May
2006, Issue 190
Mobile
Phone Book
M16C/62P-Based
Data Backup System
Renesas M16C 2005 Design Contest Winner
Carlos’s M16C/62P-based system enables
you to back up your cellular phone book records on
the microcontroller’s flash memory, a PC, or a SIM
smart card.
by
Carlos
Cossio
I
used to write phone numbers and contacts in a pocket
agenda pad. But that’s nonsensical today in the digital
age. I now store all of my contacts in my cell phone’s
built-in phone book subscriber identity module (SIM)
smart card.
Although
there are a number of different mobile communication
standards in use, the global system for mobile communications
(GSM) standard has emerged as a rising star. GSM is
used mainly in Europe, but it’s definitely gaining ground
in various Asian and North American countries. GSM phones
feature a built-in socket for a SIM smart card. A SIM
card is used mainly for identifying a user to the network
when the phone boots up. A smart card is a tamper-resistant
integrated circuit packaged in a gold-contact module,
also referred to as a micromodule. Because of the security
features on the smart card, you can use it as a secure
storage device for confidential information.
Mobile
phones are great storage devices. But like other digital
systems, they’re easy to break and lose. I know this
from experience. I recently lost my mobile phone and
all of the valuable data I had stored on it. That’s
when I decided to devise a system to back up all of
my records.
My
Mobile Phone Book is a data backup system built around
a Renesas Technology M16C/62P demonstration board, which
features an M30626FHPGP microcontroller (see Photo 1).
The system features an innovative keyless entry system,
so I can enter numeric information without the use of
a keypad. After the system retrieves the phone book
data stored in my phone’s GSM mobile SIM smart card,
I can display the records on the LCD, copy the phone
book to another SIM smart card, save it in the microcontroller’s
internal flash memory, or send it to a PC for editing.
I can edit the phone book with the Address Book application
included with my PC’s Windows operating system.
|
(Click
here to enlarge)
|
Photo
1—Check out the Renesas M16C/62P and expansion boards
in action. The two-board solution is easily integrated
into a stand-alone device. Simply modify the demonstration
board’s schematic. |
In
this article, I’ll explain how you can design a similar
stand-alone device. Now you too can back up your phone
book records on a PC, another SIM smart card, or an
M16C/62P microcontroller’s internal flash memory.
