High Speed FlexLED Digital Interface
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsRuochen Zhang, Wei Xu, Hongyan Wu, Qingjie Ma
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for a network of one or more off-board subsystems is provided for controlling automobile subsystems such as vehicle lighting. Such a system may be compatible with a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) interface and it may address timing issues by using a protocol having a synchronization frame (sync frame) such that a clock signal may be recovered from the sync frame sent by an off-board master device 202, such as a microcontroller unit 208, to a satellite/slave 211 device. Such a protocol permits elimination of a crystal clock oscillator and phase-locked loop located at satellite, thereby dispensing with an otherwise significant cost.
Claims11
A controlled device, operable by a controlling device, remotely located from the controlled device, comprising:
- a transceiver, the transceiver being operable to transmit to and receive digital frame information, including synchronization information having a sync frame, from the controlling device;
- circuitry located locally with the transceiver, for providing a recovered a clock signal from the synchronization information using the sync frame, the circuitry having neither a crystal clock oscillator nor a phase-locked loop;
- and
- a driver, connected to the transceiver, operable to control one or more light emitting diodes according to the recovered clock signal.
The controlled device operable by a controlling device, remotely located from the controlled device, comprising:
- a microcontroller;
- a transceiver connected to the microcontroller, the transceiver being operable to transmit to and receive from the controlling device, digital frame information having synchronization information including a sync frame;
- circuitry located locally with the transceiver, for recovering a clock signal from the synchronization information using the sync frame, the circuitry having neither a crystal clock oscillator nor a phase-locked loop;
- and
- a driver, coupled to the transceiver, operable to control one or more light emitting diodes according to the recovered clock signal.
A system for communication between/among a master and one or more slaves, remotely spaced from the master, comprising:
- a master microcontroller at the master having a clock;
- a master transceiver at the master connected to the master microcontroller;
- a slave microcontroller, at each of the one or more slaves;
- a slave transceiver at each one or more slaves, being communicatively coupled to the master transceiver;
- and
- digital circuitry, without a crystal clock oscillator, on the slave for recovering the clock at the slave.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.