, the logical unit executes the inquiry command without clearing the pending unit attention condition. That is, even when the inquiry command is executed, the replacement notification information of the memory card reflected in the unit attention condition is not erased and is retained. Access can be performed without problems.

  Next, a more specific operation of the reader / writer 2 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. In the following description, only processing for one slot is performed. For a plurality of slots, the processing is performed in parallel by interrupt processing. When the CPU 27 is turned on by the power (bus power) supplied from the PC 3 via the USB cable (T1), the CPU 27 enters a state of permitting an interrupt from the USB chip 32 (T2). In the USB chip 32, the command transmitted from the PC 3 side on the USB bus is transferred to the transmission / reception unit 341 by the operation of the USB protocol engine 321 and the USB control unit 331. Note that no response indicating that a command has been received is returned yet.

  When receiving the command, the transmission / reception unit 341 sets the “command reception completion” bit of the status register 82 to 1 and interrupts the CPU 27. In this case, the CPU 27 can grasp what the interrupt is for by referring to the status register 82. The received command is stored in the SCSI command buffer 83.

  When there is an interrupt (T3: YES) and the reception of the SCSI command is completed (T4: YES), the CPU 27 interprets the command received by the transmission / reception unit 341 (T5). That is, when the CPU 27 refers to the status register 82 of the transmission / reception unit 341 and knows that the transmission / reception unit 341 has received a command, the CPU 27 acquires the command from the SCSI command buffer 83 and interprets it. Thereby, the CPU 27 grasps the presence / absence, transmission direction, and size of the SCSI data.

  When the CPU 27 recognizes that there is no SCSI data by interpreting the command (for example, in the case of an inquiry command or a test unit ready command) and when it determines that the transmission direction of the SCSI data is device → PC (transmission) (for example, In the case of a Read command) (T6: YES), 1 is written to the “command acceptance complete” bit and “status register clear” bit of the control register 81 of the transmission / reception unit 341 (T7).

  The transmission / reception unit 341 returns a response indicating that the command has been received to the PC when 1 is written in the “command acceptance complete” bit in T7. Here, when the response is received, the PC 3 side receives the SCSI status if there is no SCSI data, and if the SCSI data transmission direction is device → PC, the next is reception of the SCSI data. Transition to a device waiting state.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 27 recognizes that the SCSI data transmission direction is PC → device (reception) by interpreting the command (for example, in the case of the Write command) (T6: NO), the CPU 27 receives the SCSI data from the PC3. Prepare to receive (T8). Specifically, an area necessary for reception is secured on the RAM 29, the head address is written in the SCSI data DMA address register 85, and the number of received bytes is written in the SCSI data DMA count register 86. Thereafter, 1 is written in the “command acceptance complete” bit and “status register clear” bit of the control register 81 of the transmission / reception unit 341 (T9).

  The transmission / reception unit 341 returns a response indicating that the command has been received to the PC 3 when 1 is written in the “command acceptance complete” bit in T9. Here, when receiving the response, the PC 3 side interprets the command on the device side and recognizes that it is ready to receive the SCSI data, and starts transmission of the SCSI data.

  Then, when the SCSI data DMA count register 86 becomes 0, the transmission / reception unit 341 sets the “data reception completion” bit of the status register 82 to 1 and interrupts the CPU 27.

  When there is an interrupt (T10: YES), the CPU 27 writes 1 to the “data reception completion” bit and the “status register clear” bit of the control register 81 of the transmission / reception unit 341 to complete the reception of the SCSI data (T11: YES). Here, the PC 3 side is notified that the SCSI data has arrived at the device, and the next is the reception of the SCSI status.

  After T7 and T11 (YES), the CPU 27 executes the command (T12). For example, if it is a Test Unit Ready command, it is determined whether or not the first to fourth memory cards 11 to 14 are inserted. For example, in the case of a Read command, data is read from the first to fourth memory cards 11 to 14. For example, in the case of the Write command, since data to be written is received from the PC 3 at this time (T8 to T11 described above), it is written to the first to fourth memory cards 11 to 14.

  Next, when the SCSI data transmission direction is device → PC (transmission) (for example, in the case of a Read command) (T13: YES), the CPU 27 prepares to transmit the read data to the PC 3 (T14). ). Specifically, the read data is stored in the RAM 29 while securing an area necessary for transmission, the head address is written in the SCSI data DMA address register 85, and the number of received bytes is stored in the SCSI data DMA count register 86. Write. Then, 1 is written in the “data transmission start” bit of the control register 81 of the transmission / reception unit 341.

