PC cards with integrated I/O communication receptacles

A device adapted to be received by a PCMCIA card slot in a host system for connecting the host system to an information transfer system, the PCMCIA card slot incorporating a pair of stacked slot connectors, the device comprising:

• a housing having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of the housing having a longitudinal centerline, parallel, longitudinally extending sides, a transverse front end and a rear end, the first portion of the housing further having a width conforming substantially to the PCMCIA card width standard and a height conforming substantially to the PCMCIA Type II card thickness standard, the second portion of the housing projecting rearwardly from the rear end of the first portion of the housing and having a height greater than that of the first portion of the housing and including at least one receptacle incorporating electrical contacts and adapted to receive a standard communications plug having electrical contacts for engaging the receptacle contacts whereby the device is directly connectable to the information transfer system, the second portion of the housing being positioned to one side of the longitudinal center line and having a width no greater than one-half the width of the first portion of the housing;
• a substrate enclosed within the housing the substrate carrying circuit elements, the receptacle contacts being connected to circuit elements on the substrate;
• and
• a device connector mounted at the transverse front end of the first portion of the housing, the connector being electrically connected to circuit elements on the substrate and adapted to mate with one or the other of the pair of connectors within the slot of the host system.

A device adapted to be received by a PCMCIA slot in a host system, the device being adapted to interconnect the host system with an information transfer system, the host system slot containing a host connector having a plurality of contact positions, the device comprising:

• a housing having an end including a device connector mateable with the host connector when the device is inserted in the host system slot, the device connector having a plurality of contact positions, the host and device connectors being adapted to transfer bus interface signals between the host system and the device, the device being insertable in the host system slot in a first orientation in which the contact positions on the device connector are mateable with corresponding contact positions on the host connector, and in a second orientation in which the contact positions on the device connector are mateable with contact positions on the host connector that are the compliments of said corresponding contact positions;
• a first circuit, said first circuit controlling the functions of the device, the first circuit including terminals corresponding to the contact positions of the host system connector, the first circuit being connectable to the information transfer system;
• a second circuit, said second circuit being responsive to selected bus interface signals for generating orientation signals indicative of the orientation of the device in the host system slot;
• and
• a third circuit, said third circuit being interposed between the device connector and the first circuit and including first signal paths for transferring bus interface signals between contact positions on the device connector and the corresponding terminals of the first circuit when the device is inserted in the host slot in the first orientation, and second signal paths for transferring signals between contact positions on the device connector and terminals of the first circuit that are the complements of the corresponding terminals, the third circuit being responsive to the orientation signals to control the selection of the first or the second signals paths.