Granted Patent B2

US 8,457,247 · App. 12/949,706 · Granted Jun 4, 2013

Abstract

Claims (36)

1. A method for communicating main and auxiliary data over a transmission medium, the method comprising:

generating a low-frequency output pattern using a high-frequency oscillator, wherein the low-frequency output pattern contains the auxiliary data encoded in a first scheme, wherein the first scheme resembles an output pattern that would be generated by a low-frequency oscillator;

sending the low-frequency output pattern through a transmitter to be transmitted over the transmission medium;

generating a high-frequency signal using the high-frequency oscillator, wherein the high-frequency signal contains the main data encoded in a second scheme different than the first scheme; and

sending the high-frequency signal through the transmitter to be transmitted over the transmission medium.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first scheme encodes data by mapping the data to the length of bursts of repeating is and to intervals between such bursts.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmission medium is a cable.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmission medium is an optical fiber.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmission medium is a wireless transmission medium.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low-frequency output pattern is passed through a serializer prior to being sent through the transmitter.

7. A Low-Frequency Periodic Signaling (LFPS) generator comprising:

a high-frequency generator configured to generate both high-frequency signals containing main data and LFPS signals containing auxiliary data, wherein the LFPS signals are encoded in a different encoding scheme than the high-frequency signals;

a serializer;

a multiplexer connected between the high-frequency generator and the serializer and configured to, when LFPS is enabled, take the LFPS signals generated by the high-frequency generator and pass them through the serializer and configured to, when LFPS is not enabled, take the high-frequency signals generated by the high-frequency generator and pass them through the serializer; and

a transmitter coupled to the serializer.

8. The LFPS generator of claim 7 , wherein the transmitter is compatible with the Universal Serial Bus 3.0 standard.

9. The LFPS generator of claim 7 , wherein the auxiliary data includes power management information.

10. The LFPS generator of claim 7 , wherein the auxiliary data includes signal initialization information.

11. An apparatus for communicating main and auxiliary data over a cable, the apparatus comprising:

means for generating a low-frequency output pattern using a high-frequency oscillator, wherein the low-frequency output pattern contains the auxiliary data encoded in a first scheme, wherein the first scheme resembles an output pattern that would be generated by a low-frequency oscillator;

means for sending the low-frequency output pattern through a transmitter to be transmitted over the transmission medium;

means for generating a high-frequency signal using the high-frequency oscillator, wherein the high-frequency signal contains the main data encoded in a second scheme different than the first scheme; and

means for sending the high-frequency signal through the transmitter to be transmitted over the transmission medium.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first scheme encodes data by mapping the data to the length of bursts of repeating is and to intervals between such bursts.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the low-frequency output pattern is passed through a serializer prior to being sent through the transmitter.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is compatible with the PCIe standard.

15. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for communicating main and auxiliary data over a cable, the method comprising:

generating a low-frequency output pattern using a high-frequency oscillator, wherein the low-frequency output pattern contains the auxiliary data encoded in a first scheme, wherein the first scheme resembles an output pattern that would be generated by a low-frequency oscillator;

sending the low-frequency output pattern through a transmitter to be transmitted over the transmission medium;

generating a high-frequency signal using the high-frequency oscillator, wherein the high-frequency signal contains the main data encoded in a second scheme different than the first scheme; and

sending the high-frequency signal through the transmitter to be transmitted over the transmission medium.

16. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 15 , wherein the first scheme encodes data by mapping the data to the length of bursts of repeating is and to intervals between such bursts.

17. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 15 , wherein the transmission medium is a cable.

18. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 15 , wherein the transmission medium is an optical fiber.

19. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 15 , wherein the transmission medium is a wireless transmission medium.

20. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 15 , wherein the low-frequency output pattern is passed through a serializer prior to being sent through the transmitter.

Assignments (7)