Serial Communication Arbitration Using Variable Delay
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Solution Overview
Problem
In serial communication systems, simultaneous arbitration by multiple communication elements can lead to data transmission collisions, as they may incorrectly determine the serial bus is free, resulting in failed transmissions and the need for additional controllers, increasing system cost.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that detect the status of data and timing contacts to determine if a connection is free for transmission, incorporating a variable arbitration delay to prevent collisions, allowing communication without dedicated interface circuitry and reducing hardware requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If arbitration is performed by examining data line and timing line status, then transmission can be initiated, but simultaneous arbitration by multiple elements causes collisions and transmission failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by requiring communication elements to wait for a predetermined arbitration delay period after detecting a free bus before actually initiating transmission. This advance timing adjustment prevents simultaneous transmission attempts by ensuring that even if multiple elements detect the bus as free at the same time, they will not start transmission at the exact same moment, thereby avoiding collisions while maintaining efficient bus utilization
2Reliability
If dedicated communication interface circuitry is used, then reliable serial communication is achieved, but system cost and hardware complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by enabling general-purpose input/output ports to perform serial communication functions without requiring dedicated communication interface circuitry. The same I/O pins that can be used for other purposes are utilized for serial data and timing line communication, allowing the system to achieve reliable serial communication while reducing hardware complexity and eliminating the need for additional dedicated controllers
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies self-service by implementing an arbitration mechanism where communication elements autonomously monitor the status of data and timing lines, determine bus availability, and initiate or defer transmission based on detected conditions. This self-managing approach eliminates the need for external dedicated arbitration controllers, reducing hardware requirements while maintaining communication reliability
Data Source
AI summary
There is disclosed a method in which a status of a first contact and a status of a second contact are detected. At least one of the detected statuses are used to determine whether the first contact is free for transferring data. If the determining indicates that the data connection is free for transferring data, a first arbitration delay is waited before the status of the first contact and the status of the second contact are again detected. A transmission of a start bit is then started if the detected status of the first contact and the detected status of the second contact indicate that the first contact is still free for transferring data. There is also disclosed an apparatus and a storage medium having stored thereon a computer executable program code for use by an apparatus to implement the method.