USING USB SUSPEND/RESUME TO COMMUNICATE INFORMATION THROUGH A USB DEVICE

• US 20100174836A1
• Filed: 01/27/2009
• Published: 07/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Mao, Xiaodong
• Granted Patent: US 8,327,048 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/58
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/426 using an embedded synchronisation, e.g. Firewire bus, Fibre Channel bus, SSA bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/00 Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry

Abstract

Methods and systems for communicating information through a USB device using suspend/resume states are presented. A USB host stops transmitting Start-of-Frame (SOF) packets to a USB device, causing the USB device to enter a sleep/suspend state. The USB host then restarts the transmission of SOF packets to trigger the USB device back into a normal/resume state. The USB host repeats this process in a temporal pattern corresponding to a message, such that a circuit monitoring the USB device can determine the message.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting a message to a device using suspend and active states of the device, the method comprising:

pausing a communication signal from a host to a device for a time period sufficient to trigger the device into a suspend state, the host being operatively connected to the device;

restarting the communications signal from the host to the device for a time period sufficient to trigger the device into an active state; and

repeating the pausing and restarting operations according to a predetermined pattern corresponding to a message, a timing between each of the suspend and active states of the device corresponding to a respective portion of the message and enabling the device to determine the message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the repeating occurs more than once such that the timing between the suspend and active states helps distinguish each suspend state from a normal power down of the device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the number of repeats corresponds to the message.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein lengths of the pausing time periods correspond to the message.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein lengths of the restarting time periods correspond to the message.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the pausing time periods remain substantially the same length during the repeating.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the message is a wakeup message corresponding to a start of a larger transmission.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the message is header data indicating a duration of a subsequent message.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the message includes a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

10. A method of transmitting a message through a Universal Serial Bus (USB)-compatible integrated circuit (IC) using USB suspend and resume states, the method comprising:

sending a communication signal to a USB interface on an integrated circuit (IC);

pausing the communication signal for a time period sufficient to trigger the IC into a USB suspend state;

restarting the communication signal for a time period sufficient to trigger the IC into a USB resume state; and

repeating the pausing and restarting steps according to a predetermined pattern corresponding to a message, a timing of a variation between USB suspend and resume states enabling a circuit monitoring the IC to determine the message.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the communication signal includes at least one USB start-of-frame (SOF) packet.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the pausing time period is at least 3 milliseconds and the restarting time period is at least 20 milliseconds.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the circuit monitoring the IC is not located on the IC.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the IC includes a pair of analog-to-digital (A/D) converters adapted for audio and an audio controller configured to provide audio data from the A/D converters to the USB interface, and the message relates to the audio data.

15. A circuit for transmitting a message through a Universal Serial Bus (USB)-compatible integrated circuit (IC) using USB suspend and resume states, comprising a transmitting circuit operable to send start-of-frame (SOF) packets to a USB-compatible IC, pause the SOF packets for a time period sufficient to trigger the IC into a suspend state, restart the SOF packets for a time period sufficient to trigger the IC into a resume state, and repeat the pausing and restarting in a predetermined pattern corresponding to a message, a timing of a variation between suspend and resume states enabling a circuit monitoring the IC to determine the message.

16. A method of receiving a message through a Universal Serial Bus (USB)-compatible integrated circuit (IC) using USB suspend and resume states, the method comprising:

receiving a communication signal to a USB interface on an IC;

suspending the IC into a suspend state upon detecting a pause in the communication signal for a time period sufficient to trigger the IC into the suspend state;

resuming the IC into an active state upon detecting a restarting of the communication signal for a time period sufficient to trigger the IC into the active state; and

determining a message encoded using a relative timing between the suspend states and the resume states.

17. A two-way communication device, comprising:

a bus interface having a suspend state and a resume state, the bus interface operative to enter the suspend state after a communication signal is suspended for at least a predetermined time period, the bus interface operative to enter the resume state after the communication signal is received;

an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter configured to provide digital data to the bus interface;

an active component configured to provide an analog signal to the A/D converter; and

a circuit operatively connected to the bus interface and to the active component, the circuit configured to determine a first message from a series of bus interface suspend and resume states, the circuit configured to repeatedly power down the active component in a predetermined pattern such that a series of spikes is generated in the digital data, the series of spikes corresponding to a second message.

18. The device of claim 17 wherein the circuit is further configured to repeat sending the second message until the first message indicates an acknowledgement from a host that the second message was received.

19. The device of claim 17 wherein the circuit is further configured to transmit the second message in acknowledgement of determining the first message.

20. The device of claim 17 further comprising a pair of wireless transceivers, wherein the first message is a request for a wireless signal strength between the wireless transceivers and the second message indicates the wireless signal strength.