Peripheral device diagnostics and control over a two-wire communication bus

• US 9,946,680 B2
• Filed: 10/16/2015
• Issued: 04/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
• Inventors: Chavez, Miguel, Kessler, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Myers, Paul R
• Application Number:
  US14/884,987
• Publication Number:
  US 20160034416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 710110
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0421 Multiprocessor system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0423 Input/output
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4185 characterised by the network communication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/364 using independent requests or grants, e.g. using separated request and grant lines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/426 using an embedded synchronisation, e.g. Firewire bus, Fibre Channel bus, SSA bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4291 using a clocked protocol
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4295 using an embedded synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/547 via DC power distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/548 the power on the line being DC arrangements for feeding power H04L12/10; extracting feeding power from signals H04L25/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4035 in which slots of a TDMA packet structure are assigned based on a contention resolution carried out at a master unit TDM/TDMA multiplex systems per se H04J3/1694; hybrid switching systems H04L12/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/007 for public address systems public address systems per se H04R27/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems and techniques for peripheral device diagnostics and control over a two-wire communication bus. For example, in some embodiments, a slave device may include circuitry to receive a synchronization control frame from an upstream device, receive audio data from the upstream device subsequent to receipt of the synchronization control frame, provide a synchronization response frame toward the upstream device, and provide first data representative of an operational characteristic of an audio device coupled to the slave device subsequent to provision of the synchronization response frame; circuitry to derive timing information from the synchronization control frame; and circuitry to provide the audio data to the audio device, and receive, from a sensor coupled to the slave device, second data representative of the operational characteristic of the audio device.

Claims

1. A slave device for two-wire low-latency communication of audio system diagnostic information, comprising:

first circuitry to;

receive a synchronization control frame provided over a two-wire bus link to the slave device from an upstream device,

subsequent to receipt of the synchronization control frame, receive audio data communicated over the two-wire bus link to the slave device from the upstream device,

provide a synchronization response frame over the two-wire bus link toward the upstream device, and

subsequent to provision of the synchronization response frame, provide, over the two-wire bus link toward the upstream device, first data representative of an operational characteristic of an audio device coupled to the slave device;

second circuitry to derive timing information from the synchronization control frame, wherein the timing information is used to time the provision of the synchronization response frame; and

third circuitry to;

provide the audio data to the audio device, and

receive, from a sensor coupled to the slave device, second data representative of the operational characteristic of the audio device.

2. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the third circuitry includes an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) transceiver.

3. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the operational characteristic of the audio device includes an acoustic response indicative of a blocked speaker vent or an acoustic response indicative of a blocked speaker.

4. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the operational characteristic of the audio device includes a speaker surround failure, a speaker diaphragm failure, a speaker enclosure failure, a reversed speaker wire polarity, a disconnected speaker wire, or a speaker short.

5. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry is to receive a control instruction for the audio device, and wherein execution of the control instruction is to change the operational characteristic of the audio device.

6. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the audio device includes an amplifier and a speaker.

7. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the operational characteristic includes an audio amplifier clipping, an audio amplifier overheating, or an audio amplifier failure.

8. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the first, second, and third circuitry are included in a common housing with an audio amplifier.

9. A host device for two-wire low-latency communication of audio system diagnostic information, comprising:

first circuitry to provide audio data to a master device, wherein the master device is a master of a half-duplex two-wire bus, wherein the audio data is to be provided over the two-wire bus to a slave device, and wherein the audio data is to be output by an audio device coupled to the slave device; and

second circuitry to receive, from the master device, first data representative of an operational characteristic of the audio device, wherein second data representative of the operational characteristic of the audio device is provided to the master device over the two-wire bus along with a synchronization response frame generated by a last slave device on the two-wire bus.

10. The host device of claim 9, wherein the first data is the same as the second data.

11. The host device of claim 9, wherein the operational characteristic of the audio device includes a battery voltage.

12. The host device of claim 9, wherein the operational characteristic of the audio device includes an impedance, a resonant frequency, or an acoustic box leakage.

13. The host device of claim 9, wherein the second circuitry is to provide, to the master device, a control instruction for the audio device, wherein the master device is to transmit data representative of the control instruction to the slave device along the two-wire bus, and the host device is to generate the control instruction based on the operational characteristic of the audio device.

14. The host device of claim 9, wherein:

the slave device is a first slave device;

the audio device is a first audio device;

the second circuitry is to provide current to the master device, a control instruction for a second audio device, wherein the second audio device is coupled to a second slave device along the two-wire bus;

the master device is to transmit data representative of the control instruction to the second slave device along the two-wire bus; and

the host device is to generate a control instruction based on the operational characteristic of the first slave device.

15. The host device of claim 14, wherein the control instruction is a distributed amplification control instruction.

16. The host device of claim 14, further comprising display interface circuitry to provide a visual indicator of the operational characteristic of the audio device to a display device.

17. One or more non-transitory computer readable media having instructions thereon that, in response to execution by one or more processing devices of a host device, cause the host device to:

subsequent to provision by the host device of audio data to a master device on a two-wire bus, receive, from the master device, first data representative of an operational characteristic of an audio device, wherein the audio data is to be transmitted along the two-wire bus to a slave device, the audio device is coupled to the slave device, the audio data is to be output by the audio device, and second data representative of the operational characteristic of the audio device is provided to the master device along with a synchronization response frame generated by a last slave device on the two-wire bus; and

in response to receipt of the first data representative of the operational characteristic of the audio device, provide a control instruction for the audio device to the master device, wherein the master device is to transmit data representative of the control instruction to the slave device along the two-wire bus, and wherein execution of the control instruction is to change the operational characteristic of the audio device.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 17, wherein the slave device is the last slave device.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 17, wherein the operational characteristic of the audio device includes a voice coil temperature, a speaker overcurrent, or a speaker over-excursion.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 17, wherein:

the host device is included in a passenger vehicle;

the slave device is a first slave device;

the instructions, in response to execution by the one or more processing devices of the host device, cause the host device to receive, from the master device, third data representative of a measurement made by a sensor coupled to a second slave device on the two-wire bus, wherein the second slave device is different from the first slave device;

the sensor includes a seat pressure sensor, a proximity sensor, a light sensor, a moisture sensor, or a gesture sensor; and

the control instruction is based at least in part on the third data.

21. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 20, wherein the operational characteristic of the audio device is a speaker driving current, the sensor includes a seat pressure sensor for a seat, and the control instruction is to adjust the speaker driving current to achieve noise cancellation for a passenger in the seat.

22. A method for low-latency control of an audio system, comprising:

providing, by a first slave device on a two-wire bus, a synchronization response frame over a link of the two-wire bus toward an upstream device, wherein the first slave device is coupled to a first audio device;

subsequent to providing the synchronization response frame, providing, by the first slave device over the link of the two-wire bus toward the upstream device, data representative of an operational characteristic of a second audio device coupled to a second slave device on the two-wire bus, wherein the second slave device is downstream of the first slave device;

receiving, by the first slave device, a synchronization control frame from the upstream device over the link of the two-wire bus;

recovering, by the first slave device, a clock signal from the synchronization control frame; and

subsequent to receiving the synchronization control frame, receiving, by the first slave device from the upstream device over the link of the two-wire bus, a control instruction for the first audio device, wherein execution of the control instruction is to change an operational characteristic of the first audio device, and wherein the control instruction is based on the operational characteristic of the second audio device.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising locking a phase locked loop based on the recovered clock signal.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the operational characteristic of the second audio device is a temperature of a second speaker, the first audio device includes a first speaker, and wherein the control instruction is to increase a speaker driving current to the first speaker.