Determination of physical connectivity status of devices based on electrical measurement

• US 9,366,712 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2014
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Connectivity Technologies Inc. (Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Lattice Semiconductor Corporation
• Inventors: Wong, Jason, Kim, Gyudong
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsai, Henry
• Assistant Examiner(s): ROCHE, JOHN B
• Application Number:
  US14/559,523
• Publication Number:
  US 20150089094A1
• Time in Patent Office: 559 Days
• Field of Search: 710/18
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/58 Testing of lines, cables or conductors testing of electric windings G01R31/72
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3485 for I/O devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/349 for interfaces, buses

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are generally directed to determination of physical connectivity status of devices based on electrical measurement. An embodiment of a method includes discovering a connection of a first device with a second device, and performing an electrical measurement of the second device by the first device via the connection between the first device and the second device, where performing the electrical measurement includes sensing by the first device of an element of the second device. The method further includes, if the sensing by the first device fails to detect the element of the second device and a predetermined condition for the electrical measurement is enabled, then determining by the first device that the connection with the second device has been lost.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a connectivity status of a source device with a sink device, the method comprising:

discovering by the source device, a change in impedance on a control bus interface;

responsive to detecting the change in impedance, initiating by the source device, a source discovery process via the control bus interface;

activating a connected state of the source device responsive to the source discovery process detecting a control bus termination element of the sink device being coupled with the control bus indicating that the sink device has completed its discovery process;

while in the connected state, sensing by the source device whether or not a sink TMDS termination element of the sink device is coupled to a data bus interface;

if the sensing by the source device fails to detect the sink TMDS (Transmission Minimized Differential Signaling) termination element of the sink device, determining by the source device that the connection with the sink device has been lost; and

responsive to the determining by the source device that the connection with the sink device has been lost, decoupling a control bus termination element of the source device from the control bus interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the discovery process comprises:

transmitting a pulse via the control bus interface from the source device to the sink device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein sensing by the source device whether or not a termination element of the sink device is coupled to the data bus interface comprises:

performing a passive electrical measurement of the data bus interface to detect the termination element.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein sensing by the source device whether or not a termination element of the sink device is coupled to a data bus interface comprises:

performing an active electrical measurement of the data bus interface to detect the termination element by forcing a current into a common node between the source device and the sink device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing an arbitration process between the sink device and other attached devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the control bus interface and the data bus interface are compliant with an HDMI™

(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) protocol or MHL™

(Mobile High-Definition Link) protocol.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

re-coupling the termination of the source device to the control bus interface after a time period.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a control bus interface for coupling the apparatus to a sink device;

a data bus interface for coupling the apparatus to the sink device;

a discovery control circuit to discover a change in impedance on the control bus interface, to initiate a source discovery process via the control bus interface responsive to detecting the change in impedance, and to activate a connected state of the apparatus responsive to the source discovery process detecting a control bus termination element of the sink device being coupled with the control bus indicating that the sink device has completed its discovery process;

a termination resistance controllable to couple to the control bus interface when a physical connection status is detected between the apparatus and the sink device, and to be floated when a physical disconnection status is detected between the apparatus and the sink device; and

a sensing circuit to sense whether or not a sink TMDS (Transmission Minimized Differential Signaling) termination element of the sink device is coupled to a data signal interface when the physical connection status is detected.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the control bus interface is further configured to initiate a discovery process by transmitting a pulse from the apparatus to the attached device.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the sensing circuit is configured to perform a passive electrical measurement of the data bus interface to detect the termination element of the attached device.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, the sensing circuit is configured to perform an active electrical measurement of the data bus interface to detect the termination element of the attached device.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the control bus interface and the data bus interface are compliant with an HDMI™

(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) protocol or MHL™

(Mobile High-Definition Link) protocol.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the termination resistance is furthermore controllable to re-couple to the control bus interface after a time period.