Heterogeneous Bus Bridge Circuit for RFFE Slave Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication devices face limitations in supporting a large number of slaves on the RFFE bus due to the restricted number of unique slave identifications (USIDs), which can lead to identification conflicts and increased pin count requirements for the RFFE master, making it challenging to accommodate additional RFFE buses in space-constrained devices like smartphones.
Innovation Solution
A heterogeneous bus bridge circuit that bridges the RFFE bus with auxiliary buses, enabling command conversion and data buffering to reuse USIDs across different buses, allowing for more slaves to be supported without identification conflicts and reducing the pin count requirement for the RFFE master.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple auxiliary buses are connected to the RFFE master, then more slaves can be supported, but the number of unique slave identifications (USIDs) is limited causing identification conflicts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces auxiliary bus bridge circuits as intermediary devices between the RFFE master and slaves on auxiliary buses. These bridge circuits translate RFFE bus commands into auxiliary bus commands, enabling the RFFE master to communicate with slaves on multiple auxiliary buses using a single RFFE bus. This intermediary approach allows reuse of USIDs across different auxiliary buses while maintaining unique identification through the bridge circuit's internal routing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to the bus architecture by introducing auxiliary buses that are hierarchically organized under the RFFE bus through bridge circuits. Instead of expanding the RFFE bus horizontally with more slaves (which exhausts USIDs), the system creates a multi-level hierarchy where the RFFE master communicates through bridge circuits to multiple auxiliary buses, each supporting additional slaves. This dimensional change from flat to hierarchical structure enables scalable slave support.
2Quantity of substance
If additional RFFE buses are added to support more slaves, then slave capacity increases, but pin count requirements for the RFFE master increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple auxiliary buses into a single RFFE bus interface through the use of auxiliary bus bridge circuits. Instead of requiring separate RFFE bus interfaces (each with dedicated pins) for multiple slave groups, the bridge circuits consolidate communication pathways, allowing multiple auxiliary buses to share a single RFFE bus connection to the master. This merging reduces the pin count requirement for the RFFE master while maintaining support for numerous slaves across auxiliary buses.
3Quantity of substance
If the RFFE bus supports more slaves with unique USIDs, then slave capacity increases, but the restricted USID range (0x1-0xF) causes identification conflicts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the slave population into different groups, each residing on separate auxiliary buses. The auxiliary bus bridge circuit maintains internal routing tables that map RFFE bus USIDs to specific slaves on auxiliary buses. This segmentation allows the same USID range (0x1-0xF) to be reused across multiple auxiliary buses without conflicts, as the bridge circuit's internal routing ensures unique identification and routing to the correct slave on the correct auxiliary bus.
Data Source
AI summary
A heterogeneous bus bridge circuit and related apparatus are provided. The heterogeneous bus bridge circuit is configured to bridge a radio frequency front-end (RFFE) bus with a number of auxiliary buses that are different from the RFFE bus. Each of the auxiliary buses may support a fixed number of slaves identified respectively by a unique slave identification (USID). In examples discussed herein, the heterogeneous bus bridge circuit can be configured to selectively activate an auxiliary bus for communication with the RFFE bus, thus making it possible to reuse a same set of USIDs among the auxiliary buses without causing potential identification conflict. As such, it may be possible to support more slaves in an apparatus with a single RFFE bus. As a result, it may be possible to reduce pin count requirement for an RFFE master and/or enable flexible heterogeneous bus deployment in the apparatus.