Transmitter and receiver circuits with controller-less operation capability

• US 20040147281A1
• Filed: 11/12/2003
• Published: 07/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Integration Associates, Inc. (Silicon Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Integration Associates, Inc. (Silicon Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Horvath, Vince A., Holcombe, Wayne T., Hegyi, Andras, Keller, Tibor, Pardoen, Matthijs D., Erdelyi, Janos
• Application Number:
  US10/706,135
• Publication Number:
  US 20040147281A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/550.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/401 for selecting or indicating operating mode

Abstract

Transmitter and receiver circuits are shown that are capable of operating in a stand-alone mode without the necessity of an external controller to program the transmitter and receiver circuits, such as by providing operating parameters through a control interface. An internal controller of the transmitter detects that no external controller is present and operates to access an external storage device, such as an EEPROM, to obtain data for configuring at least some of the operating characteristics of the transmitter. The transmitter may be configured to respond to predetermined events by accessing corresponding data at predetermined addresses of the EEPROM. The internal controller of the receiver may also detect that no external controller is present and to obtain data for configuring at least some of the operating characteristics of the receiver. Also, the internal controller of the receiver may be configured to monitor a predetermined communication channel in order to receive operating parameter data and configure the operation of the receiver accordingly. The transmitter may be configured to transmit operating parameter data to the receiver via the predetermined communication channel.

Claims

1. A transmitter circuit, the transmitter circuit comprising:

a storage section for storing operating parameters;

a transmitter section configured to transmit a signal having characteristics determined by the operating parameters;

an external data store; and

an internal controller, the internal controller being configured to operate the transmitter section in accordance with the operating parameters, where the internal controller senses a state of an input terminal to determine whether an external controller is present or not present, where the internal controller operates to receive and store the operating parameters from the external controller when the external controller is present, and where the internal controller operates to access the external data store to obtain the operating parameters when the external controller is not present and store the operating parameters in the storage section.

2. The transmitter circuit of claim 1, where the internal controller is further configured to receive a first input signal corresponding to a first event and, responsive thereto, access a first portion of the external data store.

3. The transmitter circuit of claim 2, where the internal controller is further configured to receive a second input signal corresponding to a second event and, responsive thereto, access a second portion of the external data store.

4. The transmitter circuit of claim 2, where the first event corresponds to a user input.

5. The transmitter circuit of claim 1, where the transmitter circuit is configured to interface with the external data store using a pre-determined interface.

6. The transmitter circuit of claim 5, where the pre-determined interface is a serial interface.

7. A receiver circuit, the receiver circuit comprising:

a storage section for storing operating parameters;

a receiver section configured to receive a signal having characteristics determined by the operating parameters; and

an internal controller, the internal controller being configured to operate the receiver section in accordance with the operating parameters, where the internal controller senses a state of an input terminal to determine whether an external controller is present or not present, where the internal controller operates to receive and store the operating parameters from the external controller when the external controller is present, and where the internal controller operates to read data provided at predetermined terminals of the receiver circuit to obtain at least one of the operating parameters when the external controller is not present.

8. The receiver circuit of claim 7, where the internal controller is further configured to monitor a signal received by the receiver section to detect a first control word and, responsive thereto, set at least one of the operating parameters according to the first control word.

9. The receiver circuit of claim 8, where the internal controller is further configured to monitor a signal received by the receiver section to detect a second control word and, responsive thereto, set at least another one of the operating parameters according to the second control word.

10. The receiver circuit of claim 7, where the internal controller is further configured to monitor a signal received by the receiver section to detect a control word and, responsive thereto, output a digital signal at a predetermined terminal according to the control word.

11. The receiver circuit of claim 7, where the circuit further includes an external data store and where the internal controller operates to access the external data store to obtain the operating parameters when the external controller is not present and store the operating parameters in the storage section.

12. A transmitter and receiver pair for a communications channel, wherein:

the transmitter is configured to automatically transmit selected operating parameters determining the operating characteristics of the communications channel on an initial channel and configure itself for transmission on the communications channel in accordance with the operating characteristics corresponding to the selected operating parameters; and

the receiver is configured to automatically monitor the initial channel for transmission of the selected operating parameters and, responsive to receiving the transmission of the selected operating parameters, configure itself for reception on the communications channel in accordance with the operating characteristics corresponding to the selected operating parameters.

13. The transmitter and receiver pair of claim 12, where the initial channel is pre-determined and each of the transmitter and receiver is configured to automatically configure itself to communicate using the initial channel.

14. The transmitter and receiver pair of claim 12, where data defining the initial channel is stored in external data store devices at each of the transmitter and receiver and each of the transmitter and receiver is configured to automatically access the corresponding external data store device to obtain the data defining the initial channel and configure itself to communicate using the initial channel using the data obtained from the corresponding external data store.

