Multi-Slave Bus Handshake Scheduling for Reliable Shared Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bus systems, such as those using the enhanced serial peripheral interface (eSPI) bus, are limited to one-to-one communication mechanisms between the master device and slave devices, making it difficult to efficiently manage and schedule multiple slave devices for communication.
Innovation Solution
A bus system that includes a master device and multiple slave devices connected via a bus, where each slave device has an alert handshake pin connected to an alert-handshake control line, allowing them to determine communication phases and actively communicate with the master device using a handshake mechanism, enabling one-to-many communication while preventing other slave devices from responding simultaneously.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a one-to-one communication mechanism is used between the master device and slave devices, then communication reliability is improved, but the ability to efficiently manage and schedule multiple slave devices deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic time-division multiplexing where each slave device is allocated specific time slots (phases) within assignment periods to communicate with the master device. This periodic structure allows multiple slave devices to share the communication bus efficiently while maintaining reliable one-to-one communication during each allocated slot, thus resolving the contradiction between communication reliability and multi-device scheduling efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The communication timeline is segmented into multiple assignment periods, with each period divided into distinct phases corresponding to different slave devices. This segmentation allows the system to manage multiple slave devices by allocating specific time segments to each, enabling efficient scheduling while preserving the reliability of individual communication interactions
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple slave devices are connected to the master device via a shared bus, then the expandability of the bus system is improved, but the risk of incorrect simultaneous communication from multiple slave devices increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic time-division multiplexing where each slave device is assigned specific time slots (phases) within assignment periods. This periodic allocation ensures that only one slave device communicates with the master device at any given time, preventing simultaneous communication conflicts while allowing multiple slave devices to be connected to the shared bus, thus achieving both expandability and communication correctness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an alert-handshake control line as an intermediary mechanism between slave devices. This control line acts as a mediator that coordinates communication attempts, allowing the system to expand to multiple slave devices while maintaining communication reliability through centralized coordination
Data Source
AI summary
A bus system is provided. The bus system includes a master device, a bus, and a plurality of slave devices electrically connected to the master device via the bus. Each slave device has an alert handshake pin. The alert handshake pins of the slave devices are electrically connected together via an alert-handshake control line. When a first slave device communicates with the master device through the bus, in a first phase of a plurality of phases in each assignment period, the first slave device sets the alert-handshake control line to a first voltage level via the alert handshake pin, wherein the first phase corresponds to the first slave device. In the phases other than the first phase in each assignment period, the alert-handshake control line is at a second voltage level. Each of the phases includes two clock cycles.