Integrated Switch

• US 20080151930A1
• Filed: 04/19/2007
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chan, Kevin Tunghai
• Granted Patent: US 8,165,133 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/463
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/352 Gigabit ethernet switching [GBPS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/40 Constructional details, e.g. power supply, mechanical construction or backplane

Abstract

Switching between communication ports of a notebook is typically accomplished using an off-chip local area network (LAN) switch or an off-chip high speed analog multiplexer. This off-chip component is disadvantageous for several reasons, including: added cost of an additional component; increased overall power consumption because transmit amplitude loss; and reduced cable reach and link performance due to hybrid mismatch and signal distortions. To reduce cost and preserve electrical and networking performance, an integrated switch is provided to multiplex signals of a networking communication chip to multiple network paths.

Claims

1. An integrated circuit comprising:

a media access controller (MAC);

a digital signal processing module configured to receive an information signal from the MAC and to output a processed signal;

a first analog front end (AFE) having a first communication port;

a second AFE having a second communication port; and

a switch configured to receive the processed signal, wherein the switch selectively forwards the processed signal to either the first AFE or the second AFE based on whether a communication link at either the first communication port or the second communication port is established.

2. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein second AFE is configured to detect the communication link at the second communication port.

3. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the switch forwards the processed signal to the second AFE when the communication link at the second communication port is active.

4. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the switch forwards the processed signal to the first AFE when the communication link at the first communication port is active.

5. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the second communication port is coupled to an external device such as a notebook docking station.

6. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the switch is a digital multiplexer.

7. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the first communication port is coupled to a communication connector.

8. An integrated circuit, comprising:

a media access controller (MAC);

a first physical layer module (PHY);

a second PHY;

a data switch having an input coupled to the MAC, a first output coupled to the first PHY, and a second output coupled to the second signal PHY, wherein the switch is configured to forward information received from the MAC to either the first or second PHY based on whether a communication port of the second PHY is active.

9. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the switch is a digital multiplexer.

10. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the switch forwards the received information to the second PHY when the communication port of the second PHY is active.

11. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the switch forwards the received information to the first PHY when the communication port of the first PHY is active.

12. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the communication port of the second PHY is coupled to a docking station.

13. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the communication port of the first PHY is coupled to a RJ-45 connector.

14. A method to switch data within a Gigabit Controller having a Gigabit media access controller (MAC), and a first and a second input and output (I/O) port, the method comprising:

monitoring an energy level of the first I/O port;

determining whether the first I/O port is active based on the energy level; and

switching data from the MAC to the first I/O port when the first I/O port is active and to second I/O port when the first I/O port is inactive.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first I/O port is coupled to a notebook docking station.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the second I/O port is coupled to a RJ-45 connector.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the switching data from the MAC to the first I/O port further comprises:

forwarding data between the MAC and a digital signal processing (DSP) module that is configured to process the data; and

switching the processed data from DSP module to a first analog front end directly coupled to the first I/O port.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the switching data from the MAC to the second I/O port further comprises:

forwarding data between the MAC and a digital signal processing (DSP) module that is configured to process the data; and

switching the processed data from DSP module to a second analog front end directly coupled to the second I/O port.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the switching data from the MAC to the first I/O port further comprises:

switching the data from the MAC to a first physical layer device directly coupled to the first I/O port.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the switching data from the MAC to the second I/O port further comprises:

switching the data from the MAC to a second physical layer device directly coupled to the first I/O port.

21. An integrated circuit, comprising:

a media access controller (MAC);

a physical layer device (PHY) coupled to said MAC, said PHY converting digital data from said MAC to analog data, and vice versa; and

an analog switch that switches said analog data to a first communications port or a second communications port based on whether the first communications port or the second communications port is active.

22. The integrated circuit if claim 21, wherein the first communications port is coupled to a connector interface, and the second communications port is connected to a computer docking station.

23. The integrated circuit of claim 22, wherein the computer docking station is a notebook computer docketing station.

24. The integrated circuit of claim 22, wherein the analog switch switches the analog data to the second communications port when the second communications port is active.

25. The integrated circuit of claim 22, wherein the connector interface is an RJ-45 connector.