EP0789459A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Data communication system
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1997-01-31
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-01-31
Abstract
Abstract A data communication system comprising: a plurality of electronic devices with the same or different internal CMOS voltages; an interconnection between two or more of the electronic devices; driver and receiver circuits which send and receive signals at a selectable communication voltage levels for interfacing between said two or more electronic devices, at a common communication voltage which is the lowest of the internal chip voltages; and means for configuring said selected voltage drivers and receivers.
Inventors
- 👤 Harry Randall Bickford
- 👤 Chin-An Chang
- 👤 Paul William Coteus
- 👤 Robert Heath Dennard
- 👤 Daniel Mark Dreps
- 👤 Gerard Vincent Kopcsay
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 23:09
CPC Classifications
H; H03; H03K; H03K19/00; H03K19/0175; H03K19/0185; H03K19/018585; H03K19/0005
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
76 words
A data communication system comprising: a plurality of electronic devices with the same or different internal CMOS voltages; an interconnection between two or more of the electronic devices; driver and receiver circuits which send and receive signals at a selectable communication voltage levels for interfacing between said two or more electronic devices, at a common communication voltage which is the lowest of the internal chip voltages; and means for configuring said selected voltage drivers and receivers.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
40 words
A data communication system according to claim 1 further comprising: circuitry for selecting or adjusting the output impedance of such a driver circuit so that the desired output impedance level is achieved for each of its operating signal voltage ranges.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
61 words
A data communication system comprising: a substrate; a control device electronically connected to said substrate; one or more locations for receiving a controlled device; said one or more locations providing means for electronically connecting said control device to said controlled device; said controller has a self adjusting impedance, adjusting in response to the number of controlled devices placed at said location.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
74 words
A data communication system comprising: a plurality of electronic devices with the same or different internal CMOS voltages; an interconnection between 2 or more of the electronic devices; driver and receiver circuits which provide selectable input/output voltage levels for interfacing with several generations of CMOS technology, thus allowing chips fabricated in such technologies to communicate using a signal voltage range most suitable for each chip; and means for configuring said selected drives and receivers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
74 words
A data communication system as claimed in claim 4 wherein the means for configuring comprises: circuitry for selecting or adjusting the output impedance of such a driver circuit so that the desired output impedance level is achieved for each of its operating signal voltage ranges; and circuitry for providing multiple output impedance levels for such a driver circuit, such that these multiple impedance levels are achieved for each of its operating signal voltage ranges.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
25 words
A data communication system as claimed in claim 4 wherein the means for configuring comprises: means for automatically configuring said selected voltage drivers and receivers.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
A structure according to claim 4 wherein the means for configuring comprises: circuitry for selecting or adjusting the switching threshold of a receiver circuit, which enables the threshold to be set appropriately for a given input signal voltage range.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
A structure according to claim 7 wherein the means for configuring further comprises: circuitry for the inclusion of an alternate data path in the receiver, to allow for test data to be passed through the receiver in place of externally received data.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
57 words
A method of communication for a plurality of electronic devices with the same or different internal voltages comprising the steps of: providing an interconnection between two or more of the electronic devices; and sending and receiving signals at a common communication voltage which is the lowest of the internal cip voltages said two or more electronic devices.
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