  The transmission / reception unit 341 starts transferring SCSI data to the PC 3 when 1 is written in the “data transmission start” bit in T14. Then, when the transfer of the SCSI data is completed, the transmission / reception unit 341 sets the “data transmission completion” bit of the status register 82 to 1 and interrupts the CPU 27.

  When there is an interrupt (T15: YES), the CPU 27 grasps that the transfer of the SCSI data is finished, so write 1 in the “status register clear” bit of the control register 81 of the transmission / reception unit 341 to transmit the SCSI data. Is completed (T16: YES).

  After T13 (NO) and T16 (YES), the CPU 27 starts transmission of the SCSI status (T17). Specifically, since the CPU 27 has already determined the status to be returned to the PC 3 in the above processing, the status is written in the SCSI status buffer 84 and “status transmission start” in the control register 81 of the transmission / reception unit 341 is written. Write 1 to bit and start sending SCSI status.

  The transmission / reception unit 341 starts transmission of the SCSI status to the PC 3 when 1 is written in the “status transmission start” bit in T17. Upon receiving the response that received the SCSI status from the PC 3 side, the transmission / reception unit 341 sets the “status transmission completion” bit of the status register 82 to 1 and interrupts the CPU 27.

  When there is an interrupt (T18: YES), the CPU 27 grasps that the transmission of the SCSI status is finished. Therefore, the CPU 27 writes 1 to the “status register clear” bit of the control register 81 of the transmission / reception unit 341 to transmit the SCSI data. Is completed (T19: YES). As a result, the status register 82 of the transmission / reception unit 341 is cleared, and the original state is restored.

  Next, an example of the flow of data communication processing according to the main function of the present invention using inquiry data in the communication system 1 will be described. Note that the processing in each step (function implementation means described in claims) is performed by each component being controlled by the CPU 41 of the PC 3 or the CPU 27 of the multi-reader / writer 2. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of main processing. That is, when the multi-reader / writer 2 is connected to the PC 3 and each apparatus is powered on, first, a drive allocation process (S1) for allocating a drive to an unknown device connected to the PC 3 is executed. In this embodiment, since only the multi-reader / writer 2 is connected as a device, a drive is assigned only to this.

  Next, drive setting processing (S2) for setting the drive selected by the user as the communication partner is performed. When the drive is set, a device (multi-reader / writer 2 in the present embodiment) corresponding to the set drive is recognized as a communication partner. Then, the security processing (S3) for the memory cards 11 to 14 to the multi-reader / writer 2 is performed. The main processing routine is repeatedly and regularly executed at regular time intervals (for example, 100 ms to 1000 ms: 500 ms, for example) by using a start trigger periodically issued from the start management timer routine.

  FIG. 10 shows the details of the drive allocation process (S1) executed by the CPU 41 in the PC 3. First, a drive to be referred (hereinafter referred to as “reference drive”) is initialized to A drive (S101). The reference drive means a drive that can be allocated on the PC 3 side, and when there are a plurality of the drives, they are referred to in ascending order during the drive allocation process. The reference drive is managed by the OS kernel of WIN2000 of PC3. In the present embodiment, the number of drives that can be allocated is 26 from A to Z.

  When the reference drive is set, the CPU 41 issues an inquiry command (hereinafter referred to as “Inq (0) command”) for returning S / I data from the device to which the drive is assigned to the reference drive. (S102). Actually, the CPU 41 issues the Inq (0) command to the OS kernel, and the OS kernel treats the Inq (0) command as being issued to the reference drive. Then, a CDB (0) in which the EVPD area is set to “0” is generated by the OS kernel and transmitted to the unknown device associated with the reference drive. The SCSI standard defines that S / I data is returned when the EVPD area is set to “0”. Specific examples of CDB (0) are shown in Table 2 as described above. In the data column of Table 2, each data is shown in hexadecimal notation. Unless otherwise specified in this specification, all data fields are shown in hexadecimal notation.

  If there is a device associated with the reference drive and the device is a device that can process a SCSI command (a SCSI command compatible device), S / I data is returned from the device. On the other hand, when the device does not exist or when the device cannot process the SCSI command (device that does not support the SCSI command), the S / I data is not returned from the device. In S103, the CPU 41 makes an error determination based on whether or not S / I data is returned (S103). Specifically, when no S / I data is returned, it is determined as an error (Yes in S103). In this case, the subsequent processing proceeds to step S107. Further, when there is a reply of S / I data, it is not determined as an error (No side of S103). That is, it is determined that there is a device associated with the reference drive. In this case, the subsequent processing proceeds to step S104.

  If it is determined in S103 that there is no error, whether or not the device associated with the reference drive is a device that can be communicated based on the returned S / I data, that is, whether or not it is a communicable device. Determined. In the present embodiment, this step is performed to determine whether or not the device associated with the reference drive is the multi-reader / writer 2. In the present embodiment, the S / I data shown in Table 3 is returned from the multi-reader / writer 2 to the PC 3, and the determination process in this step is byte 0 of the returned S / I data. The data of the area of Byte 1 and the area of Byte 1, the vendor ID of the area of Bytes 8 to 15, the product ID of the area of Bytes 16 to 31 and the like coincide with the ID information registered in advance on the PC 3 side. Done depending on whether or not. If it is determined in this step that the device is communicable (Yes in S104), the process proceeds to step S105. If it is determined that the device is not communicable (No in S104), the process proceeds to S107. Proceed to In Table 3, the data “0x00” in the byte 0 area indicates a direct access device, and the data “0x80” in the byte 1 area indicates a replaceable card type storage medium (card type storage medium). Since the contents described in each byte area are defined in the SCSI standard, refer to the standard for details.

  When the process proceeds to S105, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the LUN of the reference drive is “0” based on the returned S / I data. Such a determination is made based on the data in the byte 54 area of the vendor specific area in the S / I data. In the present embodiment, as described above, the S / I data shown in Table 3 is returned from the multi-reader / writer 2 to the PC 3. Further, as described in the remarks column of the byte 54 area in Table 3, when the multi reader / writer 2 returns S / I data, the multi reader / writer 2 is added to the upper 4 bits of the byte 54 area. Information indicating the physical I / F (information indicating USB in this embodiment) is stored, and programming is performed so that the LUN number is stored in the lower 4 bits. Therefore, the CPU 41 can acquire the LUN information by referring to the data in the byte 54 area. Thereby, the determination process of the said step can be performed. For example, when “0x10” is stored in the area of the byte 54, it is acquired that the physical I / F is a USB connector and LUN is 0, and “0x23” is stored. Is obtained that the physical I / F is a SCSI connector and the LUN is 3.

  In S106, a process of adding the current reference drive to the corresponding drive list is executed. The corresponding drive list is a list of reference drives to which drives are finally assigned. Specifically, the corresponding drive list is expanded in a predetermined storage area of the RAM 43, and the corresponding reference drive is written in the storage area. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S107.

  In S107, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the reference drive is the Z drive. For example, it is possible to determine whether the current reference drive is the Z drive by causing the counter memory or the like to count the reference order of the drives and monitoring the counter value by the CPU 41. Such determination is performed to determine whether the set reference drive is the last. Here, if it is determined that the reference drive is the Z drive, there is no drive that can be referred to, and therefore the subsequent processing proceeds to S109. If it is determined that the reference drive is not the Z drive, after setting the reference drive as the next drive (S108), the processing from S102 is repeated until it is determined Yes in S107.

  When the process proceeds to S109, here, a drive is allocated based on the corresponding drive list. Thereby, a series of drive allocation processes (S1) are complete | finished. In the present embodiment, since only the multi-reader / writer 2 is connected as an external storage device, the multi-reader / writer 2 is assigned to the A drive and is not assigned to any other drive.

  Next, FIG. 11 shows details of the drive setting process (S2). In S201, it is determined whether there is a drive (hereinafter referred to as “corresponding drive”) allocated by the drive allocation process (S1) (S201). That is, it is determined whether or not a predetermined device is assigned to any of the drives that can be assigned by the PC 3. In the present embodiment, since there is an A drive to which the multi-reader / writer 2 is assigned, it is determined that there is a corresponding drive. Thereafter, it is determined whether there is one corresponding drive (S202). On the other hand, if it is determined in S201 that the corresponding drive does not exist (No side in S201), the process ends because there is no communication target.

