SDIO Types FAQ
By Chris De Herrera, Copyright 2002
 Version 1.00  Revised 12/6/2002

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Introduction

So by now you've seen that all the new Pocket PCs have a very small slot in them for memory expansion.  This slot is about the size of a postage stamp and it is currently used for Secure Digital and MultiMedia Cards.  This article describes a new way to use this type of slot for peripherals - if it is setup by the OEM to do so.

SDIO also called Secure Digital IO extends the SD standard to support peripherals.  The concept is to take the serial connection that was used for flash storage and modify it to support peripherals.  One of the pins is used to notify the system that the SDIO peripheral has data waiting for it. 

 The Current State of SDIO

Currently there are two standards for SDIO peripherals in the Pocket PC.  Since the first generation of Pocket PC, Toshiba has offered a SDIO Bluetooth card.  Their implementation of SDIO only supports their peripherals.  An industry standard version of SDIO called SDIO Now from BSquare.  SDIO Now is becoming the industry standard for SDIO peripherals such as the Socket Bluetooth SDIO card.   SDIO cards for the Toshiba implementation and BSquare implementation are different.  So far they do not work in each others systems.

Can I use My Pocket PC's SD slot with SDIO?

SDIO cards require an SDIO compatible slot so if you already have a Pocket PC you need to ask your OEM if they support SDIO in their device.   Also your OEM will need to issue a rom update or a driver for SDIO Now in order to support the SDIO peripherals.  Further you need to make sure you know what peripherals support the SDIO standard and work with your Pocket PC. Since all Pocket PCs require a rom update, we'll have to wait and see what works where.