Semiconductor integrated circuit cards and communication systems including the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11037042-B2
Application number	US-201916599160-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 11, 2019
Priority date	Dec 29, 2016
Publication date	Jun 15, 2021
Grant date	Jun 15, 2021

Abstract

A semiconductor integrated card includes an external package, a subscriber identification module (SIM) circuit, a plurality of SIM pins, a storage device and a plurality of memory pins. The SIM circuit is formed inside of the external package and is configured to store subscriber information. The SIM pins are formed on a surface of the external package and are electrically connected to the SIM circuit. The storage device is formed inside of the external package and is separated from the SIM circuit. The storage device includes a nonvolatile memory device. The memory pins are formed on the surface of the external package and are electrically connected to the storage device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) card comprising:
an external package having two pairs of edges, in which the edges of each pair are arranged opposite to each other, a first pair of edges of the two pairs of edges extending in a first direction and a second pair of edges of the two pairs of edges extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
a subscriber identification module (SIM) circuit formed inside of the external package, the SIM circuit configured to store subscriber information;
a plurality of SIM pins which are formed on a surface of the external package and are electrically connected to the SIM circuit;
a storage device which is formed inside of the external package and is separated from the SIM circuit, the storage device including a universal flash storage (UFS) device configured to transmit/receive data to/from an external device by using a serial interface of the storage device; and
a plurality of memory pins which are formed on the surface of the external package and are electrically connected to the storage device,
wherein the serial interface includes one or more data buffers configured to latch serial data to convert the latched serial data to parallel data,
wherein the serial interface is included in the storage device,
wherein at least a first SIM pin of the plurality of SIM pins is formed adjacent to a first edge of the first pair of edges,
wherein at least a second SIM pin of the plurality of SIM pins is formed adjacent to a second edge of the first pair of edges,
wherein at least a third SIM pin of the plurality of SIM pins is formed adjacent to a first edge of the second pair of edges, and
wherein at least a fourth SIM pin of the plurality of SIM pins is formed adjacent to a second edge of the second pair of edges.

2. The semiconductor IC card of claim 1 , wherein the external package has a shape and a size defined by a SIM card standard, and the plurality of SIM pins which are formed on the surface are defined by the SIM card standard.

3. The semiconductor IC card of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of SIM pins corresponds to a SIM standard pin.

4. The semiconductor IC card of claim 2 , wherein the memory pins are formed in a central region on the surface of the external package and the central region is surrounded by the plurality of SIM pins.

5. The semiconductor IC card of claim 2 , wherein a first set of pins of the plurality of SIM pins is electrically connected to the SIM circuit,
wherein a second set of pins of the plurality of SIM pins is not electrically connected to the SIM circuit, and
wherein one or more pins of the second set of pins of the plurality of SIM pins are configured for use as one or more respective memory pins and are electrically connected to the storage device.

6. The semiconductor IC card of claim 1 , wherein the UFS device is one of a NAND flash and a NOR flash.

7. The semiconductor IC card of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first card detection pin which is formed on the surface and is electrically connected to a ground voltage; and
a second card detection pin which is formed on the surface and is electrically connected to a first voltage higher than the ground voltage.

8. The semiconductor IC card of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first card detection pin which is formed on the surface and is electrically connected to a ground voltage; and
a second card detection pin which is formed on the surface and is maintained with a floating state.

9. A semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) card comprising:
an external package having two pairs of edges, in which the edges of each pair are arranged opposite to each other, a first pair of edges of the two pairs of edges extending in a first direction and a second pair of edges of the two pairs of edges extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
a subscriber identification module (SIM) circuit formed inside of the external package, the SIM circuit configured to store subscriber information;
a plurality of SIM pins which are formed on a surface of the external package and a first set of pins of the plurality of SIM pins is electrically connected to the SIM circuit;
a storage device which is formed inside of the external package and is separated from the SIM circuit, the storage device including a nonvolatile memory device; and
a plurality of memory pins which are formed on the surface of the external package and electrically connected to the storage device, wherein:
the external package has a shape and a size defined by a SIM card standard,
a second set of pins of the plurality of SIM pins is not electrically connected to the SIM circuit,
one or more pins of the second set of pins of the plurality of SIM pins are configured for use as one or more respective memory pins and are electrically connected to the storage device,
the storage device is configured to transmit/receive data to/from an external device through the memory pins by using a serial interface,
the serial interface includes one or more data buffers configured to latch serial data to convert the latched serial data to parallel data,
the serial interface is included in the storage device,
wherein at least a first SIM pin of the plurality of SIM pins is formed adjacent to a first edge of the first pair of edges,
wherein at least a second SIM pin of the plurality of SIM pins is formed adjacent to a second edge of the first pair of edges,
wherein at least a third SIM pin of the plurality of SIM pins is formed adjacent to a first edge of the second pair of edges, and
wherein at least a fourth SIM pin of the plurality of SIM pins is formed adjacent to a second edge of the second pair of edges.

10. The semiconductor IC card of claim 9 , wherein
the memory pins are formed in a central region on the surface which is surrounded by the plurality of SIM pins on the surface of the external package.

11. The semiconductor IC card of claim 9 , wherein the external package has a shape and a size defined by a nano SIM card standard.

12. The semiconductor IC card of claim 9 , further comprising:
a first card detection pin which is formed on the surface and is electrically connected to a ground voltage; and
a second card detection pin which is formed on the surface and is electrically connected to a first voltage higher than the ground voltage.

13. A communication system comprising:
a communication device including a first external card slot and a second external card slot; and
a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) card mounted on the first external card slot, the semiconductor IC card configured to perform a first function to store data provided from the communication device and a second function to perform a subscriber authentication using a first subscriber information when the communication device performs a wireless communication via a first wireless network,
wherein the semiconductor IC card comprises:
an external package having two pairs of edges, in which the edges of each pair are arranged opposite to each other, a first pair of edges of the two pairs of edges extending in a first direction and a second pair of edges of the two pairs of edges extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
a first subscriber identification module (SIM) circuit formed inside of the external package, the first SIM circuit configured to store the first subscriber information;
a plurality of SIM pins which are formed on a surface of the external package and electrically connected to the first SIM circuit;
a storage device which is formed inside of the external package an

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Seo Hui-Kwon

Classifications

• H04M15/751 Primary

  Card based account, e.g. smart card, SIM card or USIM · CPC title

• H04W4/24

  Accounting or billing · CPC title

• G06K19/07737 Primary

  the record carrier consisting of two or more mechanically separable parts · CPC title

• H04M17/026

  Constructional features · CPC title

• H04M17/023

  Circuit arrangements · CPC title