Interfacing an NRSS-A smart card within an NRSS-B PCMCIA slot

Abstract

An adapter having a slot, a connector, and a passive router that routes signals from a smart card inserted in the slot to the connector, is disclosed.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising an adapter, said adapter comprising: 
 a slot that receives a smart card;    a connector; and    a passive router that routes signals from the smart card to the connector.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a host conditional access module coupled to the adapter through the connector.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2  wherein the host conditional access module further comprises an outgoing converter to convert an outgoing signal from a first format to a second format.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the first format of the signal is parallel, and the second format of the signal is serial.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 2  wherein the host conditional access module further comprises an incoming converter to convert an incoming signal from a second format to a first format.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein the second format is serial and the first format is parallel.  
     
     
         7 . An adapter comprising: 
 a slot to receive a smart card;    a first converter to convert a serial signal from the smart card to a parallel signal; and    a connector to connect to a conditional access module.    
     
     
         8 . The adapter of  claim 7  further comprising a second converter to convert a parallel signal from the conditional access module to a serial signal.  
     
     
         9 . The adapter of  claim 8 , wherein the converted serial signal is sent to the smart card.  
     
     
         10 . The adapter of  claim 7 , wherein the converted parallel signal is sent to the conditional access module.  
     
     
         11 . A connector comprising: 
 a PCMCIA connector to form a connection between a PCMCIA card and a conditional access module; and    a smart card reader to form a connection between a smart card and the conditional access module.    
     
     
         12 . The converter of  claim 11  further comprising a smart card slot to hold the smart card.  
     
     
         13 . The converter of  claim 12 , further comprising a plastic insert that can be inserted into the smart card slot so that the connection between the smart card and the smart card reader is maintained.