Low power, high bandwidth, low latency data bus

• US 10,734,012 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2018
• Issued: 08/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
• Inventors: Poulsen, Jens Kristian
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Bharatkumar S
• Application Number:
  US16/125,617
• Publication Number:
  US 20190074026A1
• Time in Patent Office: 697 Days
• Field of Search: 704503
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/162 Interface to dedicated audio devices, e.g. audio drivers, interface to CODECs
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/055 for synchronising with other signals, e.g. video signals

Abstract

Data bus systems and methods include a device controller coupled to a first interface for digital audio data communications in accordance with a first communications protocol, the device controller including a master bus controller for controlling a multi-drop bus in accordance with a second communications protocol; and a first slave device coupled to the multi-drop bus and configured to transmit and receive digital audio data communications with the device controller in accordance with the second communications protocol. Each transmission line end is terminated using the device attached at one end of the transmission line and by another device attached at the other end and reflections due to mismatches in impedance by inclusion of intermediate signaling nodes are controlled to allow multi-drop device support and high speed signaling. The second communications protocol supports multiple audio data rates using a fixed frame format.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a device controller coupled to a first interface for digital audio data communications in accordance with a first communications protocol, the device controller including a master bus controller for controlling a multi-drop bus in accordance with a second communications protocol; and

a first slave device coupled to the multi-drop bus and configured to transmit and receive digital audio data communications with the device controller in accordance with the second communications protocol;

wherein each transmission line of the multi-drop bus is terminated using the first slave device attached at one end of the transmission line and by the device controller attached at the other end of the transmission line and wherein the multi-drop bus is configured to support one or more intermediate signaling nodes such that reflections due to mismatches in impedance by inclusion of the intermediate signaling nodes are controlled to allow multi-drop device support and high speed signaling;

wherein the intermediate signaling nodes are connected to the transmission lines with short interruption to a travelling wave, and wherein stubs and/or disruptions of the transmission lines are shorter than the shortest wavelength used for signaling; and

wherein the second communications protocol supports multiple audio data rates using a fixed frame format.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first slave device and a second slave device connected to the bus are timed so that transmitted messages are either sent as a sequence of forward or backward travelling waves, thereby enabling multi-drop high speed bi-directional communications using the terminated transmission line.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the second communications protocol uses differential signaling for lower electromagnetic interference and wherein a first line is terminated in logic high and a second line is terminated in logic low to reduce common mode interference.

4. The system of claim 1, where differential signaling is used to lower electromagnetic interference and wherein termination of each transmission line is handled by setting an output driver to one of a high level and a low level according to a termination level when data are not transferred and the bus is idle, thereby enabling lower power consumption by transmission end points.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein power consumption is reduced by using a signaling rate that is greater than a minimum required signaling rate and leaving the bus idle for a portion of every cycle, thereby reducing power loss in terminations.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein power required for the signaling are obtained by capacitive or inductive drop regulators thereby minimizing power loss in the regulators.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein delays between components are measured by charging the bus to a known value, disabling drivers at a beginning and an end of the transmission line to assure the bus is floating and not terminated during measurement, waiting for the devices to change a level on the bus, and measuring a transition delay.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the drivers at each end of the transmission line are disabled during enumeration of components attached to the bus by allowing multiple drivers to change a current bus state;

and wherein the current bus state is set by a controller and one or more devices can change the transmission line to the opposite value within a given time window allowing enumeration of devices.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the device controller further comprises a phase-locked loop providing a first clock signal for synchronizing communications in accordance with the first communications protocol, a second clock signal for synchronizing communications in accordance with the second communications protocol, and a third clock signal for use in audio data processing.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the second communications protocol supports different communications bandwidths.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the second communications protocol supports different communications bandwidth using a fixed frame structure.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein each data port or data following each sync signal is modulated by a high frequency carrier thereby reducing current modulations in an audio band for lower interference in audio systems.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the device controller, first slave device and second slave device comprise an audio headset.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein terminations at the ends of the transmission lines are temporarily disabled during activation of device transmitters to reduce power consumption.

15. A method comprising:

receiving and transmitting, using a device controller, digital audio data across a first interface in accordance with a first communications protocol;

controlling, using the device controller, a multi-drop bus comprising a plurality of transmission lines in accordance with a second communications protocol;

receiving and transmitting, by a first slave device coupled to the multi-drop bus, the digital audio data with the device controller in accordance with the second communications protocol, the transmission lines terminating at the device controller and first slave device; and

controlling multi-drop bus communications with at least one intermediate signaling node connected to the multi-drop bus through stubs that are shorter than the shortest wavelength used for signaling, and wherein reflections due to mismatches in impedance by inclusion of the at least one intermediate signaling node in the second communications protocol are controlled to allow multi-drop device support and high speed signaling;

wherein the second communications protocol supports multiple audio data rates using a fixed frame format.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising using a phase-locked or delay-locked loop to generate a first clock signal for synchronizing communications in accordance with the first communications protocol, a second clock signal for synchronizing communications in accordance with the second communications protocol, and a third clock signal for use in audio data processing.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the second communications protocol supports different communications bandwidths.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the second communications protocol supports different communications bandwidths using a fixed frame structure.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein the device controller, first slave device and second slave device comprise an audio headset.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising setting transmitters at each end of a transmission line to a known state to disable terminations during measurement of a turn-around delay from the slave device to the device controller.