  If it is determined in S202 that there is one corresponding drive (Yes in S202), the corresponding drive is set as a communication target (S205). That is, a device associated with the corresponding drive is set as a communication target. In the present embodiment, the A drive is set as a communication target. In other words, the multi-reader / writer 2 is set as a communication target device.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that there are a plurality of corresponding drives (No in S202), an icon indicating the corresponding drive is displayed in a dialog (S203). Thereafter, when a desired corresponding drive is selected by selecting any icon from the user (S204), the selected corresponding drive is set as a communication target (S205). Even when no icon is selected, for example, when a priority is set for each corresponding drive, the corresponding drive with the highest priority is automatically set as a communication target. Thereby, a series of drive setting processes (S2) are complete | finished.

  Next, the security process (S3) will be described. In FIG. 2, the ROM 28 of the multi-reader / writer 2 stores authentication firmware for realizing the function of the authentication means described above. FIG. 15 shows a configuration example of the storage area of the memory card. The storage area includes a normal area that can be accessed from the PC 3 side even when the access right authentication is rejected by the authentication means, and an access from the PC 3 side only when the access right authentication is accepted by the authentication means. It is divided into possible security areas. In addition, the access mode to the card-type storage medium is set to either the normal mode that allows access only to the normal area or the security mode that allows access to the security area. Only when the authentication result by the means is acceptance authentication, processing for setting the access mode to the security mode is also performed.

  The security reference information is a password used as an encryption key, and is input from the keyboard 57 of the PC 3, for example. On the other hand, the multi reader / writer 2 holds the original data for verification as security master information. Specifically, the collation original data can be stored in the ROM 28 as fixed data, for example. In FIG. 15, a verification data storage area is formed in the memory card, and information obtained by encrypting the verification original data using the password as an encryption key is written as verification data. The information received by decrypting the verification data with the encryption key received from the PC 3 side (that is, the password input by the user on the PC 3 side) is used as verification target information, and the verification target information is the verification information on the multi-reader / writer 2 side. A process of accepting authentication when matching with original data (security master information, which is fixed data), and rejecting authentication when matching does not match is performed. In the case of acceptance authentication, access to the sector in the security area (or normal area and security area) is permitted, and in the case of rejection authentication, access to only the sector in the normal area is permitted. It is also possible to adopt a simple form in which the password itself is directly written in the memory card as the verification data without using the password as the encryption key of the verification original data that is fixed data. In this case, the correct password is stored as security master information in the ROM 28 and used for verification. However, as described above, if the verification source data fixed in the multi-reader / writer 2 is encrypted using the password as a key, the verification data and the memory card are written and used for verification. Since the password entered by the user is not written to the memory card, security is improved.

  12 shows the flow on the PC 3 side of the security processing, and FIG. 12B shows the flow on the multi-reader / writer 2 side. First, on the PC 3 side, an inquiry command (hereinafter referred to as an “Inq (1) command) for returning a VPD (Vital Product Data) related to reporting of the current access mode setting state from the multi-reader / writer 2 to the multi-reader / writer 2. (No. 1) is issued to the A drive (S301). Actually, the Inq (1) command is issued to the OS kernel 73 and is treated as being issued to the A drive by the OS kernel 73. When the Inq (1) command is issued, the OS kernel 73 generates a CDB (1) in which the EVPD area is set to “1”, and the USB cable 25 is connected to the multi-reader / writer 2 associated with the A drive. Sent through. Table 4 shows the CDB (1) generated at this time. That is, the page code “0xE0” is described in the byte 2 area of the CDB (1).

  In the area of byte 4 of the CDB (1), that is, the allocation length area, “0x10” (“00010000” in binary notation) is stored. Originally, the data length required for the connected device is stored in the allocation length area. In the present embodiment, the maximum value of the allocation length of the multi-reader / writer 2 is set in advance to a fixed length (here, it is assumed to be 15 bytes, but is not limited to this). This number “15” can be expressed by the lower 4 bits. According to the SCSI standard, the allocation length of the multi-reader / writer 2 is set to the maximum value, that is, 15 bytes even if a numerical value greater than or equal to the maximum value set in the multi-reader / writer 2 is designated as the allocation length. . Therefore, even if “0x10” is described in the allocation length area, or “0x11” or more is described, the allocation length is set to 15 bytes. This means that if any one of the upper 4 bits of the allocation length area data is “1”, the data in the allocation length area is any data (also used as the setting value of the allocation length). It means that it can be used freely as additional information). That is, by setting any one of the upper 4 bits to “1”, bits other than the bit in the allocation length area can be reserved as a virtual free area. By adding arbitrary data to the virtual empty area secured in this way, data communication according to the additional information can be performed between the PC 3 and the multi-reader / writer 2.

