US 12,549,415 B2Granted

Four wire high speed communication systems

AssigneeAnalog Bits Inc.

InventorsAlan C. Rogers, Michael A. Ang

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Abstract

A high speed but power-efficient electronic communications protocol may comprise dual simplex links, each operating in a differential high-speed mode and each capable of a low-speed signaling mode. When both links operate in high speed mode, signaling is performed in-band, with signals embedded as metadata attached to transmitted packets. When one of the links is put into a low-power mode, the return-path signaling may be performed on the two wires previously used for high-speed transmissions. One wire may be used for flow control or other signaling, while the other wire may be used for a wake command, which may initiate the low-power mode to be elevated to a high-speed mode. Multiple lanes may be organized to operate in parallel for each link, allowing for a very high speed communications protocol that may be easily switched into and out of a low-power state without additional sideband wiring.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A differential communications system comprising:

a first two-wire communications path operable in a first high-speed mode and a first lower-power signaling mode;
a second two-wire communications path operable in a second high-speed mode and a second lower-power signaling mode;
said first high-speed mode comprising differential communications across a first set of two wires and operating a protocol comprising in-band signaling for said second two-wire communications path;
said second high-speed mode comprising differential communications across a second set of two wires and operating a protocol comprising in-band signaling for said first two-wire communications path;
said first lower-power signaling mode carrying flow control signals for said second two-wire communications path;
said second lower-power signaling mode carrying flow control signals for said first two-wire communications path;
and
said first two-wire communications path and said second two-wire communications path being operable where one of said first or second two-wire communications paths operate in said high-speed mode while the other of said first or second two-wire communications paths operate in said lower-power signaling mode.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/592,471Filed 3 Feb 2022
Published: US 2023/0246883 A13 Aug 2023
Granted: 10 Feb 2026
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

H04L 25/0276
Arrangements for coupling to multiple lines, e.g. for differential transmission: arrangements for coupling common mode signals
G06F 13/4282
Bus transfer protocol, e.g. handshake; Synchronisation: on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus
H04B 3/02
Line transmission systems: details
G06F 2213/0002
Indexing scheme relating to interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central…:…