Renesas Technology Corp.

Hideo Koike

Hirotaka Nishizawa

Kenji Osawa

Junichiro Osako

Tamaki Wada

A semiconductor device includes external interface terminals and processing circuits, and it is fed with an operating power source when detachably set in a host equipment. Power source feeding terminals (VCC, VSS) among the external interface terminals are long enough to keep touching the corresponding terminals of the host equipment for, at least, a predetermined time period since the separation of an extraction detecting terminal among the external interface terminals, from the corresponding terminal of the host equipment, and they are formed to be longer in the extraction direction of the semiconductor device than the extraction detecting terminal. Thus, a time period till the cutoff of the power source is easily made comparatively long. The power source feeding terminals should preferably be extended onto the insertion side of the semiconductor device, but an extendible distance is sometimes liable to be limited. In order to ensure the necessary time period without changing the length and shape of the power source feeding terminals on the semiconductor device side, each of the power source feeding terminals may be formed so as to have two, front and rear touch points with the corresponding connector terminal of the host equipment side, but complicated improvements are necessitated for the construction of the connector terminal of the host equipment side. According to the semiconductor device, the time period required till the power source cutoff is easily ensured, and the complicated improvements are not required for the construction of the corresponding connector terminals of the host equipment side.

Semiconductor device with power source feeding terminals of increased length

A semiconductor device includes external interface terminals and processing circuits, and it is fed with an operating power source when detachably set in a host equipment. Power source feeding terminals (VCC, VSS) among the external interface terminals are long enough to keep touching the corresponding terminals of the host equipment for, at least, a predetermined time period since the separation of an extraction detecting terminal among the external interface terminals, from the corresponding terminal of the host equipment, and they are formed to be longer in the extraction direction of the semiconductor device than the extraction detecting terminal. The processing circuits include an interface control circuit () which is connected to the external interface terminals, and a rewritable nonvolatile memory () which is controlled by the interface control circuit. The nonvolatile memory stores information on the basis of the difference of the threshold voltages of memory cells. The interface control circuit causes a storage area midway of a threshold voltage initialization process to complete a process in which the threshold voltages of the memory cells are uniformalized into a predetermined threshold voltage distribution, before the power source is cut off after the separation of the extraction detecting terminal from the corresponding terminal of the host equipment.

Semiconductor device

A semiconductor device includes external interface terminals and processing circuits, and it is fed with an operating power source when detachably set in a host equipment. Power source feeding terminals (VCC, VSS) among the external interface terminals are long enough to keep touching the corresponding terminals of the host equipment for, at least, a predetermined time period since the separation of an extraction detecting terminal among the external interface terminals, from the corresponding terminal of the host equipment, and they are formed to be longer in the extraction direction of the semiconductor device than the extraction detecting terminal. These power source feeding terminals are a power source terminal and a ground terminal, and any power source compensating capacitor is not connected between the power source terminal and the ground terminal. Since a time period required till the cutoff of the power source can be easily ensured, a capacitor for compensating the operating power source at the power source cutoff which occurs midway of an operation is not necessitated.

An adapter for a memory card is disclosed which performs a change of size so that a memory card smaller in planar size but almost equal in thickness as compared with a multi-media card can be used as a multi-media card. A protuberant portion is formed behind plural external terminals formed on a back side of the adapter, whereby, while the thickness of a front side of the adapter is maintained at a standardized thickness of the multi-media card, a rear side of the adapter is made thicker than the front side and internal terminals for contact with external terminals of the memory card are disposed in the interior of the thick portion of the adapter. The versatility of an extremely small-sized memory card can be improved.

Adapter for a memory card and a memory card

A semiconductor device includes external interface terminals and processing circuits, and couples to an operating power source when detachably set in a host equipment. Power source feeding terminals (VCC, VSS) among the external interface terminals are long enough to keep touching the corresponding terminals of the host equipment for at least a predetermined time period since the separation of an extraction detecting terminal from a corresponding terminal of the host equipment, and they are formed to be longer in the extraction direction of the semiconductor device than the extraction detecting terminal. These power source feeding terminals are a power source terminal and a ground terminal, and any power source compensating capacitor is not connected between the power source terminal and the ground terminal.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Hideo Koike