  The allocation length is not always set to a fixed length (here, 15 bytes), but may be set to a maximum value according to the page code of CDB (1). For example, in the case of the page code “0xE0”, the maximum value of the allocation length may be set to a fixed length of 15 bytes, and in the case of the page code “0xE2”, it may be set to a fixed length of 9 bytes. The setting process corresponds to the fixed length correspondence list stored in the ROM 28 in advance according to the read content of the page code read by the CPU 27 of the multi-reader / writer 2 that has received the CDB (1). This is done by selecting a fixed length. Of course, the allocation length set to 15 bytes or 9 bytes can be arbitrarily set.

  Table 6 shows the classification of communication data added to the empty area secured in the allocation length area. As shown in the data content column of each table, each data defines what it means. Specifically, refer to the description in the data content column. Table 6 shows communication data transmitted when the page code is “0xE0”. If this page code (investigation instruction data type identification information) is changed in CDB (investigation instruction data), another investigation instruction data format having a different allocation length maximum value and additional information content can be generated.

  The left column of Table 6 shows the data itself described in the allocation length area, and the right column shows the meaning of the data. When the data in the left column is transmitted from the PC 3 side to the multi-reader / writer 2, on the multi-reader / writer 2 side, the CPU 27 extracts the allocation length area data from the received CDB (1), and the extracted data The contents are analyzed, and processing according to the contents of the analyzed data is executed. The contents shown in Table 6 are made into a table list and stored in advance in the HDD 44 or ROM 42 of the PC 3 and the ROM 28 of the multi-reader / writer 2.

  As shown in Table 4, “0x10” (additional information) is described in the CDB (1) generated by issuing the Inq (1) command in S301. It can be seen that the Inq (1) command (part 1) is a command for requesting the access mode (normal mode or security mode (described later)) from the PC 3 to the multi-reader / writer 2 as corresponding additional information. . Similarly, “0x11” is a command that requests the multi-reader / writer 2 to shift to the normal mode from the PC 3, and “0x13” is a command that similarly requests to shift to the security mode.

  On the other hand, on the multi-reader / writer 2 side, the transmitted CDB (1) is received. Thereafter, the CPU 27 extracts the data “0x10” (additional information) of the allocation length area in the CDB (1) (additional information extraction means). Then, processing for detecting the setting state of the access mode is performed according to the data.

  When the detection of the access mode is completed, the detection result is returned to the PC 3 by the CPU 27. Specifically, the reply process is performed by writing the detection result in the VPD that is generated after receiving the CDB (1) and returned to the PC 3. More specifically, as shown in Table 8, the access mode report information is written in the byte 7 area. In the present embodiment, “0x00” is written when the access mode is the normal mode, and “0x01” is written when the access mode is the security mode. Table 8 shows the VPD in the normal mode. Similarly, the area of byte 8 is a transfer completion report to normal mode, and the area of byte 9 is a transfer completion report to security mode (both “0x00” is incomplete and “0x01” is complete).

  Subsequently, the PC 3 receives the VPD in Table 8 returned from the multi-reader / writer 2 and acquires the corresponding additional information. For example, the access mode set on the multi-reader / writer 2 side is determined by referring to the byte 7 area of the VPD. As described above, the issue of the Inq (1) command on the PC 3 side, the transmission of the CDB (1) data in which the additional information is written to the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device), and the multi-reader / writer 2 (peripheral device) A series of communication processes peculiar to the present invention for returning a VPD in which corresponding additional data for responding to the additional data from the side (in this case, information for reporting the presence / absence of the selection confirmation operation) is returned. This is referred to as VPD additional information communication.

  On the PC 3 side, a dialog box as shown in FIG. 14A is displayed, and the acquired current access mode is displayed in the area 501. Further, soft buttons 503 and 504 for mode selection are also displayed, and an access mode selection input is made by clicking these buttons with a mouse or the like. This input is performed in S302 of FIG. When the normal mode is selected, the PC 3 displays a confirmation dialog box 507 as shown in FIG. 14D. When the confirmation button 510 is clicked, the PC 3 proceeds to the mode setting process. That is, in S303, a new Inq (1) command (part 2) is issued, and the multi-reader / writer 2 is requested to shift to the normal mode by the additional information written in the corresponding CDB (1). Upon receiving this, the multi-reader / writer 2 sets the normal mode and returns a VPD in which the corresponding additional information indicating the completion of setting is written. The PC 3 receives this, advances to S304, and updates the display state of the area 501 in the dialog box 507 of FIG. 14A to that of the corresponding mode.

