Edge-based communication

• US 9,455,849 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2015
• Issued: 09/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
• Original Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
• Inventors: Scherr, Wolfgang, Reidl, Christian, Strasser, Michael, Summa, Veikko
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khanh C
• Application Number:
  US14/934,729
• Publication Number:
  US 20160065399A1
• Time in Patent Office: 326 Days
• Field of Search: 375219-220, 375/238, 375/257, 375/295, 375/377, 326/56, 326/63, 710/110, 370/212
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/4902 Pulse width modulation; Pulse position modulation

Abstract

Methods, devices and systems are disclosed where to generate a pulse a data line is actively driven to a first voltage followed by actively driving the data line to a second voltage.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a slave device, a pulse on a data line, wherein the pulse is a trigger pulse indicating an identification of a slave device,

communicating data based on an edge-based pulse width modulation, wherein communicating data comprises driving the data line by a slave device identified by the trigger pulse,

wherein driving the data line by the slave device comprises transmitting a synchronization pulse after a predetermined time relative to an edge of the trigger pulse, wherein transmitting the synchronization pulse comprises;

actively driving the data line to a first voltage and to a second voltage different from the first voltage.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein driving the data line by the slave device comprises transmitting one or more data pulses by actively driving the data line to the first and second voltages.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein data pulses comprise sensor data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein actively driving the data line by the slave device comprises driving the data line to the first voltage at a beginning of the synchronization pulse and driving the data line to the second voltage at an end of the synchronization pulse.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the trigger pulse identifies the slave device by a pulse length of the trigger pulse.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the trigger pulse is based on an edge-based pulse width modulation.

7. A method, comprising:

receiving a pulse on a data line, wherein the pulse is a trigger pulse indicating an identification of a slave device,

after the trigger pulse, driving the data line by the slave device identified by the trigger pulse based on an edge-based pulse width modulation,

wherein driving the data line by the slave device comprises transmitting a synchronization pulse overlapping with the trigger pulse, wherein transmitting the synchronization pulse comprises actively driving the data line to a first voltage and to a second voltage different from the first voltage at the end of the synchronization pulse.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein driving the data line by the slave device comprises transmitting one or more data pulses by actively driving the data line to the first and second voltages.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the data pulses comprise sensor data.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein actively driving the data line by the slave device comprises driving the data line to the first voltage at a beginning of the synchronization pulse and driving the data line to the second voltage at an end of the synchronization pulse.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the trigger pulse identifies the slave device by a pulse length of the trigger pulse.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the trigger pulse is based on an edge-based pulse width modulation.

13. A communication device adapted to communicate based on an edge-based pulse width modulation, the device comprising a driver, the driver being configured to actively drive a data line to a first voltage, and actively driving the data line to a second voltage after actively driving the data line to the first voltage to generate a pulse on the data line, wherein the device is configured to receive a trigger pulse identifying the communication device and to wait a predetermined time after receipt of one of a falling edge or a rising edge of the trigger pulse identifying the communication device until generating pulses.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the driver comprises a push-pull driver.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the push-pull driver has a tri-state mode.

16. The device of claim 13, wherein the device is a slave device.

17. The device of claim 13, wherein the pulse comprises one of a synchronization pulse or a data pulse.

18. The device of claim 13, wherein the device comprises at least one of a proper line termination, a pull-up resistor or a pull-down resistor.

19. The device of claim 13, wherein the device in configured to receive the trigger pulse as an edge-based pulse width modulated trigger pulse.

20. The device of claim 13, wherein the device comprises a sensor.