Apparatus and method for producing device identifiers for serially interconnected devices of mixed type
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a serial interconnection configuration of N memory devices of mixed type, N being an integer greater than one, each of the devices having serial input and output connections, the serial input and output connections of one device being coupled to the serial output connection of a previous device and the serial input connection of a next device, respectively, each of the devices including;
a determiner configured to determine if a received device type (DT) corresponds to a reference DT assigned to the device, and to provide a determination result, anda device identifier producer configured to produce a device identifier (ID) in response to the determination result; and
a controller configured to provide a serial input signal and a control signal to a first device of the serial interconnection configuration, the serial input signal containing ID information and the received DT, the serial input signal and the control signal being propagated with or without being altered through the N devices, a propagated input signal being inputted to one device and outputted therefrom as a serial output signal, the N-th device providing the propagated serial output signal and the propagated control signal to the controller.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of memory devices of mixed type (e.g., DRAMs, SRAMs, MRAMs and NAND-, NOR- and AND-type Flash memories) are serially interconnected. Each device has device type information on its device type. A specific device type (DT) and a device identifier (ID) contained in a serial input (SI) are fed to one device of the serial interconnection. The device determines whether the fed DT matches the DT of the device. In a case of match, a calculator included in the device performs calculation to generate an ID for another device and the fed ID is latched in a register of the device. The generated ID is transferred to another device of the serial interconnection. In a case of no match, the ID generation is skipped and no ID is generated for another device. Such a device type match determination and ID generation or skip are performed in all devices of the serial interconnection. In cases of different device types being separately provided to the interconnected devices, sequential IDs are generated in each of the different device types and also the total number of each device type are recognized. In a case of a “don'"'"'t care” code is provided to the interconnected devices, sequential IDs are generated and also, the total number of the interconnected devices is recognized, regardless of the type differences.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a serial interconnection configuration of N memory devices of mixed type, N being an integer greater than one, each of the devices having serial input and output connections, the serial input and output connections of one device being coupled to the serial output connection of a previous device and the serial input connection of a next device, respectively, each of the devices including; a determiner configured to determine if a received device type (DT) corresponds to a reference DT assigned to the device, and to provide a determination result, and a device identifier producer configured to produce a device identifier (ID) in response to the determination result; and a controller configured to provide a serial input signal and a control signal to a first device of the serial interconnection configuration, the serial input signal containing ID information and the received DT, the serial input signal and the control signal being propagated with or without being altered through the N devices, a propagated input signal being inputted to one device and outputted therefrom as a serial output signal, the N-th device providing the propagated serial output signal and the propagated control signal to the controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system comprising a plurality of memory devices of mixed type in a serial interconnection configuration, a first device having a serial input connection coupled to a serial output connection of a previous device, a second device having a serial input connection coupled to a serial output connection of the first device, at least one of the devices comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive a device identifier (ID) and a device type (DT) through the serial input connection of the device; a determiner configured to determine a memory type of the device from the received DT or a pre-defined code relating to all memory types, the determiner providing a determination result when the DT corresponds at least one of the memory type and the pre-defined code; and an ID producer configured to produce an ID in response to the determination result. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification