Multiple Bridge Elements Pre-fetching Communication Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
The presence of multiple bridging elements in data transmission systems can cause significant delays, violating protocol timing requirements due to increased communication times and latency, particularly in operations like HDCP and MHL data transmission.
Innovation Solution
Implementing pre-fetching and translation of transactions across multiple bridge elements to reduce communication times, allowing for efficient data transfer and compliance with interface standard timing requirements, such as the 1 ms requirement for HDCP.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple bridge elements are used for data transmission, then protocol compatibility and security are improved, but communication time increases and timing requirements are violated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements pre-fetching mechanisms where bridge elements proactively retrieve and buffer data before it is actually requested by the protocol stack. This preliminary action reduces the critical path delay by having data ready in advance, allowing the system to meet timing requirements despite multiple bridging elements in the data path.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the bridging function into multiple specialized bridge elements, each handling specific protocol translations or security functions. This segmentation allows parallel processing of different data streams and protocols, reducing overall communication time while maintaining compatibility with multiple protocols through dedicated handling in each segment.
2Reliability
If multiple bridge elements are used for data transmission, then protocol compatibility and security are improved, but operation completion time exceeds protocol limits
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-fetching data through multiple bridge elements before the actual protocol operation is initiated. This allows the data to be staged and buffered in advance, so when the protocol operation (such as HDCP authentication) is triggered, the data is already available, significantly reducing the operation completion time to meet protocol limits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous data flow through the multiple bridge elements by implementing overlapping operations where data preparation, translation, and transmission occur in parallel rather than sequentially. This continuity eliminates idle waiting periods between bridge elements, keeping the useful action continuous and reducing overall operation duration.
3Device complexity
If traditional sequential data transmission is used, then system complexity is low, but communication efficiency and timing compliance are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces pre-fetching mechanisms that operate in parallel with the main data transmission path. While this adds some complexity to the bridge elements, it dramatically improves communication efficiency by eliminating sequential waiting delays. The preliminary data retrieval occurs concurrently with protocol processing, achieving high productivity with manageable complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a temporal dimension to data transmission by implementing multi-stage buffering and pre-fetching across different time periods. Data is retrieved, buffered, and prepared in advance time slots, then transmitted through multiple bridges in an optimized sequence. This time-dimensional approach transforms sequential bottlenecks into parallel opportunities, improving efficiency without proportionally increasing complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of the invention are generally directed to communication bridging between devices via multiple bridge elements. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a transmitter element to transmit data, and multiple bridge elements, the bridge elements including a first bridge element to receive data from the transmitter element and a second bridge element to provide data to a receiver. The bridge elements provide for one or more of translation of one or more commands for an operation from the transmitter element, wherein translation of commands includes handling of a command intended for the receiver, and pre-fetching of one or more data for the operation from the receiver.