  On the other hand, when the security mode is selected in S302, the user inputs a password in the password input window 502 of the dialog box 507 in FIG. Then, a new Inq (1) command (part 2) is issued, and the password is written as additional information in the corresponding CDB (1) and transmitted to the multi-reader / writer 2. This password needs to be transmitted to the multi-reader / writer 2 as character string data. The character string data is bit code data (character code) corresponding to the character to be displayed on a one-to-one basis, and an off-the-shelf code such as a JIS code, a shift JIS code, or an ASCII code may be used as it is. May be used. However, if the display character data table on the peripheral device side (for example, in the ROM 28: the display data itself is bitmap type or outline type font data) is created using the off-the-shelf code, A table indicating the correspondence with the unique code may be separately prepared on the peripheral device side (for example, in the ROM 28), and the unique code may be converted into the ready-made code with reference to this table and used for display.

  Transmission processing of character string data is performed according to the following processing procedure. First, the Inq (1) command shown in Table 4 is issued as the character code allocation length of the leading character of the character string. The CDB (1) data generated by issuing this Inq (1) command is transmitted to the multi-reader / writer 2. Note that the VPD shown in Table 8 is returned from the multi-reader / writer 2 when the Inq (1) command is issued. Then, Inq (1) is repeated for the number of characters of the input password character string.

  The transmitted character string data is received by the multi-reader / writer 2, and the received data is stored in the RAM 29. Actually, each time the characters cut out in step S305 (see FIG. 8) are transmitted one by one, the character data is sequentially stored in the RAM 29.

  In S306, the Inq (1) command is issued again on the PC 3 side, and the CDB (1) data generated thereby is transmitted to the multi-reader / writer 2. Table 9 shows the CDB (1) data generated at this time. As shown in Table 9, since “0xE0” is described in the byte 2 area and “0x13” is described in the allocation length area, the Inq (1) command issued at this time is It can be understood that this is a command to shift to the security mode based on the password.

  On the multi-reader / writer 2 side, the authentication process is performed by the method already described. If the authentication is acceptance, the access mode is set to the security mode, and the result is written in the VPD and returned to the PC 3. The PC 3 receives this, advances to S307, and updates the display state of the area 501 in the dialog box 507 of FIG. 14A to that of the corresponding mode. On the other hand, when the result of rejection authentication is returned, a dialog box 506 for notifying the failure to shift to the security mode as shown in FIG. 14C is displayed.

  FIG. 13 shows a flow of a state transition task according to the SCSI protocol on the multi-reader / writer 2 side corresponding to FIG. In S1401, the access mode is set to the normal mode. In S1402, it is confirmed whether there is an instruction to shift to the security mode from the PC3 side. If Yes, it is checked in step S1403 if a memory card is installed. If not, the process advances to step S1404 to notify the PC 3 that there is no memory card, and the process returns to step S1402. If a memory card is loaded, the process advances to step S1405 to determine whether the memory card has a security area. If there is no security area, the process proceeds to S1406 to notify the PC 3 that there is no security area, and the process returns to S1402.

  On the other hand, if there is a security area, the process proceeds to S1407, and the inquiry data storage area is decrypted using the password received from PC3 as a key. In S1408, this is compared with the original data for verification. In step S1409, the PC 3 is notified of the password error, and the process returns to step S1402. On the other hand, if it is a match, the authentication is accepted, the process proceeds to S1410, the password correct answer is notified to the PC 3, and the security mode is set in S1411. In S1412, it is confirmed whether or not there is an instruction to shift to the normal mode from the PC 3, and if there is a transition instruction, the process returns to S1401. If there is no transfer instruction, the process advances to step S1413 to check whether the memory card has been removed. If not removed, the process returns to S1412. If it has been removed, the process returns to S1401.

  In addition, embodiment mentioned above is only an example of this invention and can change embodiment suitably in the range which does not change the summary of this invention.

