Serial data intermediary device, and related systems and methods
AssigneeCypress Semiconductor Corporation
InventorsGregory J. Landry, Edward L. Grivna
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An integrated circuit (IC) device can include a serial communication first interface (I/F) circuit electrically coupled to first physical connections of the IC device, and configured to respond to communication signals received at the first physical connections; at least one serial communication second interface (I/F) circuit electrically coupled to second physical connections of the IC device, and configured to enable data transactions over the second physical connections; and a repeater circuit configured to bypass the first I/F circuit and enable serial communication signals to be transmitted from the first physical connections to the second physical connections. Systems including such an IC device and related methods are also disclosed.
Claims19
An integrated circuit (IC) device, comprising:
- a serial communication first interface (I/F) circuit electrically coupled to first physical connections of the IC device, and configured to respond to communication signals received at the first physical connections;
- at least one serial communication second interface (I/F) circuit electrically coupled to second physical connections of the IC device, and configured to enable data transactions over the second physical connections, wherein the at least one serial connection second I/F circuit includes a plurality of master I/F circuits, each electrically coupled to a corresponding set of master physical connections of the IC device;
- and
- a bypass circuit configured to bypass the serial communication first I/F circuit and the at least one serial connection second I/F circuit, enable serial communication signals to be transmitted between the first and second physical connections, and to enable serial communication signals to pass between the first physical connections and one of the master physical connections according to mapping data stored on the IC device, wherein the mapping data includes an assigned and unique global ID value for each downstream device connected to the IC device, a local ID value for each downstream device, and the master physical connections to which each downstream device is attached.
A system, comprising:
- an intermediary integrated circuit (IC) device that includes:
- first IC physical connections configured to connect to a host device over a host serial data connection,
- second IC physical connections configured to connect to at least one slave device over at least one slave serial data connection,
- a serial data first interface (I/F) circuit coupled to the first IC physical connections,
- at least one serial data second I/F circuit coupled to the second IC physical connections, and
- a bypass circuit configured to bypass the serial data first I/F circuit and the serial data second I/F circuit, and enable serial communication signals to be transmitted between the first IC physical connections and the second IC physical connections, and
- mapping data including an assigned ID value for each slave device connected to the intermediary IC device, a local ID value for each slave device, and the second IC physical connections to which each slave device is attached,
- wherein the intermediary IC device being configurable between an intermediary mode and a bypass mode.
A method, comprising:
- in an intermediary mode of operation,
- processing signals of at least one serial data communications protocol received at first physical connections of an intermediary IC device with a slave interface (I/F) circuit to generate forward data, and
- processing the forward data with at least one master I/F circuit connected to second physical connections of the intermediary IC device, wherein each master I/F circuit communicates with slave devices connected to it via the second physical connections based on local identification (ID) values of the slave devices;
- and
- in a bypass mode of operation,
- bypassing the slave I/F circuit and the at least one master I/F circuit by repeating signals of the serial data communications protocol received at the first physical connections to the second physical connections, wherein a host device communicates with the slave devices attached to the intermediary IC device based on global ID values assigned to each slave device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.