Method for exchanging information between devices connected via a communication link
First Claim
1. A method for exchanging information between a first device and a second device connected via a communication link, the communication link supporting a query command and at least a further command, each command including a specific command code, the method comprising:
- transmitting a query command code and data from the first device via the communication link, the data identifying a specific command;
receiving the query command code and the data at the second device;
transmitting reply data from the second device via the communication link, the reply data including at least a first segment and second segment; and
receiving the reply data at the first device,wherein the first segment includes information indicating whether the specific command is supported,wherein, if the specific command is not supported, the second segment includes information identifying an alternative command to the specific command,wherein the first segment of the reply data is a 1-bit word and the second segment of the reply data is a 7-bit word.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for exchanging information between a first device and a second device connected via a communication link, the communication link supporting a query command and at least a further command, where each command includes a specific command code is described. The method comprises transmitting a query command code and data from the first device via the communication link, the data identifying a specific command, receiving the query command code and the data at the second device, transmitting reply data from the second device via the communication link, the reply data including at least a first segment and a second segment, and receiving the reply data at the first device, wherein the first segment includes information whether the specific command is supported, wherein, if the specific command is not supported, the second segment includes information identifying an alternative command to the specific command.
25 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for exchanging information between a first device and a second device connected via a communication link, the communication link supporting a query command and at least a further command, each command including a specific command code, the method comprising:
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transmitting a query command code and data from the first device via the communication link, the data identifying a specific command; receiving the query command code and the data at the second device; transmitting reply data from the second device via the communication link, the reply data including at least a first segment and second segment; and receiving the reply data at the first device, wherein the first segment includes information indicating whether the specific command is supported, wherein, if the specific command is not supported, the second segment includes information identifying an alternative command to the specific command, wherein the first segment of the reply data is a 1-bit word and the second segment of the reply data is a 7-bit word. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for exchanging information between a first device and a second device connected via a SMBus compliant communication link and adapted for communicating with each other according to a PMBus standard which supports a query command and further commands each command being represented by an n-bit command code, the method comprising:
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transmitting a command code representing a query command and an n-bit unsigned integer data word over the SMBus compliant communication link from the first device, the data word indicating the command code of a specific command; receiving the command code and the data word at the second device; transmitting reply data over the SMBus compliant communication link from the second device, the reply data including a first segment of one bit and a second segment of n-1bits; and receiving the reply data at the first device; wherein the one bit of the first segment identifies whether the specific command is supported, wherein, if the specific command is not supported, the second segment includes a first sub-segment of one bit identifying if an alternative command to the specific command is available and a second sub-segment including bits representing at least a part of the command code of the alternative command. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A device connected to a communication link and configured to receive there from a query command code and data, the device further configured to transmit reply data via the communication link, the reply data including at least a first segment and a second segment, wherein the first segment includes information identifying whether a specific command is supported, and wherein the second segment includes information identifying an alternative command to the specific command, and wherein the first segment of the reply data is a 1-bit word and the second segment of the reply data is a 7-bit word.
- 22. A PMBus compliant device connected to a SMBus compliant communication link and configured to receive there from a query command code and an 8-bit unsigned integer data word representing a command code of a specific command, the device further configured to transmit via the communication link a reply data word including a first segment of one bit and a second segment of 7 bits, wherein the second segment includes a first sub-segment of one bit identifying if an alternative command to the specific command is available and a second sub-segment including bits representing at least a part of the command code of the alternative command.
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25. A method for exchanging information between a first device and a second device connected via a communication link, the communication link supporting a query command and at least a further command, each command including a specific command code, the method comprising:
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transmitting a query command code and data from the first device via the communication link, the data identifying a specific command; receiving the query command code and the data at the second device; transmitting reply data from the second device via the communication link, the reply data including at least a first segment and second segment; and receiving the reply data at the first device, wherein the first segment includes information indicating whether the specific command is supported, wherein, if the specific command is not supported, the second segment of the data includes a first sub-segment and a second sub-segment, the first sub-segment indicating whether an alternative command is available, the second sub-segment representing at least a part of the command code of the alternative command.
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Specification