The perspective view which looked at an example of the multi reader / writer applied to the communication system of this invention from the front side. The perspective view similarly seen from the back side. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical configuration of a multi-reader / writer. Explanatory drawing of the SCSI command data data status transmission / reception part of a multi reader / writer. Explanatory drawing of a control register. Explanatory drawing of a status register. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of PC applied to the communication system of this invention. The conceptual diagram for demonstrating OS which operate | moves on PC, and the application which operate | moves on this OS. The flowchart showing the flow of the process which the SCSI command data data status transmission / reception part of a multi reader / writer performs. The flowchart showing the flow of the process of the data communication process performed in the communication system of this invention. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of drive allocation processing in FIG. 9. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of drive setting processing in FIG. 9. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow on the PC side of the security processing of FIG. 9. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of a state transition task of the multi-reader / writer corresponding to FIG. 12; The figure which shows the example of a 1st display of the dialog box by the side of PC. The figure which shows the 2nd example of a display of the dialog box by the side of PC. The figure which shows the 3rd display example of the dialog box by the side of PC. The figure which shows the 4th example of a display of the dialog box by the side of PC. The conceptual diagram of the area structure of a memory card.

Explanation of symbols

1 Communication system 2 Multi reader / writer (peripheral device)
3 PC (host device)
11 First memory card (card-type storage media)
12 Second memory card (card-type storage media)
13 Third memory card (card-type storage media)
14 Fourth memory card (card-type storage media)
21 Liquid crystal display (display unit)
27 CPU (investigation report data generation means, trigger generation report information writing means, investigation report data transmission means, exchange notification information holding means, exchange notification information holding control means, additional information extraction means, authentication means, authentication communication means, access mode setting Means, access mode setting control means, access mode report communication means, normal mode setting completion report information return means)
41 CPU (report information receiving means, investigation instruction data creation means, investigation instruction data transmission means, security reference information transmission means, authentication communication means, authentication result reflection information output means, normal mode transition instruction information transmission means)
51-54 Input / output control unit 56 Display (authentication result reflection information output means, access mode type display means)

Claims (14)

A host device having a communication event activation decision right and a peripheral device to be communicated with the host device connected to the host device, and a command for instructing execution of the communication event from the host device While sequentially issuing to the peripheral device, the peripheral device that has received the issued command sequentially executes data processing corresponding to the command, and returns response information corresponding to the execution result to the host device side. In the communication system having a main communication protocol in which the command issuance direction is restricted in one direction from the host device side to the peripheral device side,
Provided on the host device side, issues a survey request command for requesting the peripheral device itself to perform a survey report process on the peripheral device, and is accompanied by a predetermined search report instruction content accompanying the issuance of the survey request command. Survey instruction data creating means for creating survey instruction data having additional frame format and additional information written in a predetermined field of the frame;
Investigation instruction data transmission means for transmitting the created investigation instruction data to the peripheral device;
Survey report data generating means provided in the peripheral device, receiving the survey instruction data, and generating survey report data having a predetermined frame format;
Provided in the peripheral device, a survey report data transmitting means for transmitting the survey report data as response information to the host device;
An additional information communication mechanism provided on the peripheral device side and having additional information extracting means for extracting the additional information from the predetermined field of the received survey instruction data;
A card-type storage medium comprising a non-volatile memory in which the peripheral device can access data related to reading and writing of data is detachably attached to the slot, and data is transferred to the card-type storage medium by the communication event. As a storage device to access,
As functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism,
Security reference information transmitting means for transmitting the security reference information acquired on the host device side as the additional information on the investigation instruction data to the peripheral device is provided,
The peripheral device authenticates the access right from the host device side to the card type storage medium using the security master information written in the card type storage medium and the security reference information received from the host device. A communication system, characterized in that authentication means is provided.   The peripheral device and the host device are connected via a serial communication mechanism in which the peripheral device can be polled from the host device side and the host device cannot be reversely polled from the peripheral device side. The information transfer between the host device and the peripheral device for executing the communication event is executed by serial communication in a format in which the host device polls the peripheral device. The communication system according to 1.   The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the serial communication mechanism conforms to a USB protocol. As functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism,
Authentication result request information for requesting authentication result reflection information reflecting the authentication result by the authentication means to the peripheral device is transmitted to the peripheral device as the additional information on the investigation instruction data, and the investigation report data is predetermined. Authentication communication means for returning the investigation report data in which the authentication result reflection information is written as the corresponding additional information corresponding to the additional information from the host device side to the frame as a response information from the peripheral device to the host device The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an authentication result reflection information output unit that outputs the returned authentication result reflection information is provided in the host device. The storage area of the card-type storage medium is a normal area that can be accessed from the host device even if the authentication of the access right is rejected by the authentication means, and the authentication of the access right is accepted by the authentication means. Is divided into security areas that can be accessed from the host device side only when
In the peripheral device, an access mode setting for setting the access mode to the card-type storage medium to one of a normal mode in which only the normal area can be accessed and a security mode in which the security area can be accessed Means,
5. An access mode setting control means for causing the access mode setting means to set the access mode to the security mode only when an authentication result by the authentication means is acceptance authentication. The communication system according to any one of the above. As functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism,
The access mode report instruction information for causing the peripheral device to report the type of the access mode set in the peripheral device is transmitted to the peripheral device as the additional information on the investigation instruction data, and the investigation report The investigation report data in which access mode report information for reporting the access mode being set by the access mode setting means is written as corresponding additional information corresponding to additional information from the host device side in a predetermined frame of data. , An access mode report communication means is provided for returning response information from the peripheral device side to the host device,
6. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein the host device is provided with an access mode type display means for displaying the type of the access mode acquired by the access mode report communication means. The host device is provided with an access mode selection means for selecting either the normal mode or the security mode as the access mode,
As functional means realized by the additional information communication mechanism,
When the normal mode is selected on the host device side, normal mode shift instruction information for instructing the peripheral device to shift to the normal mode is transmitted to the peripheral device as the additional information on the survey instruction data Normal mode transition instruction information transmitting means to perform,
When the access mode setting means sets the access mode to the normal mode, the peripheral device that has received the normal mode transition instruction information receives a predetermined frame of the investigation report data from the host device side. As the additional information corresponding to the additional information, provided is a normal mode setting completion report information return means for returning the normal mode setting completion report information reporting the completion of setting to the normal mode to the host device as the investigation report data.
The host device has input means for the security reference information;
The communication system according to claim 4 or 6, wherein the security reference information transmitting unit transmits the input security reference information to the peripheral device as the additional information on the investigation instruction data.   The survey instruction data creating means stores the additional information in the main storage information in a field defined in the main communication protocol so that information other than the additional information is stored as main storage information to be stored in the survey instruction data. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the communication system is written in a form that is commonly used by a computer.   A memory area on the card-type storage medium assigned to the read process or the write process when executing a communication event related to reading or writing of data to the card-type storage medium according to the main communication protocol in the survey instruction data A field for storing the allocation length information is secured as an allocation length setting field, and the allocation length information is used as the main storage information in the allocation length setting field. The communication system according to claim 8, wherein additional information is written.   In the main communication protocol, the size of the allocation length setting field is determined to be a constant bit length, and the number of bits when the maximum value that can be set as the allocation length is expressed in bytes is expressed in the allocation length setting field. When the allocation length is set to less than the total number of bits and an allocation length exceeding the maximum value is described in the allocation length setting field, the maximum value is set to the actual setting value of the allocation length regardless of the described allocation length value. 10. The communication system according to claim 9, wherein different additional information contents are defined so as to uniquely correspond to redundant allocation length description values exceeding the maximum value. In the peripheral device, when the card type storage medium is exchanged, exchange notification information holding means for holding exchange notification information for notifying the host device of exchange of the card type storage medium, and the host device When the predetermined first type command is received from the command, the exchange notification information held in the exchange notification information holding unit is cleared after the execution of the command, and the second type other than the first type command is also cleared. An exchange notification information holding control means for holding the exchange notification information holding state by the exchange notification information holding means even after execution of the command when the seed command is received;
The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the second type command is used as the investigation request command.   Configuration / attribute survey request that constitutes the second type command for the survey request command to instruct the peripheral device to report configuration / attribute identification information that is information identifying the configuration and attributes of the peripheral device itself. The communication system according to claim 11, wherein the communication system is a command.   The communication system according to claim 12, wherein the main communication protocol is a SCSI protocol, and an inquiry command is used as the investigation request command. 14. The peripheral device constituting the communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the card type storage medium comprises a non-volatile memory capable of data access for reading and writing data. Is detachably mounted in the slot, and is configured as a storage device that performs data access to the card-type storage medium by the communication event,
Receiving the survey instruction data and generating the survey report data having a predetermined frame format;
The survey report data transmitting means for transmitting the survey report data as the response information to the host device;
The additional information extracting means for extracting the additional information from a predetermined field of the received survey instruction data;
The authentication for authenticating the access right from the host device side to the card-type storage medium using the security master information written in the card-type storage medium and the security reference information received from the host device Means,
A peripheral device comprising:

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