Three phase and polarity encoded serial interface
First Claim
1. A method for encoding data, comprising:
- transmitting a three-phase signal on each of three conductors of a communication link, wherein the three-phase signal transmitted on each of the three conductors is in a different phase than the three-phase signals transmitted on the other conductors, and wherein transmitting the three-phase signal on the three conductors includes;
during a first of two sequential time intervals in a plurality of sequential time intervals,disallowing a current flow in a first conductor of the three conductors while causing a current to flow between a second conductor of the three conductors and a third conductor of the three conductors; and
during a second of the two sequential time intervals,disallowing a current flow in the second conductor while causing a current to flow between the first conductor and the third conductor when data to be encoded at a transition between the two sequential time intervals has a first value, anddisallowing a current flow in the third conductor while causing a current to flow between the first conductor and the second conductor when the data to be encoded at the transition between the two sequential time intervals has a second value,wherein N encoding states are defined for the communications link, including at least three encoding states defined by flow of current in the three conductors,wherein a change of encoding state to one of N−
1 available encoding states occurs at each transition between sequential time intervals, andwherein N is an integer greater than or equal to six.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A high speed serial interface is provided. In one aspect, the high speed serial interface uses three phase modulation for jointly encoding data and clock information. Accordingly, the need for de-skewing circuitry at the receiving end of the interface is eliminated, resulting in reduced link start-up time and improved link efficiency and power consumption. In one embodiment, the high speed serial interface uses fewer signal conductors than conventional systems having separate conductors for data and clock information. In another embodiment, the serial interface allows for data to be transmitted at any speed without the receiving end having prior knowledge of the transmission data rate. In another aspect, the high speed serial interface uses polarity encoded three phase modulation for jointly encoding data and clock information. This further increases the link capacity of the serial interface by allowing for more than one bit to be transmitted in any single baud interval.
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Citations
68 Claims
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1. A method for encoding data, comprising:
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transmitting a three-phase signal on each of three conductors of a communication link, wherein the three-phase signal transmitted on each of the three conductors is in a different phase than the three-phase signals transmitted on the other conductors, and wherein transmitting the three-phase signal on the three conductors includes; during a first of two sequential time intervals in a plurality of sequential time intervals, disallowing a current flow in a first conductor of the three conductors while causing a current to flow between a second conductor of the three conductors and a third conductor of the three conductors; and during a second of the two sequential time intervals, disallowing a current flow in the second conductor while causing a current to flow between the first conductor and the third conductor when data to be encoded at a transition between the two sequential time intervals has a first value, and disallowing a current flow in the third conductor while causing a current to flow between the first conductor and the second conductor when the data to be encoded at the transition between the two sequential time intervals has a second value, wherein N encoding states are defined for the communications link, including at least three encoding states defined by flow of current in the three conductors, wherein a change of encoding state to one of N−
1 available encoding states occurs at each transition between sequential time intervals, andwherein N is an integer greater than or equal to six. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for encoding data, comprising:
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means for transmitting a three-phase signal on each of at least three conductors, wherein the three-phase signal transmitted on each of the three conductors is in a different phase than the three-phase signals transmitted on the other conductors; and means for driving each of the at least three conductors responsive to the means for transmitting the three-phase signal, wherein; during a first of two sequential time intervals in a plurality of sequential time intervals, the means for driving; disallows a current flow in a first conductor of the at least three conductors; and causes a current to flow between a second conductor of the at least three conductors and a third conductor of the at least three conductors; and during a second of the two sequential time intervals the means for driving; disallows a current flow in the second conductor and causes the current to flow between the first conductor and the third conductor when data to be encoded at a transition between the two sequential time intervals has a first value; and disallows a current flow in the third conductor and causes the current to flow between the first conductor and the second conductor when the data to be encoded at the transition between the two sequential time intervals has a second value, wherein N encoding states are defined for the communications link, including at least three encoding states defined by flow of current in the three conductors, wherein a change of encoding state to one of N−
1 available encoding states occurs at each transition between sequential time intervals, andwherein N is an integer greater than or equal to six. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. An apparatus that encodes data, comprising:
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a processing system configured to; transmit a three-phase signal on each of three conductors of a communication link, wherein the three-phase signal transmitted on each of the three conductors is in a different phase than the three-phase signals transmitted on the other conductors, wherein during a first of two sequential time intervals in a plurality of sequential time intervals the processing system is configured to; cause a current flow in a first conductor of the three conductors to be disallowed; and cause a current to flow between a second conductor of the three conductors and a third conductor of the three conductors; and wherein during a second of the two sequential time intervals, the processing system is configured to; cause a current flow in the second conductor to be disallowed, and cause the current to flow between the first conductor and the third conductor when data to be encoded at a transition between the two sequential time intervals has a first value, and cause a current flow in the third conductor to be disallowed, and cause the current to flow between the first conductor and the second conductor when the data to be encoded at the transition between the two sequential time intervals has a second value, wherein N encoding states are defined for the communications link, including at least three encoding states defined by flow of current in the three conductors, wherein a change of encoding state to one of N−
1 available encoding states occurs at each transition between sequential time intervals, andwherein N is an integer greater than or equal to six. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for encoding data, which when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to:
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transmit a three-phase signal on each of three conductors of a communication link, wherein the three-phase signal transmitted on each of the three conductors is in a different phase than the three-phase signals transmitted on the other conductors, including code for; disallowing a current flow in a first conductor of the three conductors, and causing a current to flow between a second conductor of the three conductors and a third conductor of the three conductors during a first of two sequential time intervals in a plurality of sequential time intervals; and disallowing a current flow in the second conductor and causing a current to flow between the first conductor and the third conductor during a second of the two sequential time intervals when data to be encoded at a transition between the two sequential time intervals has a first value, disallowing a current flow in the third conductor and causing a current to flow between the first conductor and the second conductor during the second of the two sequential time intervals when the data to be encoded at the transition between the two sequential time intervals has a second value, wherein N encoding states are defined for the communications link, including at least three encoding states defined by flow of current in the three conductors, wherein a change of encoding state to one of N−
1 available encoding states occurs at each transition between sequential time intervals, andwherein N is an integer greater than or equal to six. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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Specification