Identification system and method for recognizing any one of a number of different types of devices
AssigneeAnalog Devices, Inc.
InventorsStuart Patterson, Frederick Loeb, John Howley, Ludgero Leonardo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An identification system and method for recognizing a device as one of a plurality of different types of devices connected to at least one terminal of an information handling system includes supplying a test signal to a device in a test mode; measuring an electrical characteristic of the device in response to the test signal being applied to the device in the test mode; and matching a representation of the electrical characteristic of the device with representations of the electrical characteristics of the plurality of devices for recognizing the device connected to the terminal as one of the plurality of different devices.
Claims58
An identification system for recognizing a device as one of a plurality of different types of devices connected to at least one terminal of an information handling system comprising:
- an excitation circuit for supplying a test signal to a device in a test mode;
- a response analyzer circuit responsive to the test signal being applied to said device in the test mode for measuring an electrical characteristic of said device;
- an identification circuit responsive to the measured electrical characteristic of said device for matching a stored representation of said electrical characteristic of said device with representations of the electrical characteristics of said plurality of devices for recognizing said device connected to the terminal as one of said plurality of different devices;
- and
- a reconfiguration circuit connected to said terminal and responsive to the identification of said device for reconfiguring circuitry connecting the identified device to the information handling system to adapt to the identified said device by selectively operating a switching circuit;
- an event detector for detecting the presence and absence of a device connected to a said terminal, the event detector including:
- a resistor ladder network connected between a node and the terminals for conditioning the voltage at the node to vary depending on whether devices are connected to one or more of the terminals;
- and
- a comparison circuit for detecting whether the voltage at the node has changed.
An identification system for recognizing a device as one of a plurality of different types of devices connected to at least one terminal of an information handling system comprising:
- an excitation circuit for supplying a test signal to a device in a test mode;
- a response analyzer circuit responsive to the test signal being applied to said device in the test mode for measuring an electrical characteristic of said device;
- an identification circuit responsive to the measured electrical characteristic of said device for matching a stored representation of said electrical characteristic of said device with representations of the electrical characteristics of said plurality of devices for recognizing said device connected to the terminal as one of said plurality of different devices;
- and
- a reconfiguration circuit connected to a said terminal and responsive to the identification of a said device for reconfiguring circuitry connecting the identified device to the information handling system to adapt to the identified said device by selectively operating a switching circuit.
An identification method for recognizing a device as one of a plurality of different types of devices connected to at least one terminal of an information handling system comprising:
- supplying a test signal to a device in a test mode;
- measuring an electrical characteristic of said device in response to the test signal being applied to said device in the test mode;
- matching a representation of said electrical characteristic of said device with stored representations of the electrical characteristics of said plurality of devices for recognizing said device connected to the terminal as one of said plurality of different devices;
- and
- reconfiguring said terminal to adapt to the identified said device by selectively operating a switching circuit.
A system for detecting a device plug-in or plug-out event for a plurality of terminals, the system comprising:
- a resistive ladder network connected between a node and the terminals that varies a resistance in order to vary the voltage at the node based on devices connected to one or more of the terminals;
- a comparison circuit for detecting whether the voltage at the node has changed;
- and
- a logic circuit, configured to discriminate between a voltage change at the node not due to a terminal plug-in or plug-out event and a voltage change at the node due to a terminal plug-in or plug-out event.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.