SRAM handshake

• US 9,053,248 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2012
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NXP B.V. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: NXP B.V. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Inventors: Gallo, Francesco, Bakker, Paul, Cutrignelli, Giancarlo
• Primary Examiner(s): DOAN, DUC T
• Application Number:
  US13/600,381
• Publication Number:
  US 20140068145A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,012 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4059 where the synchronisation uses buffers, e.g. for speed matching between buses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0601 Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/064 Management of blocks

Abstract

Various exemplary embodiments relate to an integrated circuit including: a RF interface; a wired interface connectable to a host; a volatile memory having a first block and a last block configured to store data transferred between the RF interface and the wired interface; and a memory controller configured to detect when the last block of the volatile memory has been written and to indicate that the volatile memory is ready to read. Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a tag including: determining that data is to be received on the first interface; blocking the second interface; writing data from the first interface to a volatile memory; detecting that the last block of the volatile memory has been written; unblocking the second interface; indicating that data is available for reading; blocking the first interface; and reading data from the volatile memory to the second interface.

Claims

1. An integrated circuit (IC) comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) interface;

a wired interface connectable to a host;

a volatile memory having a first block and a last block configured to store data transferred between the RF interface and the wired interface; and

a memory controller configured to detect when the last block of the volatile memory has been written and to indicate that the volatile memory is ready to read.

2. The IC of claim 1 further comprising an electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM).

3. The IC of claim 1, wherein the IC is a near field communication (NFC) tag.

4. The IC of claim 1, wherein the memory controller is further configured to detect when the last block of the volatile memory has been read and to place the IC in an idle state.

5. The IC of claim 1, wherein the wired interface is an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) or a system management bus (SMB).

6. The IC of claim 1, wherein the memory controller is further configured to provide a trigger signal to the host via the wired interface when the RF interface writes to the last block of the volatile memory.

7. The IC of claim 1, further comprising a field detection pin that indicates the presence of an RF field, wherein the memory controller is further configured to use the field detection pin to provide a trigger signal to the host.

8. The IC of claim 1, further comprising a first register configured to indicate the status of the RF interface and a second register configured to indicate the status of the wired interface, wherein the memory controller is configured to lock one of the RF interface and the wired interface based on the first register and the second register.

9. The IC of claim 1, further comprising a transfer register configured to indicate whether data stored in the volatile memory has been read.

10. A method performed by a tag for transferring data between a first interface and a second interface, the method comprising:

determining that data is to be received on the first interface;

blocking the second interface;

writing data from the first interface to a volatile memory;

detecting that the last block of the volatile memory has been written;

unblocking the second interface;

indicating that data is available for reading on the second interface;

blocking the first interface; and

reading data from the volatile memory to the second interface.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first interface is a radio frequency interface (RF) in communication with an RF device and the second interface is a wired interface in communication with a host.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending a trigger signal to the host via the wired interface when detecting that the last block of the volatile memory has been written by the RF device.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the first interface is a wired interface in communication with a host and the second interface is a radio frequency interface (RF) in communication with an RF device.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

detecting that the last block of the volatile memory has been read; and

setting the tag to an idle state.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the tag is an NFC Forum tag.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of indicating that data is available for reading on the second interface comprises setting a register associated with the second interface that can be read by the second interface.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of blocking the second interface comprises setting a register associated with the first interface to indicate that the first interface is in use.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising reading a register configured to indicate whether a handshake feature is permitted.

19. A host device comprising:

a first wired interface connected to a dual interface tag, the dual interface tag comprising;

a radio frequency (RF) interface,

a second wired interface connected to the first wired interface of the host,

a volatile memory having a first block and a last block configured to store data transferred between the RF interface and the wired interface, and

a memory controller configured to detect when the last block of the volatile memory has been written and to indicate that the volatile memory is ready to read.

20. The host device of claim 19, wherein the host device is one of:

a phone, a computer, an automobile, an audio player, a video player, a copier, a facsimile machine, and a printer.