15. A method for operating a transmitter in a stand-alone mode, the method comprising the steps of:

sensing a logical state of a first predetermined terminal of the transmitter to determine whether the transmitter is to operate in a stand-alone mode of operation;

responsive to detecting the stand-alone mode, generating control signals that are output to an external data store in order to cause the external data store to output stored operating characteristic data;

reading the operating characteristic data from the external data store;

storing the operating characteristic data in a storage section of the transmitter; and

operating a transmit section of the transmitter in accordance with the stored operating characteristic data.

16. The method of claim 15, where the step of responsive to detecting the stand-alone mode, generating control signals that are output to an external data store in order to cause the external data store to output stored operating characteristic data further comprises:

responsive to receiving a first input signal, generating control signals including a first address value that are output to the external data store in order to cause the external data store to output stored operating characteristic data.

17. The method of claim 15, the method further comprising the step of:

responsive to receiving a second input signal, generating control signals including a second address value that are output to the external data store in order to cause the external data store to output stored operating characteristic data.

18. A transmitter capable of operating in a stand-alone mode, the transmitter comprising:

means for sensing a logical state of a first predetermined terminal of the transmitter to determine whether the transmitter is to operate in a stand-alone mode of operation;

means for generating control signals, responsive to detecting the stand-alone mode, that are output to an external data store in order to cause the external data store to output stored operating characteristic data;

means for reading the operating characteristic data from the external data store;

means for storing the operating characteristic data in a storage section of the transmitter; and

means for operating a transmit section of the transmitter in accordance with the stored operating characteristic data.

19. The transmitter of claim 18, where means for generating control signals further comprises:

means for generating control signals including a first address value, responsive to receiving a first input signal, that are output to the external data store in order to cause the external data store to output stored operating characteristic data.

20. The transmitter of claim 19, the transmitter further comprising:

means for generating control signals including a second address value, responsive to receiving a second input signal, that are output to the external data store in order to cause the external data store to output stored operating characteristic data.

21. A method for operating a receiver in a stand-alone mode, the method comprising the steps of:

sensing a logical state of a first predetermined terminal of the receiver to determine whether the receiver is to operate in a stand-alone mode of operation;

responsive to detecting the stand-alone mode, generating control signals that are output to an external data store in order to cause the external data store to output stored operating characteristic data;

reading the operating characteristic data from the external data store;

storing the operating characteristic data in a storage section of the receiver; and

operating a receive section of the receiver in accordance with the stored operating characteristic data.

22. A method for automatically configuring a communications channel, the method comprising the steps of:

responsive to a first initialization event, causing a receiver to configure itself for communication on an initial channel using a first set of operating parameters;

responsive to a second initialization event, causing a transmitter to configure itself for communication on the initial channel using the first set of operating parameters;

transmitting from the transmitter a second set of operating parameters using the initial channel, where the second set of operating parameters correspond to the communications channel;

reconfiguring the transmitter for transmission on the communications channel using the second set of operating parameters;

receiving in the receiver the second set of operating parameters using the initial channel; and

reconfiguring the receiver for reception on the communications channel using the second set of operating parameters.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of causing a transmitter to configure itself for communication on an initial channel using a first set of operating parameters includes the step of obtaining the first set of operating parameters from an external data store coupled to the transmitter.

24. The method of claim 23, where the step of obtaining the first set of operating parameters from an external data store coupled to the transmitter further comprises the steps of:

generating a first set of control signals to the external data store under control of an internal controller of the transmitter in order to read the first set of operating parameters from the external data store;

reading the first set of operating parameters from the external data store under control of the internal controller of the transmitter; and

storing the first set of operating parameters to a storage section of the transmitter under control of the internal controller.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of causing a receiver to configure itself for communication on an initial channel using a first set of operating parameters includes the step of obtaining the first set of operating parameters from an external data store coupled to the receiver.

26. The method of claim 25, where the step of obtaining the first set of operating parameters from an external data store coupled to the receiver further comprises:

generating a first set of control signals to the external data store under control of an internal controller of the receiver in order to read the first set of operating parameters from the external data store;

reading the first set of operating parameters from the external data store under control of the internal controller of the receiver; and

storing the first set of operating parameters to a storage section of the receiver under control of the internal controller of the receiver.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of causing a receiver to configure itself for communication on an initial channel using a first set of operating parameters includes the step of obtaining the first set of operating parameters via pre-determined interface terminals of the receiver.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of transmitting from the transmitter a second set of operating parameters using the initial channel, where the second set of operating parameters correspond to the communications channel includes the step of obtaining the second set of operating parameters from an external data store coupled to the receiver.

29. A system for automatically configuring a communications channel, the system comprising:

means for configuring a receiver for communication on an initial channel using a first set of operating parameters responsive to a first initialization event;

means for configuring a transmitter for communication on the initial channel using the first set of operating parameters responsive to a second initialization event;

means for transmitting a second set of operating parameters from the transmitter using the initial channel, where the second set of operating parameters correspond to the communications channel;

means for reconfiguring the transmitter for transmission on the communications channel using the second set of operating parameters;

means for receiving the second set of operating parameters in the receiver using the initial channel; and

means for reconfiguring the receiver for reception on the communications channel using the second set of operating parameters.