Complementary Die-to-Die Interface
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsSergio Kolor, Dany Davidov
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system includes a first instance and a second instance of an integrated circuit. The integrated circuits include respective external interfaces with a physical pin layout having transmit and receive pins for a particular bus located in complementary positions relative to an axis of symmetry. The external interfaces of the first and second instances of the integrated circuit are positioned such that the transmit and receive pins for the given I/O signal on the first instance are aligned, respectively, with the receive and transmit pins for the given I/O signal on the second instance.
Claims20
A system for transmitting and receiving data, comprising:
- a first integrated circuit (IC) die that includes:
- a plurality of first circuit blocks configured to send and receive data transactions;
- a first communication fabric configured to route data transactions between two or more of the first circuit blocks;
- and
- a first instance of a die-to-die interface, coupled to the first communication fabric, with a physical pin layout having transmit and receive pins located in complementary positions relative to an axis of symmetry;
- and
- a second IC die that includes:
- a plurality of second circuit blocks configured to send and receive data transactions;
- a second communication fabric configured to route data transactions between two or more of the second circuit blocks;
- and
- a second instance of the die-to-die interface coupled to the first communication fabric;
- wherein the first and second instances of the die-to-die interface are coupled to one another such that wires attached to the transmit and receive pins on the first IC die are attached, respectively, to receive and transmit pins on the second IC die without crossing.
A method for transmitting and receiving data, comprising:
- sending, by a first circuit block included in a first integrated circuit (IC) die, a first data packet via a first communication fabric;
- routing, by the first communication fabric, the first data packet to a first set of transmit pins of a first instance of a die-to-die interface, wherein the first instance of the die-to-die interface is coupled to a second instance of the die-to-die interface included on a second IC die;
- and
- receiving, by the first communication fabric, a second data packet via a first set of receive pins of the first instance of the die-to-die interface;
- and
- wherein the first set of transmit pins and the first set of receive pins are located in complementary positions relative to an axis of symmetry of the first IC die, and wherein the first instance of the die-to-die interface is coupled such that wires attached to the first set of transmit and the first set of receive pins on the first IC die are attached, respectively, to receive and transmit pins on the second instance of the die-to-die interface without crossing.
An apparatus for transmitting and receiving data, comprising:
- an integrated circuit (IC) die that includes:
- a plurality of circuit blocks configured to send and receive data transactions;
- a communication fabric configured to transfer data transactions among the plurality of circuit blocks in the IC die;
- and
- a die-to-die interface, coupled to the communication fabric, with a physical pin layout having a set of transmit pins and a set of receive pins located in complementary positions relative to an axis of symmetry;
- and
- wherein the communication fabric is further configured to use the die-to-die interface to transfer a plurality of data transactions between ones of the plurality of circuit blocks and a destination circuit block on a different IC die that includes the die-to-die interface, wherein to transfer the plurality of data transactions, the communication fabric is further configured to use the die-to-die interface in a manner that is transparent to software executing on the apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.