Slave-to-slave direct communication
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a master comprising a host controller, the host controller being configured to communicate with a first slave and with a second slave via a serial communication bus, in accordance with a serial communication protocol, the master assigning a unique dynamic slave address to each slave,wherein the host controller comprisesa master-slave module configured to communicate with the first slave and with the second slave via the serial communication bus in accordance with the serial communication protocol and be in a low-power mode while the first slave and the second slave are in a direct communication, andan always-on module configured to, while the master-slave module is in the low-power mode, clock the serial communication bus for the direct communication and not wake the master-slave module in a case of the direct communication,wherein the always-on module is further configured to detect, while the master-slave module is in the low-power mode, an interrupt request and a request for the direct communication between the first slave and the second slave on the serial communication bus and to recognize the request for the direct communication based on a direct communication address that is separate and distinct from the assigned dynamic address.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for operating a direct communication over a serial communication bus are provided. An apparatus includes a master having a host controller. The host controller is configured to communicate with a first slave and with a second slave via a serial communication bus using at least one master-slave address, in accordance with a serial communication protocol. The host controller includes a master-slave module configured to operate communication with the first slave and with the second slave via the serial communication bus in accordance with the serial communication protocol and be in a low-power mode while the first slave and the second slave are in a direct communication. The host controller includes an always-on module configured to, while the master-slave module is in the low-power mode, clock the serial communication bus for the direct communication.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a master comprising a host controller, the host controller being configured to communicate with a first slave and with a second slave via a serial communication bus, in accordance with a serial communication protocol, the master assigning a unique dynamic slave address to each slave, wherein the host controller comprises a master-slave module configured to communicate with the first slave and with the second slave via the serial communication bus in accordance with the serial communication protocol and be in a low-power mode while the first slave and the second slave are in a direct communication, and an always-on module configured to, while the master-slave module is in the low-power mode, clock the serial communication bus for the direct communication and not wake the master-slave module in a case of the direct communication, wherein the always-on module is further configured to detect, while the master-slave module is in the low-power mode, an interrupt request and a request for the direct communication between the first slave and the second slave on the serial communication bus and to recognize the request for the direct communication based on a direct communication address that is separate and distinct from the assigned dynamic address. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for operating a direction communication over a serial communication bus, comprising:
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communicating, by a host controller, with a first slave and with a second slave via a serial communication bus, in accordance with a serial communication protocol, wherein the host controller comprises a master-slave module and an always-on module; assigning, by the host controller, a unique dynamic address to each slave; entering, by the master-slave module, into a low-power mode; entering into a direct communication, while the master-slave module is in the low-power mode and not awaken by the always-on module, by the first slave and the second slave; clocking, by the always-on module, the serial communication bus for the direct communication; detecting, by the always-on module while the master-slave module is in the low-power mode, an interrupt request and a request for the direct communication between the first slave and the second slave on the serial communication bus; and recognizing, by the always-on module, the request for the direct communication based on a direct communication address, that is separate and distinct from the assigned dynamic address. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. An apparatus, comprising:
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a master comprising a host controller, the host controller being configured to communicate with a first slave and with a second slave via a serial communication bus using at least one master-slave address that is assigned by the master, in accordance with a serial communication protocol, the master-slave address being for master-slave communications, wherein the host controller is configured to detect an interrupt request in accordance with the serial communication protocol and a request for a direct communication between the first slave and the second slave, on the serial communication bus, wherein the request for the direct communication includes an address that is separate and distinct from the assigned master-slave address. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification