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US 2003/0196022 A1Published application
Digital device, bridge circuit, and method
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorClaude A. Cruz
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AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorClaude A. Cruz
Estimating the term…
Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a bridge circuit for use in a computing platform includes a plurality of signal ports. At least one of the plurality of signal ports is adapted to be coupled to a long haul interface. At least one of the plurality of signal ports is adapted to be coupled to a host interface. At least one of the plurality of signal ports is adapted to be coupled to a short haul interface. The bridge circuit is adapted to provide a bridge between the host interface and one of the short haul interface and the long haul interface. Briefly, in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a digital device intraconnect includes the following: two short haul interfaces and two protocol converters. One of the protocol converters is capable of converting from a host interface to a short haul interface and the other of the protocol converters is capable of converting from a short haul interface to an internal device interface. Briefly, in accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, a method of relaying signals in a host system includes the following. Signals are transmitted to the host through a host interface. The signals are relayed through a bridge from or to one of an internal device and an external device. The relayed signals are relayed through a short haul interface for the internal device and a long haul interface for the external device.
A bridge circuit for use in a computing platform, said bridge circuit comprising:
A digital device intraconnect for coupling between a host and a device internal to the digital device comprising:
A digital device comprising:
A method of relaying signals in a host system comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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High-speed IEEE 1394 serial bus: bus bridging
LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone: single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
Hybrid switching systems: hybrid transport
Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass:…
Term end not estimated
1. Field
This disclosure is related to interfacing between a device and a host computing platform or system.
2. Background
The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description, when read with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a host computing platform that may employ an embodiment of a bridge circuit in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating in more detail the embodiment of the bridge circuit shown in FIG. 1 and the signal switching paths that it supports;
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.
Although the invention is not limited in scope to the 1394 specification or to complying with or being compatible with the 1394 specification, as previously described, power consumption and thermal issues may exist from the application of the IEEE 1394 specification to a high-speed serial bus in a power constrained platform, such as a notebook PC, for example. Unlike some alternative, mobile oriented buses, such as those that comply with the power managed PCI specification or the Cardbus specification, a 1394 specification compliant interface may consume a significant amount of power even when not performing signaling. In this context, a 1394 specification compliant interface is an example of a “long haul” interface in that sufficient power is present to drive the signals a relatively long distance, such as on the order of several meters, for example. Therefore, the power trends exhibited by 1394 specification compliant devices, at least without adaptation, appear inconsistent with or at least present challenges to the application of the 1394 specification to power and/or thermally constrained platforms.
Much of the power dissipation in a 1394 specification compliant interface results from the power consumed in the physical layer or PHY. As alluded to above, this is due, at least in part, to the desirability of having the PHY be able to drive a signal on or through a cable of approximately 4.5 meters in length. PHY power consumption may also be tied to the architecture of a 1394 specification compliant bus, which employs a PHY that is substantially constantly powered, even when not in use by the 1394 specification compliant “node” which includes the PHY, in order to operate as a signal packet relay between other nodes in the network.