Method and apparatus for transferring information within and between system-on-chips via intra-chip and inter-chip hopping buses

A first system-on-chip comprising:

• a plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces comprising a first non-hopping bus interface and a second non-hopping bus interface, wherein the first non-hopping bus interface is configured to, based on a first protocol, receive information;
• a hopping bus comprising a plurality of intra-chip adaptors;
• and
• an inter-chip adaptor configured to transfer information between a first intra-chip adaptor and an inter-chip bus,
• wherein
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are connected in series and respectively to the plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces,
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are configured to (i) according to a second protocol, convert the information into a first format for transmission over the hopping bus, and (ii) transfer the information in the first format over the hopping bus and between the plurality of intra-chip adaptors,
• the second protocol is different than the first protocol,
• the second non-hopping bus interface is configured to receive the information from the hopping bus based on the transmission of the information over the hopping bus,
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors comprise the first intra-chip adaptor,
• the first intra-chip adaptor is configured to packetize the information to generate a packet having a header,
• the header comprises a local address, and
• the inter-chip adaptor is configured to (i) determine a unique identifier for the first system-on-chip, (ii) based on the unique identifier, translate the local address to a global address, and (iii) via an inter-chip hopping bus and according to the second protocol, forward the one or more packets with the global address to a second system-on-chip.

A first system-on-chip comprising:

• a plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces comprising a first non-hopping bus interface and a second non-hopping bus interface, wherein the first non-hopping bus interface is configured to, based on a first protocol, receive information;
• a hopping bus comprising a plurality of intra-chip adaptors,
• wherein
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are connected in series and respectively to the plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces,
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are configured to (i) according to a second protocol, convert the information into a first format for transmission over the hopping bus, and (ii) transfer the information in the first format over the hopping bus and between the plurality of intra-chip adaptors,
• the second protocol is different than the first protocol, and
• the second non-hopping bus interface is configured to receive the information from the hopping bus based on the transmission of the information over the hopping bus;
• an inter-chip adaptor connected to a first intra-chip adaptor via an inter-chip bus, wherein the inter-chip adaptor is configured to (i) receive a ready signal from a second system-on-chip, and (ii) forward the ready signal to the first intra-chip adaptor, wherein the plurality of intra-chip adaptors comprise the first intra-chip adaptor;
• and
• a control module configured to (i) receive the ready signal from the first intra-chip adaptor, (ii) based on the ready signal, determine whether to boot up the first system-on-chip based on (i) boot code accessed via the inter-chip bus and stored in a memory in the second system-on-chip or connected to the second system-on-chip, or (ii) boot code stored in a memory in the first system-on-chip or connected to the first system-on-chip.

A hopping bus system comprising:

• a first system-on-chip comprising
• a plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces comprising a first non-hopping bus interface and a second non-hopping bus interface, wherein the first non-hopping bus interface is configured to, based on a first protocol, receive information;
• a first hopping bus comprising a plurality of intra-chip adaptors;
• a first inter-chip adaptor connected to a first intra-chip adaptor;
• a control module configured to (i) generate a request signal, and (ii) based on the first protocol, transmit the request signal to the first intra-chip adaptor
• a second system-on-chip comprising a second hopping bus and a second inter-chip adaptor;
• and
• an inter-chip bus connecting the first inter-chip adaptor to the second inter-chip adaptor,
• wherein
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors comprise the first intra-chip adaptor,
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are connected in series and respectively to the plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces,
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are configured to (i) according to a second protocol, convert the information into a first format for transmission over the hopping bus, and (ii) transfer the information in the first format over the hopping bus and between the plurality of intra-chip adaptors,
• the second protocol is different than the first protocol,
• the second non-hopping bus interface is configured to receive the information from the hopping bus based on the transmission of the information over the hopping bus,
• the first intra-chip adaptor is configured to (i) packetize the request signal to generate a packet according to the second protocol, and (ii) forward the packet to the first inter-chip adaptor,
• the first inter-chip adaptor is configured to (i) add a unique identifier to the packet, (ii) serialize the packet, and (iii) forward the serialized packet to the inter-chip bus,
• the second inter-chip adaptor is configured to (i) deserialize the packet, and (ii) forward the packet to a third intra-chip adaptor, and
• the third intra-chip adaptor is configured to (i) access data stored in a memory based on the packet, and (ii) forward the data to the control module via the second inter-chip adaptor, the inter-chip bus, the first inter-chip adaptor, and the first intra-chip adaptor.

A method of forwarding information in a first system-on-chip and between the first system-on-chip and a second system-on-chip, the first system-on-chip comprises a plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces and a hopping bus, wherein the plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces comprise a first non-hopping bus interface and a second non-hopping bus interface, wherein the hopping bus comprises a plurality of intra-chip adaptors, wherein the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are connected in series and respectively to the plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces, wherein an inter-chip adaptor is connected to a first intra-chip adaptor via an inter-chip bus, and wherein the plurality of intra-chip adaptors comprise the first intra-chip adaptor, the method comprising:

• receiving information, based on a first protocol, at the first non-hopping bus interface of a first system-on-chip;
• according to a second protocol, converting the information, via the plurality of intra-chip adaptors, into a first format for transmission over the hopping bus, wherein the second protocol is different than the first protocol;
• transferring the information in the first format over the hopping bus and between the plurality of intra-chip adaptors;
• receiving the information from the hopping bus at the second non-hopping bus interface based on the transmission of the information over the hopping bus;
• receiving at the inter-chip adaptor a ready signal from a second system-on-chip;
• forwarding the ready signal from the inter-chip adaptor to the first intra-chip adaptor;
• receiving the ready signal from the first intra-chip adaptor at the first system-on-chip;
• and
• based on the ready signal, determining whether to boot up the first system-on-chip based on (i) boot code accessed via the inter-chip bus and stored in a memory in the second system-on-chip or connected to the second system-on-chip, or (ii) boot code stored in a memory in the first system-on-chip or connected to the first system-on-chip.

A first system-on-chip comprising:

• a plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces comprising a first non-hopping bus interface and a second non-hopping bus interface, wherein the first non-hopping bus interface is configured to, based on a first protocol, receive information;
• and
• a hopping bus comprising a plurality of intra-chip adaptors,
• wherein
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are connected in series and respectively to the plurality of non-hopping bus interfaces,
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors are configured to (i) according to a second protocol, convert the information into a first format for transmission over the hopping bus, and (ii) transfer the information in the first format over the hopping bus and between the plurality of intra-chip adaptors,
• the second protocol is different than the first protocol,
• the second non-hopping bus interface is configured to receive the information from the hopping bus based on the transmission of the information over the hopping bus,
• the plurality of intra-chip adaptors comprise a first intra-chip adaptor and a second intra-chip adaptor,
• the first intra-chip adaptor is configured to, according to the second protocol, convert the information into the first format for transmission over the hopping bus including packetizing the information to generate one or more packets,
• the first intra-chip adaptor is configured to spread bits of the one or more packets over a plurality of channels or a plurality of conductive elements between the first intra-chip adaptor and the second intra-chip adaptor, and
• the second intra-chip adaptor is configured to (i) receive the bits of the one or more packets via the plurality of channels or the plurality of conductive elements, and (ii) based on a clock signal of the hopping bus, sample the bits of the one or more packets to skew control reception of the bits of the one or more packets at the second intra-chip adaptor such that the bits are received via the plurality of channels within a predetermined period of time of each other.