Multi-drop Bus Sender Identification via Group IDs
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multi-drop serial bus architectures, such as I2C, I3C, and RFFE, do not efficiently convey the sender device's identity in message transmissions, leading to challenges in information processing as receivers cannot determine the originating device.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves assigning unique group-specific identifiers to each device on the bus, allowing devices to inherently identify the sender by using these identifiers within the datagram, and mapping message types to non-overlapping register/address spaces to eliminate the need for explicit sender or message type identifiers, thereby reducing resource usage and latency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If sender identifier bits are embedded in datagrams to identify the originator, then the receiver can determine the sender identity, but the resource consumption, power usage, and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sender identification function from the datagram payload and relocates it to the address phase of the communication protocol. By using the address field to carry sender identity information instead of embedding it in the message body, the system eliminates redundant data transmission and reduces the energy required for communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The address field in the communication protocol is given multi-functionality: it simultaneously serves as both the destination address identifier and the sender identity carrier. This universal usage of the address field eliminates the need for separate sender identification bits, thereby reducing resource consumption and power usage.
2Loss of information
If sender identifier bits are embedded in datagrams to identify the originator, then the receiver can determine the sender identity, but the communication latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sender identification function from the datagram payload and relocates it to the address phase of the communication protocol. By using the address field to carry sender identity information instead of embedding it in the message body, the system eliminates redundant data transmission and reduces the energy required for communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the sender identification function with the destination addressing function by using the same address field for both purposes. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate identification fields, thereby reducing the overall message size and transmission time, which directly reduces communication latency.
3Ease of operation
If explicit sender and message type identifiers are included in datagrams, then the communication protocol is straightforward, but the resource consumption and message size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The address field in the communication protocol is given multi-functionality: it simultaneously serves as both the destination address identifier and the sender identity carrier. This universal usage of the address field eliminates the need for separate sender identification bits, thereby reducing resource consumption and power usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the functional parameters of the address field from solely destination identification to include both destination identification and sender identification. By altering the parameter usage of existing protocol fields rather than adding new fields, the system reduces data transmission volume while maintaining protocol simplicity.
4Productivity
If group-specific identifiers are used to identify multiple devices, then a single message can address multiple recipients, but the identifier mapping complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-establishing the mapping relationships between group-specific identifiers and device addresses before communication occurs. The master device maintains a lookup table that maps group IDs to individual device addresses, allowing slave devices to efficiently determine their group membership and enabling the master to efficiently address multiple devices using compact group identifiers.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
In a device comprising a serial bus and a plurality of devices, register/address mappings and/or unique group identifiers are used to convey additional information in messages/datagrams over the serial bus without explicitly sending such information in the message/datagram. Such register/address mappings may be done beforehand, and in conjunction with group-specific identifiers, may reduce transmission latency by keeping the size of the messages/datagrams small. Since all devices on the serial bus have prior knowledge of such register/address mappings and/or group-specific identifiers, recipient devices are able to infer information from the group-specific identifiers and/or register/address sent in each message/datagram that is not explicitly sent within such message/datagram.