Semiconductor system and semiconductor device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11288224-B2
Application number	US-202016860915-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2020
Priority date	May 29, 2019
Publication date	Mar 29, 2022
Grant date	Mar 29, 2022

Abstract

A semiconductor system capable of reducing processing time in connection processing to a USB port is provided. The semiconductor system comprises TCPM and TCPC. The TCPM and the TCPC are communicably connected via the I2C bus. The TCPM has a connection detector. The TCPC in a CC logic and a controller. The CC logic embodies a state machine. The controller controls transitions in the state machine. The controller outputs a connected state transition notification when the connected state transitions to the connected state. The connection detector receives the connected state transition notification and detects the connection of the USB port. The TCPM performs a process corresponding to the connection detection by the connection detector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A semiconductor system comprising:
a port controller configured to control a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port; and
a port manager connected to the port controller via a bus, the port manager being configured to control the port controller,
wherein the port controller comprises:
a state machine configured to realize transition of a connection state in the USB port, wherein the connection state in the USB port transitions among 1) a connection confirmation state in which it is confirmed whether or not the opposite device connected to the USB port is electrically connected, 2) a connected state in which the opposite device connected to the USB port is confirmed to be electrically stably connected, and 3) a disconnected state in which the opposite device is confirmed to be disconnected from the USB port; and
a controller configured to:
when an opposite device connects to the USB port, control the state machine to transition the connection confirmation state in the USB port to the connection confirmation state,
determine whether the connection confirmation state in the USB port has continued for a first predetermined time period; and
when the controller of the port controller determines that the connection confirmation state has continued for the first predetermined time period, (i) control the state machine to transition the connection state in the USB port to the connected state from the connection confirmation state without receiving, from the port manager, instructions to change the connection state in the USB port to the connected state such that the port controller and (ii) output to the port manager a connected state transition notification that notifies the port manager that the connection state of the USB port transitioned to the connected state,

wherein the port manager comprises a connection detection unit configured to receive the connected state transition notification and detect a connection of the USB port based on the connected state transition notification received from the port controller, and
wherein the port manager performs a process according to the connection of the USB port detected by the connection detection unit.

2. The semiconductor system according to claim 1 , wherein the bus is I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) bus.

3. The semiconductor system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller further comprises a timer, and
wherein the controller measures, using the timer, the first predetermined time period being a duration of the connection confirmation state.

4. The semiconductor system according to claim 3 , wherein, when the connection to the USB port is released before the duration of the connection confirmation state elapses the first time, the controller of the port controller transitions the connection state of the USB port to an disconnected state in which the connection to the USB port is not made.

5. The semiconductor system according to claim 3 ,
wherein, when the duration of the first predetermined time period elapses, the controller of the port controller transitions the connection state of the USB port to an opposite device confirmation state for confirming whether the opposite device connected to the USB port has a predetermined first function, and when the opposite device confirmation state continues for a predetermined second time, the controller of the port controller transitions the connection state of the USB port to the connected state.

6. The semiconductor system according to claim 1 , wherein, when the connection state of the USB port transitions to the connected state, the controller of the port controller a power supply circuit configured to perform at least one of power receiving and power supply.

7. The semiconductor system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller of the port controller stops the state machine when the connection state of the USB port transitions to a predetermined first state, and transmits a notification indicating the state machine has been stopped to outside.

8. The semiconductor system according to claim 7 , wherein, after the controller of the port controller transmits the notification to outside, the controller of the port controller restarts the state machine from the connection state of the transition destination of the connection state controlled by the port manager, or the connection state of the transition destination of the transition condition controlled by the port manager.

9. The semiconductor system according to claim 7 , wherein the controller of the port controller further comprises a register for setting the first state.

10. A semiconductor device comprising:
a state machine configured to realize transition of a connection state in a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, wherein the connection state in the USB port transitions among 1) a connection confirmation state in which it is confirmed whether or not the opposite device connected to the USB port is electrically connected, 2) a connected state in which the opposite device connected to the USB port is confirmed to be electrically stably connected, and 3) a disconnected state in which the opposite device is confirmed to be disconnected from the USB port and
a controller configured to:
when an opposite device connects to the USB port, control the state machine to transition the connection confirmation state in the USB port to the connection confirmation state,
determine whether the connection confirmation state in the USB port has continued for a first predetermined time period; and
when the controller of the port controller determines that the connection confirmation state has continued for the first predetermined time period, (i) control the state machine to transition the connection state in the USB port to the connected state without receiving, from a port manger, instructions to change the connection state in the USB port to the connected state and (ii) output to the port manager a connected state transition notification that notifies the port manager that the connection state of the USB port transitioned to the connected state.

11. The semiconductor device according to claim 10 ,
wherein the controller further comprises a timer, and
wherein the controller measures, using the timer, the first predetermined time period being a duration of a connection confirmation state.

12. The semiconductor device according to claim 11 , wherein, when the connection to the USB port is released before the duration of the connection confirmation state elapses the first time, the controller transitions the connection state to an disconnected state in which the connection to the USB port is not made.

13. The semiconductor device according to claim 11 ,
wherein, when the duration of the first predetermined time period elapses, the controller transitions the connection state to an opposite device confirmation state for confirming whether the opposite device connected to the USB port has a predetermined first function, and when the opposite device confirmation state continues for a predetermined second time, the controller transitions the connection state to the connected state.

14. The semiconductor device according to claim 11 , wherein, when the connection state transitions to the connected state, the controller a power supply circuit configured to perform at least one of power receiving and power supply.

15. The semiconductor device according to claim 10 , wherein the controller stops the state machine when the connection state transitions to a predetermined first state, and transmits a notification indicating the state machine has been stopped to outside

Assignees

• Renesas Electronics Corp

Inventors

• Aoki Dan

Classifications

• G06F2213/0042

  Universal serial bus [USB] · CPC title

• G06F13/4068 Primary

  Electrical coupling · CPC title

• G06F1/28

  Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision · CPC title

• G06F1/26

  Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof (for memories G11C) · CPC title

• G06F13/124 Primary

  where hardware is a sequential transfer control unit, e.g. microprocessor, peripheral processor or state-machine · CPC title