CompactFlashTM Cards
CFA45 Series
White Electronic Designs
INTERFACE SIGNALS DESCRIPTION
Symbol
Type
Name and Function
A0 - A10
INPUT
ADDRESS BUS: These address lines along with the REG signal are used to select the following: The I/O port
address registers within the PC Storage Card, the memory mapped port address registers within the PC
Storage Card, a byte in the Cards information structure and its configuration control and status registers= This
signal is the same as the PC Card Memory Mode signal in PC Card I/O mode= In True IDE Mode only A [2:0]
are used to select the one of eight registers in the Task File, the remaining address lines should be grounded
by the host=
D0 - D15
INPUT/
OUTPUT
DATA BUS: These signal lines carry the Data, Commands and Status information between the host and the
controller= D0 is the LSB of the even byte of the word= D8 is the LSB of the odd byte of the word=
This signal is the same as the PC Card memory mode signal in PC Card I/O mode= In True IDE mode, all Task
File operations occur in byte mode on the low order bus D0-D7 while all data transfers are 16 bit using D0D15=
CE1, CE2
INPUT
CARD ENABLE: CE1 and CE2 are card select signals, active low= These input signals are used both to select
the card and to indicate to the card whether a byte or a word operation is being performed= CE2 always
accesses the odd byte of the word= CE1 accesses the even byte or the Odd byte of the word depending on
A0 and CE2= A multiplexing scheme based on A0, CE1, CE2 allows 8 bit hosts to access all data on
D0-D7= This signal is the same as the PC card memory mode signal in PC Card I/O mode= In the True IDE
mode, CE1 is the chip select for the task file registers while CE2 is used to select the Alternate Status
Register and the Device Control Register=
OE, ASTEL
WE
INPUT
INPUT
OUTPUT ENABLE, ATA SELECT: OE is used for the control of data read in Attribute area or Common memory
area= To enable True IDE Mode this input should be grounded by the host (in power up)=
WRITE ENABLE: WE is used for the control of data write in Attribute memory area or Common memory area=
This is a signal driven by the host and used for strobing memory write data to the registers of the PC Card
when the card is configured in the memory interface mode= It is also used for writing the configuration
registers= In PC Card I/O mode, this signal is used for writing the configuration registers= In True IDE mode,
this input signal is not used and should be connected to VCC by the host=
IORD
INPUT
I/O READ: IORD is used for control of read data in the Task File area= This card does not respond to IORD
until I/O card interface setting up=
IOWRINPUT
I/O WRITE: IOWR is used for control of data write in the Task File area= This card does not respond to IOWR
until I/O card interface setting up= This signal is not used in memory mode= The I/O write strobe pulse is used
to clock I/O data on the card data bus into the CF Card controller registers when the CF Card is configured to
use the I/O interface= The clocking will occur on the negative to positive edge of the signal (trailing edge)= In
True IDE mode, this signal has the same function as in PC Card I/O Mode=
RDY/BSY,
IREQ, INTRQ
OUTPUT
READY/BUSY, INTERRUPT REQUEST: In memory mode, this signal is set high when the CF Card is
ready to accept a new data transfer operation and held low when the card is busy= The host memory card
socket must provide a pull-up resistor= At power up and at reset, the RDY/BSY signal is held low (busy) until
the CF Card has completed its power up or reset function= No access of any type should be made to the CF
Card during this time= The RDY/BSY signal is held high (disabled from being busy) whenever the following
condition is true: The CF Card has been powered up with RESET continuously disconnected or asserted= I/O
operation - After the CF Card has been configured for I/O operation, this signal is used as Interrupt request=
This line is strobed low to generate a pulse mode interrupt or held low for a level mode interrupt= In True IDE
mode, this signal is the active high Interrupt request to the host=
CD1, CD2
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
CARD DETECTION: CD1 and CD2 are the card detection signals= CD1 and CD2 are connected to ground in
this card, so the host can detect if the card is inserted or not=
WP, IOIS16
WRITE PROTECT, 16 BIT I/O PORT: In memory card mode, WP is held low because this card does not have a
write protect switch= In the I/O card mode, IOIS16 is asserted when Task File registers are accessed in 16-bit
mode= In True IDE Mode this output signal is asserted low when this device is expecting a word data transfer
cycle=
REG
INPUT
ATTRIBUTE MEMORY AREA SELECTION: REG should be high level during common memory area accessing,
and low level during Attribute area accessing= The attribute memory area is located only in an even address, so
D0 to D7 are valid and D8 to D15 are invalid in the word access mode= Odd addresses are invalid in the byte
access mode= The signal must also be active (low) during I/O cycles when the I/O address is on the Bus= In
True IDE Mode this input signal is not used and should be connected to VCC=
BVD2, SPKR, INPUT/
BATTERY VOLTAGE DETECTION, DIGITAL AUDIO OUTPUT, DISK ACTIVE/SLAVE PRESENT: In memory card
mode, BVD2 outputs the battery voltage status in the card= This card has no battery, so this output is high
level constantly= In the I/O card mode, SPKR is held High because this card does not have digital audio output=
In True IDE Mode DASP is the Disk Active/Slave Present signal in the Master/Slave handshake protocol=
DASP
OUTPUT
RESET,
RESET
INPUT
RESET: By assertion of the RESET signal, all registers of this card are cleared and the RDY/BSY signal turns
to high level= In True IDE Mode RESET is the active low hardware reset from the host=
White Electronic Designs Corporation Marlborough, MA (508) 485-4000
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