1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to control operations for electronic devices, and more particularly, to a control interface and protocol.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern electronic devices typically include multiple integrated circuit (IC) devices or “chips,” each of which performs one or more respective functions, such as, for example, processing, data storage, sensing, power management, etc. The various IC devices may be connected together by wiring (traces) on a printed circuit board (PCB). For many electronic devices, the peripheral chips (such as power management IC devices) are controlled by the microprocessor. The connection requirements for digital control range from simple (a single setting) to complex (multiple outputs with multiple set points). It is often desirable to minimize the number of interconnecting interfaces or wires between the controlling microprocessor and the peripheral chips in order to reduce PCB space and to save I/O pins on both the processor and the peripheral chips. Because microprocessors come in a variety of speeds and powers, single-wire interfaces between the microprocessor and the peripheral chips present restrictive timing requirements for control, which can be challenging to system designers.
Previously developed designs for control interfaces between a microprocessor and peripheral chips suffer from various drawbacks. For example, the control interfaces according to some previously developed designs may be relatively slow, require 2N pulses to be sent for an N-bit control word, or have restrictive timing on minimum and/or maximum pulse widths. Some previously developed designs provide for single-wire control protocols, but these require fixed timing on the pulse widths, thereby placing constraints on host microcontroller processing speeds.