Apparatus and method for producing IDs for interconnected devices of mixed type

• US 8,549,250 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2012
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: MOSAID Technologies Inc. (f/k/a Conversant Intellectual Property Management)
• Original Assignee: Mosaid Technologies Incorporated (MOSAID Technologies Inc. (f/k/a Conversant Intellectual Property Management))
• Inventors: Pyeon, Hong Beom, Oh, HakJune, Kim, Jin-Ki
• Primary Examiner(s): Bragdon, Reginald
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ruiz, Aracelis
• Application Number:
  US13/590,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20130042024A1
• Time in Patent Office: 406 Days
• Field of Search: 711/170, 711/101, 710/8
• US Class Current: 711/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0676 the address being position dependent
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4243 with synchronous protocol

Abstract

A plurality of memory devices of mixed type (e.g., DRAMs, SRAMs, MRAMs and NAND-, NOR- and AND-type Flash memories) having associated device type information is serially interconnected. A serial input (SI) containing a device type (DT) and a device identifier (ID) is fed to one device of the serial interconnection. Upon a match between the fed DT matches the DT of the device, the fed ID is latched in a register of the device and an ID for another device is generated, which is then transferred to the next device in the serial interconnection. Otherwise, ID generation is skipped. These steps are performed in all devices. Thus, sequential IDs are generated for the different device types and also the total number of each device type is recognized. If the fed DT is “don'"'"'t care”, sequential IDs are generated for all devices and the total number of the devices is recognized.

Claims

1. A system comprising a plurality of devices having one or more device type including at least first and second devices, the plurality of devices being serially coupled, the first device having serial input and output connections, the second device having a serial input connection, the serial input connection of the first device being coupled to a serial output connection of a control signal provider, the serial output connection of the first device being coupled to the serial input connection of the second device, the first device comprising:

a receiver for receiving a device identifier (ID) and a device type (DT) through the serial input connection thereof;

a device information provider for providing DT information (DTI) of the first device;

a determiner for determining whether the received DT matches the DTI of the first device to provide a determination result of a match or a non-match, the determiner comprising a comparator for comparing the received DT to the provided DTI to provide the determination result;

an ID producer for producing an ID in response to the determination of match, the ID producer comprising a calculator for performing the calculation of the ID based on the received ID and a pre-defined value, a selector for selecting one of the calculated ID and the received ID in response to the determination result from the comparator, the selected ID being outputted through the output connection of the first device; and

a signal output provider for outputting the received ID in response to the determination of non-match.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the control signal provider is configured to provide control signals to the plurality of devices, the plurality of devices being controlled in response to the control signals from the control signal provider.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the ID producer further comprises an ID assignor configured to assign the ID in response to the determination result.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the ID assignor further comprises:

an information holder configured to hold the selected ID therein.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the information holder comprises a register configured to store the received ID.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the calculation of the ID based on the received ID and the pre-defined value comprises addition of the received ID and the pre-defined value.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the pre-defined value is one, the calculated ID comprising an increment of the received ID by one.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the calculation of the ID based on the received ID and the pre-defined value comprises subtraction of the pre-defined value from the received ID.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the pre-defined value is one, the calculated ID comprising a decrement of the received ID by one.