Dynamic bandwidth connections

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11921662-B2
Application number	US-201917636484-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2019
Priority date	Aug 21, 2019
Publication date	Mar 5, 2024
Grant date	Mar 5, 2024

Abstract

Apparatuses, systems, and associated methods of manufacturing are described that provide a dynamic data interconnect and networking cable configuration. The dynamic data interconnect includes a substrate, transmitters supported on the substrate configured to generate signals, and receivers supported on the substrate configured to receive signals. The dynamic data interconnect further includes a number of connection pads that receive data cables attached thereto and a number of transmission lanes that operably couple the transmitters and receivers to the connection pads. The dynamic data interconnect further includes transmission circuitry in communication with each of the transmitters and receivers such that, in an operational configuration, the transmission circuitry determines a transmission state of the dynamic data interconnect and selectively disables operation of at least a portion of the transmitters or at least a portion of the receivers.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A dynamic data interconnect comprising:
a substrate;
a plurality of transmitters supported on the substrate, wherein the transmitters are configured to generate signals;
a plurality of receivers supported on the substrate, wherein the receivers are configured to receive signals;
a plurality of connection pads configured to receive data cables attached thereto;
a plurality of transmission lanes configured to operably couple the transmitters and receivers to the connection pads such that signals generated by the plurality of transmitters are directed via the transmission lanes to the data cables and signals received via the data cables are directed by the transmission lanes to the receivers; and
transmission circuitry in communication with each of the plurality of transmitters and receivers and configured to control operation thereof,
wherein, in an operational configuration, the transmission circuitry is configured to determine that a transmission state of the dynamic data interconnect is a source state and selectively disable operation of each of the plurality of the receivers other than a first receiver.

2. The dynamic data interconnect according to claim 1 , wherein, following determination of the source state of the dynamic data interconnect, the transmission circuitry is configured to:
determine the transmission state to be a destination state of the dynamic data interconnect,
selectively disable operation of at least a portion of the transmitters, and
selectively enable at least a portion of the receivers.

3. The dynamic data interconnect according to claim 1 , wherein the transmission lanes comprise:
electrical traces and the data cables comprise an electrical transmission medium; or
the transmission lanes comprise optical waveguides and the data cables comprise an optical transmission medium.

4. The dynamic data interconnect according to claim 1 , wherein the number of receivers is less than the number of transmitters.

5. The dynamic data interconnect according to claim 1 , wherein, in determining the transmission state to be the source state of the dynamic data interconnect, the transmission circuitry is configured to selectively disable a portion of the plurality of the receivers such that the number of transmitters that are enabled is greater than the number of receivers that are enabled.

6. A networking cable configuration comprising:
a first dynamic data interconnect comprising:
a first substrate;
a plurality of first transmitters supported on the first substrate, wherein the first transmitters are configured to generate signals;
only a first receiver supported on the first substrate, wherein the first receiver is configured to receive signals;
a plurality of first connection pads;
a plurality of first transmission lanes, wherein each first transmission lane is configured to operably couple the plurality of first transmitters and the first receiver to the first connection pads; and
first transmission circuitry in communication with each of the plurality of first transmitters and the first receiver and configured to control operation thereof;
a second dynamic data interconnect comprising:
a second substrate;
a plurality of second receivers supported on the second substrate, wherein the second receivers are configured to receive signals;
only a second transmitter supported on the second substrate, wherein the second transmitter is configured to generate signals;
a plurality of second connection pads;
a plurality of second transmission lanes, wherein each second transmission lane is configured to operably couple the plurality of second receivers and the second transmitter to the second connection pads;
second transmission circuitry in communication with each of the plurality of second receivers and the second transmitter and configured to control operation thereof; and
a plurality of data cables configured to operably connect the first connection pads of the first dynamic data interconnect with the second connection pads of the second dynamic data interconnect,
wherein, in an operational configuration, the first transmission circuitry and the second transmission circuitry are configured to determine a transmission state of the networking cable configuration and selectively enable communication between the first receiver and the second transmitter.

7. The networking cable configuration according to claim 6 , wherein, in an instance in which the first transmission circuitry determines the transmission state to be a source state of the first dynamic data interconnect, the first transmission circuitry is configured to selectively disable operation of the first receiver.

8. The networking cable configuration according to claim 6 , wherein, in an instance in which the first transmission circuitry determines the transmission state to be a destination state of the first dynamic data interconnect, the first transmission circuitry is configured to selectively enable operation of the first receiver.

9. The networking cable configuration according to claim 6 , wherein, in an instance in which the second transmission circuitry determines the transmission state to be a destination state of the second dynamic data interconnect, the second transmission circuitry is configured to selectively disable operation of the second transmitter.

10. The networking cable configuration according to claim 6 , wherein, in an instance in which the second transmission circuitry determines the transmission state to be a source state of the second dynamic data interconnect, the second transmission circuitry is configured to selectively enable operation of the second transmitter.

11. The networking cable configuration according to claim 6 , wherein the first transmission lanes and the second transmission lanes comprise electrical traces and the data cables comprise an electrical transmission medium.

12. The networking cable configuration according to claim 6 , wherein the first transmission lanes and the second transmission lanes comprise optical waveguides and the data cables comprise an optical transmission medium.

13. A dynamic data interconnect comprising:
a substrate;
a plurality of transmitters supported on the substrate, wherein the transmitters are configured to generate signals;
a plurality of receivers supported on the substrate, wherein the receivers are configured to receive signals;
a plurality of connection pads configured to receive data cables attached thereto;
a plurality of transmission lanes configured to operably couple the transmitters and receivers to the connection pads such that signals generated by the plurality of transmitters are directed via the transmission lanes to the data cables and signals received via the data cables are directed by the transmission lanes to the receivers; and
transmission circuitry in communication with each of the plurality of transmitters and receivers and configured to control operation thereof,
wherein, in an operational configuration, the transmission circuitry is configured to determine that a transmission state of the dynamic data interconnect is a destination state and selectively disable operation of each of the plurality of the transmitters other than a first transmitter.

14. The dynamic data interconnect according to claim 13 , wherein the transmission lanes comprise:
electrical traces and the data cables comprise an electrical transmission medium; or
the transmission lanes comprise optical waveguides and the data cables comprise an optical transmission medium.

15. The dynamic data interconnect according to

Assignees

• Mellanox Technologies Ltd

Inventors

• Levi Dotan
• Mentovich Elad
• Ravid Ran
• Shapiro Roee
• Ganor Avraham
• Bakopoulos Paraskevas
• Kalavrouziotis Dimitrios

Classifications

• G06F13/4004 Primary

  Coupling between buses · CPC title

• G06F13/42

  Bus transfer protocol, e.g. handshake; Synchronisation · CPC title

• G06F13/4068 Primary

  Electrical coupling · CPC title

• Y02D10/00

  Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management · CPC title