Systems and methods for chip operation using serial peripheral interface (spi) with reduced pin options

Abstract

Systems and methods for chip operation using serial peripheral interface (SPI) with reduced pin options contemplate eliminating the chip select pins, interrupt pins and/or reset pins for host (also referred to as master)-to-device (also referred to as slave) communication links, while preserving the possibility of backward compatibility for legacy devices if desired. The communication link may include a clock line, a host-to-device line, and a device-to-host line. The host may use specific sequences of signals on the clock and host-to-device line to provide start and stop sequence commands, interrupts, or reset commands. By consolidating these commands onto the clock and host-to-device line, pin count may be reduced for portions of the host and slave circuits. Likewise, fewer (or at least shorter potentially) conductive traces may be needed to interconnect the host to the device. Such changes may save cost, make layout design easier, and/or save space within a computing device.