Apparatus and method for producing device identifiers for serially interconnected devices of mixed type
First Claim
1. A device controller, in a device, for assigning a device identifier to the device, the device being one of a plurality of devices connected in a serial interconnection configuration, the plurality of devices being of mixed type, each of the plurality of devices having a serial input connection coupled to a serial output connection of a previous device in the serial interconnection configuration, and a serial output connection coupled to serial input connection of a subsequent device in the serial interconnection configuration, the device controller comprising:
- a receiver for receiving the device identifier (ID) and a device type (DT), the received ID and the received DT being provided through the serial input connection of the device;
a determiner for determining a DT of the device in view of the received DT to provide a determination result;
an ID provider for outputting an outputted ID in accordance with the determination result; and
an output provider for providing the outputted ID to accompany the received DT to the subsequent device.
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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) as a packet 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. In a case of no-match, the ID generation is skipped and no ID is generated for another device. The DT is combined with the generated or the received ID depending on the device type match determination. The combined DT and ID is as a packet transferred to a next device. Such a device type match determination and ID generation or skip are performed in all devices of the serial interconnection. With reference to device type provided to the interconnected devices, IDs are sequentially generated. The SI containing the DT, the ID and an ID generation command is transmitted in a packet basis to a next device.
115 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A device controller, in a device, for assigning a device identifier to the device, the device being one of a plurality of devices connected in a serial interconnection configuration, the plurality of devices being of mixed type, each of the plurality of devices having a serial input connection coupled to a serial output connection of a previous device in the serial interconnection configuration, and a serial output connection coupled to serial input connection of a subsequent device in the serial interconnection configuration, the device controller comprising:
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a receiver for receiving the device identifier (ID) and a device type (DT), the received ID and the received DT being provided through the serial input connection of the device; a determiner for determining a DT of the device in view of the received DT to provide a determination result; an ID provider for outputting an outputted ID in accordance with the determination result; and an output provider for providing the outputted ID to accompany the received DT to the subsequent device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for assigning a device identifier (ID) to a device, the device being one of a plurality of devices connected in a serial interconnection configuration, the plurality of devices being of mixed type, each of the plurality of devices having a serial input connection coupled to a serial output connection of a previous device, and a serial output connection coupled to a serial input connection of a subsequent device in the serial interconnection configuration, the method comprising:
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receiving an input ID and a received device type (DT) through the serial input connection of the device; determining a DT of the device in view of the received DT to provide a determination result; outputting an output ID in response to the determination result; and providing a combination of the received DT and the output ID as a serial output. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for assigning a device identifier (ID) to a device, the device being one of a plurality of devices connected in a serial interconnection configuration, the plurality of devices being of mixed type, each of the plurality of devices having a serial input connection coupled to a serial output connection of a previous device, and a serial output connection coupled to a serial input connection of a subsequent device in the serial interconnection configuration, the method comprising:
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receiving a device type (DT) and an input ID through the serial input connection; holding the received DT at the device; determining whether the received DT matches a reference DT associated with the device to provide a determination result; obtaining one of a calculated ID or a non-calculated ID in response to the determination result; combining the received DT with the one of the calculated or the non-calculated ID; providing the combined DT and ID through the serial output connection of the device; and performing an ID assignment at the device in response to the determination result. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification