Forwarding signal supply voltage in data transmission system
First Claim
1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
- a receiver configured to receive a first signal from another external integrated circuit over a signaling line via a first pin of the integrated circuit, the received first signal having a signal swing dependent on a first signal supply voltage forwarded from the integrated circuit to said external integrated circuit over a supply voltage rail;
a feedback analyzer circuit configured to analyze a characteristic of the received first signal and generate a control signal for adjusting the first signal supply voltage based on the analysis; and
a voltage regulator configured to generate a second signal supply voltage based on the control signal, the second signal supply voltage forwarded to said another integrated circuit over the supply voltage rail via a second pin of the integrated circuit.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a data transmission system, one or more signal supply voltages for generating the signaling voltage of a signal to be transmitted are generated in a first circuit and forwarded from the first circuit to a second circuit. The second circuit may use the forwarded signal supply voltages to generate another signal to be transmitted back from the second circuit to the first circuit, thereby obviating the need to generate signal supply voltages separately in the second circuit. The first circuit may also adjust the signal supply voltages based on the signal transmitted back from the second circuit to the first circuit. The data transmission system may employ a single-ended signaling system in which the signaling voltage is referenced to a reference voltage that is a power supply voltage such as ground, shared by the first circuit and the second circuit.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive a first signal from another external integrated circuit over a signaling line via a first pin of the integrated circuit, the received first signal having a signal swing dependent on a first signal supply voltage forwarded from the integrated circuit to said external integrated circuit over a supply voltage rail; a feedback analyzer circuit configured to analyze a characteristic of the received first signal and generate a control signal for adjusting the first signal supply voltage based on the analysis; and a voltage regulator configured to generate a second signal supply voltage based on the control signal, the second signal supply voltage forwarded to said another integrated circuit over the supply voltage rail via a second pin of the integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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8. A method of an integrated circuit comprising:
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receiving a first signal from another external integrated circuit over a signaling line via a first pin of the integrated circuit, the received first signal having a signal swing dependent on a first signal supply voltage forwarded from the integrated circuit to said external integrated circuit over a supply voltage rail; analyzing a characteristic of the received first signal; generating a control signal for adjusting the first signal supply voltage based on the analysis; generating a second signal supply voltage based on the control signal and the first signal supply voltage; and forwarding the second signal supply voltage to said another integrated circuit over the supply voltage rail via a second pin of the integrated circuit.
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14. A memory controller, comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive a first signal from a memory device over a signaling line via a first pin of the memory controller, the received first signal having a signal swing dependent on a first signal supply voltage forwarded from the memory controller to the memory device over a supply voltage rail; a feedback analyzer circuit configured to analyze a characteristic of the received first signal and generate a control signal for adjusting the first signal supply voltage based on the analysis; and a voltage regulator configured to generate a second signal supply voltage based on the control signal, the second signal supply voltage forwarded to the memory device over the supply voltage rail via a second pin of the memory controller. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification