Asymmetric chip-to-chip interconnect

A device for communicating with a bus comprised of N channels comprised of pairs of channels, comprising:

• at least one non-differential receiver coupleable to each of the N channels, wherein each of the at least one non-differential receiver is to receive only true data from the N channels;
• and
• at least one differential transmitter coupleable to each pair of channels to transmit in parallel a data bit and its complement on the channels in each pair.

A device for communicating with a bus comprised of N channels comprised of pairs of channels, comprising:

• at least one non-differential transmitter coupleable to each of the N channels, wherein each of the at least one non-differential transmitter is to transmit only true data to the N channels;
• and
• at least one differential receiver coupleable to each pair of channels to receive in parallel a data bit and its complement on the channels in each pair.

A method comprising:

• transferring first data from a first device to a second device at a first rate, wherein the first data comprises true data and is to be transferred in parallel along a first channel and a second channel;
• and
• transferring second data from the second device to the first device at a second rate different from the first rate, wherein the second data comprises true data and corresponding complementary data, wherein the true data is to be transferred along at least one of a third channel or a fourth channel, and wherein corresponding complementary data is to be transferred in parallel along at least one of the third channel or the fourth channel.

A method comprising:

• transferring N data bits in parallel along N channels in a first uni directional bus from a first device to a second device at a first rate;
• and
• transferring N/2 data bits from the second device to the first device at a second rate different from the first rate, wherein the N/2 data bits and their complements are to be transmitted along the N channels in a second uni-directional bus in parallel at the second rate.