Communication apparatus having a standard serial communication interface compatible with radio isolation

A method of operating a communication apparatus including a radio frequency (RF) circuit, a digital processing circuit, and a serial communications device configured to communicate data between the digital processing circuit and an external device, the method comprising:

• buffering data communicated between the digital processing circuit and the external device within the serial communications device;
• disabling at least a portion of the serial communications device during an active mode of operation of the RF circuit;
• and
• controlling a data stream between the serial communications device and the external device while the at least a portion of the serial communications device is disabled.

A mobile phone comprising:

• a radio frequency (RF) transceiver configured to operate on a radio frequency signal;
• a digital processing circuit coupled to the RF transceiver;
• and
• a serial communications device coupled to the digital processing circuit and configured to buffer data communicated between the digital processing circuit and an external device;
• wherein the digital processing circuit includes a processing unit configured to process data received from the external device;
• wherein the processing unit is disabled during an active mode of operation of the RF transceiver;
• wherein at least a portion of the serial communications device is disabled during an active mode of operation of the RF transceiver;
• wherein the serial communications device includes a flow control logic circuit configured to control a data stream between the mobile phone and the external device while the at least a portion of the serial communications device is disabled;
• and
• wherein the RF transceiver, the digital processing circuit, and the serial communications device are fabricated on a single integrated circuit chip.