Reducing current transients in energy efficient ehternet devices
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorsQing Shi, Lingyun Cai, James Qian Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An Ethernet device is disclosed that may reduce transient currents and/or power consumption while entering and exiting a low power mode by selectively powering-on and/or powering-off a number of transceiver components at different times (e.g., in a staggered manner). The transient currents and/or power consumption may be further reduced by assigning different quiet period durations to different transceiver chains, for example, to minimize the number of transceiver components that enter and/or exit the low power mode at the same time.
Claims26
An Ethernet device, comprising:
- a media access control (MAC) device to provide a low-power idle (LPI) signal;
- a first port coupled to a plurality of first external communication channels;
- and
- a physical (PHY) device, coupled to the MAC device via a media independent interface (MII), comprising:
- a transceiver including a plurality of first transceiver chains, each coupled to a corresponding one of the first external communication channels via the first port, wherein each of the first transceiver chains includes at least a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC);
- and
- a control circuit to generate a plurality of first control signals based on the LPI signal, wherein the first control signals are de-asserted in a staggered manner with respect to one another, and wherein each of the first control signals is provided to a corresponding one of the first transceiver chains to power on the ADCs and the DACs of each of the first transceiver chains at different times.
A method of reducing current transients in an Ethernet device including a plurality of first transceiver chains each coupled to a respective one of a plurality of first external communication channels via a first port, the method comprising:
- providing a low power idle (LPI) signal indicative of a low power mode of the Ethernet device;
- generating a plurality of first control signals based on a state of the LPI signal, wherein the first control signals are de-asserted in a staggered manner with respect to one another;
- and
- selectively powering-off portions of the plurality of first transceiver chains at different times in response to the plurality of first control signals.
An Ethernet device, comprising:
- a first port coupled to a plurality of first external communication channels;
- a transceiver including a plurality of first transceiver chains, each coupled to a corresponding one of the first external communication channels via the first port, wherein each of the first transceiver chains includes at least a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC);
- one or more processors;
- and
- a non-transitory memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the Ethernet device to:
- provide a low power idle (LPI) signal indicative of a low power mode of the Ethernet device;
- generate a plurality of first control signals based on a state of the LPI signal, wherein the first control signals are de-asserted in a staggered manner with respect to one another;
- and
- selectively power-off portions of the plurality of first transceiver chains at different times in response to the plurality of first control signals.
An Ethernet device including a plurality of first transceiver chains each coupled to a respective one of a plurality of first external communication channels via a first port, the Ethernet device comprising:
- means for providing a low power idle (LPI) signal indicative of a low power mode of the Ethernet device;
- means for generating a plurality of first control signals based on a state of the LPI signal, wherein the first control signals are de-asserted in a staggered manner with respect to one another;
- and
- means for selectively powering-off portions of the plurality of first transceiver chains at different times in response to the plurality of first control signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.