Flow control protocol for an audio bus

An audio source comprising:

• a downstream-facing interface configured to couple to a SOUNDWIRE-XL audio bus;
• and
• a control system configured to:
• populate a signal with at least one Txready bit;
• when the at least one Txready bit is valid, populate the signal with valid audio data at a corresponding location;
• when the at least one Txready bit is invalid, leave the corresponding location empty;
• and
• send the signal over the SOUNDWIRE-XL audio bus.

An audio source comprising:

• a downstream-facing interface configured to couple to a multi-segment audio bus;
• and
• a control system configured to:
• populate a signal with at least one Txready bit;
• when the at least one Txready bit is valid, populate the signal with valid audio data at a corresponding location;
• when the at least one Txready bit is invalid, leave the corresponding location empty;
• and
• send the signal over the multi-segment audio bus.

A method of controlling a multi-segment audio bus, comprising:

• at an audio source, populating a signal with at least one Txready bit;
• when the at least one Txready bit is valid, populating the signal with valid audio data at a corresponding location;
• when the at least one Txready bit is invalid, leaving the corresponding location empty;
• and
• sending the signal over a multi-segment audio bus.

A method of controlling a SOUNDWIRE-XL bus, comprising:

• at an audio sink, receiving a signal from a SOUNDWIRE-XL bus;
• evaluating a Txready bit within the signal;
• when the Txready bit is valid, reading audio data from corresponding bit slots in the signal;
• and
• when the Txready bit is invalid, ignoring data from the corresponding bit slots.

An audio sink comprising:

• an upstream-facing interface configured to be coupled to a SOUNDWIRE-XL bus;
• and
• a control system configured to:
• evaluate a Txready bit within a signal received from the SOUNDWIRE-XL bus;
• when the Txready bit is valid, read audio data from corresponding bit slots in the signal;
• and
• when the Txready bit is invalid, ignore data from the corresponding bit slots.

An audio sink comprising:

• an upstream-facing interface configured to be coupled to a multi-segment audio bus;
• and
• a control system configured to:
• evaluate a Txready bit within a signal received from the multi-segment audio bus;
• when the Txready bit is valid, read audio data from corresponding bit slots in the signal;
• and
• when the Txready bit is invalid, ignore data from the corresponding bit slots.

A method of controlling a multi-segment audio bus, comprising:

• at an audio sink, receiving a signal from a multi-segment audio bus;
• evaluating a Txready bit within the signal;
• when the Txready bit is valid, reading audio data from corresponding bit slots in the signal;
• and
• when the Txready bit is invalid, ignoring data from the corresponding bit slots.

A method of controlling a SOUNDWIRE-XL bus, comprising:

• determining if an audio sink will have room for data;
• sending an Rxready bit to an audio source where the Rxready bit is valid if there is room for the data and invalid if there is not room for the data;
• receiving a corresponding signal from the audio source;
• when the audio sink sends an Rxready valid bit, reading audio data from the corresponding signal;
• and
• when the audio sink sends an Rxready invalid bit, disregarding the data from the corresponding signal.

An audio sink comprising:

• an upstream-facing interface configured to be coupled to a SOUNDWIRE-XL bus;
• a buffer;
• and
• a control system configured to:
• determine if the buffer will have room for data;
• send an Rxready bit to an audio source where the Rxready bit is valid if there is room for the data and invalid if there is not room for the data;
• receive a corresponding signal from the audio source;
• when the audio sink sends an Rxready valid bit, read audio data from the corresponding signal;
• and
• when the audio sink sends an Rxready invalid bit, disregard the data from the corresponding signal.

A method of controlling a SOUNDWIRE-XL bus, comprising:

• at an audio source, receiving a signal from an audio sink;
• reading an Rxready bit in the signal from the audio sink;
• when the Rxready bit is valid, populating a second signal with valid data and sending the second signal to the audio sink;
• and
• when the Rxready bit is invalid, sending the second signal with empty bit slots instead of the valid data to the audio sink.

A method of controlling a multi-segment audio bus, comprising:

• at an audio source, receiving a signal from an audio sink across a multi-segment audio bus;
• reading an Rxready bit in the signal from the audio sink;
• when the Rxready bit is valid, populating a second signal with valid data and sending the second signal to the audio sink across the multi-segment audio bus;
• and
• when the Rxready bit is invalid, sending the second signal with empty bit slots instead of the valid data to the audio sink.

An audio source comprising:

• a downstream-facing interface configured to couple to a multi-segment audio bus;
• and
• a control system configured to:
• receive a signal from an audio sink across the multi-segment audio bus;
• read an Rxready bit in the signal from the audio sink;
• when the Rxready bit is valid, populate a second signal with valid data and send the second signal to the audio sink across the multi-segment audio bus;
• and
• when the Rxready bit is invalid, send the second signal with empty bit slots instead of the valid data to the audio sink.

An audio source comprising:

• a downstream-facing interface configured to couple to a SOUNDWIRE-XL bus;
• and
• a control system configured to:
• receive a signal from an audio sink across the SOUNDWIRE-XL bus;
• read an Rxready bit in the signal from the audio sink;
• when the Rxready bit is valid, populate a second signal with valid data and send the second signal to the audio sink across the SOUNDWIRE-XL bus;
• and
• when the Rxready bit is invalid, send the second signal with empty bit slots instead of the valid data to the audio sink.

An audio sink comprising:

• an upstream-facing interface configured to be coupled to a multi-segment audio bus;
• a buffer;
• and
• a control system configured to:
• determine if the buffer will have room for data;
• send an Rxready bit to an audio source where the Rxready bit is valid if there is room for the data and invalid if there is not room for the data;
• receive a corresponding signal from the audio source;
• when the audio sink sends an Rxready valid bit, read audio data from the corresponding signal;
• and
• when the audio sink sends an Rxready invalid bit, disregard the data from the corresponding signal.

A method of controlling a multi-segment audio bus, comprising:

• determining if an audio sink will have room for data;
• sending an Rxready bit to an audio source where the Rxready bit is valid if there is room for the data and invalid if there is not room for the data;
• receiving a corresponding signal from the audio source;
• when the audio sink sends an Rxready valid bit, reading audio data from the corresponding signal;
• and
• when the audio sink sends an Rxready invalid bit, disregarding the data from the corresponding signal.