Independent operation of an ethernet switch integrated on a system on a chip

US11436024B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED · US

Inventors

• Sriramakrishnan Govindarajan · Bengaluru, IN
• Denis Beaudoin · Rowlett, US
• Gregory Raymond Shurtz · Houston, US
• Santhanakrishnan Badri Narayanan · Kanchinakote, IN
• Mark Adrian Bryans · Dallas, US
• Mihir Narendra Mody · Kanchinakote, IN
• Jason A. T. Jones · Richmond, US
• Jayant Thakur · Bengaluru, IN

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 2, 2019
• Grant date: Sep 6, 2022
• Expiry date: Nov 26, 2040

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L49/351
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

An Ethernet switch and a switch microcontroller or CPU are integrated onto a system-on-a-chip (SoC). The Ethernet switch remains independently operating at full speed even though the remainder of the SoC is being reset or is otherwise nonoperational. The Ethernet switch is on a separated power and clock domain from the remainder of the integrated SoC. A warm reset signal is trapped by control microcontroller (MCU) to allow the switch CPU to isolate the Ethernet switch and save state. When the Ethernet switch is isolated and operating independently, the warm reset request is provided to the other entities on the integrated SoC. When warm reset is completed, the state is restored and the various DMA and flow settings redeveloped in the integrated SoC to allow return to normal operating condition.