The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 09, 1996
Filed:
Apr. 21, 1995
Tai A Cao, Austin, TX (US);
Satyajit Dutta, Austin, TX (US);
Thai Q Nguyen, Austin, TX (US);
Thanh D Trinh, Austin, TX (US);
Lloyd A Walls, Austin, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The present invention includes an output circuit for a driver on a first chip that will cause an unterminated transmission line to create a predetermined voltage reflection. This reflection will then be added to the output of the driver circuit to obtain a voltage level capable of switching the receiver circuit, located on a second chip. Further, the impedance of the driver can be varied to adjust the voltage level of the signal being transmitted to the receiver, in order to reduce noise margins and cause the receiver to switch more quickly. Additionally, the transmission line impedance can also be modified to create overshoot, thereby allowing chips with dissimilar voltage levels to communicate with one another.