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US 9,852,104 B2Granted
Coexistence of legacy and next generation devices over a shared multi-mode bus
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorShoichiro Sengoku
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device is provided comprising a bus, a first set of devices, and a second set of devices. The first set of devices is coupled to the bus and configured to communicate over the bus according to a first communication protocol. The second set of devices is coupled to the bus and configured to communicate over the bus according to both the first communication protocol and a second communication protocol. In a first mode of operation, the first set of devices and second set of devices may concurrently communicate over the bus using the first communication protocol. In a second mode of operation, the second set of devices communicate with each other using the second communication protocol over the bus, and the first set of devices to stop operating on the bus.
Claims48
A device, comprising:
- a bus having two lines configured for serial data communication, the bus being operable in at least one mode to communicate the serial data over a first line in accordance with a clock signal transmitted over a second line and operable in another mode to communicate data in a sequence of two-bit symbols using the first line and the second line;
- a first set of devices coupled to the bus and configured to communicate over the bus according to a first communication protocol;
- a second set of devices coupled to the bus and configured to communicate over the bus according to both the first communication protocol and a second communication protocol,
- wherein
- in a first mode of operation the first set of devices and second set of devices concurrently communicate over the bus using the first communication protocol;
- and
- in a second mode of operation the second set of devices communicate with each other using the second communication protocol over the bus, and the first set of devices are caused to stop operating on the bus.
4 more elements
A method, comprising:
- configuring a bus for serial data communication, the bus being operable in at least one mode to communicate the serial data over a first line in accordance with a clock signal transmitted over a second line and operable in another mode to communicate data in a sequence of two-bit symbols using the first line and the second line;
- coupling a first set of devices to the bus, the first set of devices configured to communicate over the bus according to a first communication protocol;
- coupling a second set of devices to the bus, the second set of devices configured to communicate over the bus according to both the first communication protocol and a second communication protocol;
- configuring, in a first mode of operation, the first set of devices and second set of devices to concurrently communicate over the bus using the first communication protocol;
- and
- sending a disable command or a sleep command, from at least one of the second set of devices, over the bus during the first mode of operation to cause the first set of devices to stop operating on the bus.
3 more elements
A device, comprising:
- a communication circuit adapted to couple the device to a bus and configured to communicate over the bus according to a first communication protocol, wherein the bus has two lines configured for serial data communication, the bus being operable in at least one mode to communicate the serial data over a first line in accordance with a clock signal transmitted over a second line and operable in another mode to communicate data in a sequence of two-bit symbols using the first line and the second line;
- and
- a control circuit coupled to the communication circuit and adapted to:
- configure the communication circuit to communicate over the bus using the first communication protocol,
- monitor the bus for a sleep or disable command, and
- reconfigure the communication circuit to ignore activity over the bus upon detection of a sleep or disable command.
3 more elements
A method operational on a device, comprising:
- configuring a communication circuit to communicate over a bus using a first communication protocol, wherein the bus has two lines configured for serial data communication, the bus being operable in at least one mode to communicate the serial data over a first line in accordance with a clock signal transmitted over a second line and operable in another mode to communicate data in a sequence of two-bit symbols using the first line and the second line;
- monitoring the bus for a sleep or disable command;
- and
- reconfiguring the communication circuit to ignore activity over the bus upon detection of a sleep or disable command.
1 more element
A device, comprising:
- a communication circuit to couple to a bus shared with other devices, wherein the bus is configured for serial data communication, the bus being operable in at least one mode to communicate the serial data over a first line in accordance with a clock signal transmitted over a second line and operable in another mode to communicate data in a sequence of two-bit symbols using the first line and the second line;
- and
- a control circuit coupled to the communication circuit and configured to:
- configure the communication circuit to operate in a first mode in which a first communication protocol is used for communicating over the bus;
- send a sleep or disable command over the bus to indicate to other devices that do not support a second communication protocol to ignore activity over the bus;
- and
- reconfigure the communication circuit to operate in a second mode in which the second communication protocol is used over the bus.
4 more elements
A method operational on a device, comprising:
- configuring a communication circuit to operate in a first mode in which a first communication protocol is used over a bus, wherein the bus is configured for serial data communication, the bus being operable in at least one mode to communicate the serial data over a first line in accordance with a clock signal transmitted over a second line and operable in another mode to communicate data in a sequence of two-bit symbols using the first line and the second line;
- sending a sleep or disable command over the bus to indicate to other devices that do not support a second communication protocol to ignore activity over the bus;
- and
- reconfiguring the communication circuit to operate in a second mode in which the second communication protocol is used over the bus.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.