TWI465923B - Interface apparatus, connecting system thereof and connecting method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Interface device and its serial system and serial connection method

The present invention relates to an interface device and a serial connection method thereof, and more particularly to an interface device using a lightning interface and a tandem system and a serial connection method thereof.

With the advancement of technology, the functions of computers tend to be diversified, and various peripheral devices are constantly being introduced. In order to facilitate the user to improve the computer performance or expand the computer function, the computer's motherboard is usually equipped with Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), and Fast PCI (PCI Express). , PCI-E) and other bus slots for users to insert expansion cards such as video cards, sound cards, and network cards. In addition, the computer will also be equipped with expansion interfaces such as Firewire and Universal Serial Bus (USB) for users to connect external devices such as hard disks and printers.

Recently, Intel Corporation of the United States introduced a new Thunderbolt interface that integrates both PCI-E and DisplayPort technologies to simultaneously transmit data and video streams over the same cable. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of data transmission of a lightning interface according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the lightning transmission technology provides two channels 122 and 124 as the PCI-E and the display port in the same cable 12 to respectively transmit data and video streams. By controlling the lightning controllers 14, 16 disposed at both ends of the cable 12, the transmission of each channel in both directions can reach a transmission capacity of 10 billion bits per second (GigaBit, Gb), so that the computer Data can be transferred back and forth between the peripheral device and the peripheral device. The bandwidth provided by lightning transmission technology can also be cascaded in multiple Daisy-chains for multiple high-speed devices without the need for a hub or switch.

For example, FIG. 2 is a daisy-chain serial connection architecture of a conventional lightning interface. Referring to FIG. 2, in order to implement the Daisy-chain serial connection mode, the host 22 as the master terminal needs to be configured with a lightning interface 222 and a lightning controller 224 supporting dual channel transmission, and the subsequent tandem lightning The interface devices 24, 26, 28 all need to have more than two lightning interface 埠242, 244, 262, 264, 282, 284. Among them, since each lightning interface has two channels, a lightning controller 246, 266, 286 supporting four channels needs to be disposed in the lightning interface devices 24, 26, and 28, and the device is also added between the invisible devices. Cost of production.

However, the two channels of the lightning interface are only used to transmit data and video streams, and channel aggregation is not supported, which limits transmission performance. When the user-connected lightning device does not include the display related device, the channel for transmitting the video stream will be idle, and the high-cost configuration of the lightning interface and the lightning controller can only provide half of the transmission performance. Waste of resources. In addition, the daisy chain serial connection structure does not have fault tolerance function. Once an abnormality or failure occurs in a lightning device, the lightning device connected in series will not be connected and will not work. In severe cases, it may even cause The result of missing data.

In view of this, the present invention provides an interface device and a serial connection system and method thereof, which can effectively improve the transmission performance of the interface and support the fault tolerance function.

The invention provides an interface device serial connection system, which comprises a host, a first type of interface device and a second type of interface device. The host has a first controller and a first interface, wherein the first controller provides data transmission of the first channel and the second channel through the first interface. The first type of interface device has a second controller, a second interface layer, and a third interface layer, wherein the second interface is connected in series with the first interface layer, the third interface is connected in series with the second interface layer, and the second controller is connected in series The second interface 第三 and the third interface 埠 enable the data of the first channel to be transmitted to the second controller via the second interface and then transmitted to the third interface by the second controller, and the data of the second channel is transmitted through the second interface Transfer directly to the third interface. The second type of interface device has a third controller, a fourth interface layer, and a fifth interface layer, wherein the fourth interface is connected in series with the third interface layer, the fifth interface is connected in series with the fourth interface layer, and the third controller is connected in series The fourth interface and the fifth interface 埠 enable the data of the second channel to be transmitted to the third controller via the fourth interface, and then transmitted to the fifth interface by the third controller, and the data of the first channel is transmitted through the fourth interface. Transfer directly to the fifth interface.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the interface device serial system further includes a plurality of first type interface devices, which are respectively connected in series with the second type interface device to process data transmitted via the first channel.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the interface device serial system further includes a plurality of second type interface devices, which are respectively connected in series with the first type of interface device to process data transmitted via the second channel.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first type of interface device and the second type of interface device are respectively used as two disks in a disk array (RAID).

The invention provides a method for serially connecting interface devices. First, a host is provided, the host having a first controller and a first interface. Then, the first type of interface device is serially connected to the host, so that the data of the first channel is transmitted to the second controller via the second interface of the first type interface device, and then transmitted to the third interface by the second controller. The two channels of data are directly transmitted to the third interface via the second interface. Then, the second type of interface device is serially connected to the first type of interface device, so that the data of the second channel is transmitted to the third controller via the fourth interface of the second type interface device, and then transmitted to the fifth controller by the third controller. After the interface, the data of the first channel is directly transmitted to the fifth interface via the fourth interface.

In an embodiment of the invention, the method further includes serially connecting another first type of interface device to the second type of interface device to process the data transmitted via the first channel.

In an embodiment of the invention, the method further includes serially connecting another second type of interface device to the another first type of interface device to process data transmitted via the second channel.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes transmitting, by using the first channel and the second channel, a backup data to the first type of interface device and the second type of interface device to store the backup data in the first type interface. Device and second type of interface device.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first controller, the second controller, and the third controller are lightning controllers that support dual channel data transmission.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first type of interface device and the second type of interface device comprise a graphics processing device, a display device, a storage device or a burning device that uses a lightning interface to transmit data.

The invention provides an interface device comprising a first interface layer, a controller and a second interface layer. The first interface is connected to the host or another interface device for receiving data transmitted through the first channel and the second channel. The controller is connected to the first interface port for receiving the data of the first channel and outputting the processed data of the first channel. The second interface is connected to the first interface and the controller for receiving the data of the second channel by the first interface, and receiving, by the first controller, the processed data of the first channel.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first channel and the second channel are respectively one of two data transmission channels of a lightning interface.

In an embodiment of the invention, the controller is a lightning controller that supports dual channel data transmission.

Based on the above, the interface device and the serial connection system and method of the present invention change the connection relationship between the interface device and the controller of the interface device, and the two data transmission channels of the lightning interface are staggered so that the two interfaces after the host are serially connected The device can process data of different channels separately. This can effectively improve the transmission performance of the interface and support data fault tolerance.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

The invention utilizes the high transmission bandwidth of the lightning interface and the daisy chain serial connection characteristic, and uses two data transmission channels of the lightning interface to transmit data, and the interface device is designed to process only the data of one channel, and The data of the other channel is bypassed by the interface device and provided to another interface device that is serially connected for processing. In this way, not only can the transmission efficiency of the two channels be effectively utilized, but also the system can be provided with fault tolerance.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of data transmission of a lightning interface according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, in this embodiment, two channels 322, 324 are provided in the same cable 32. The two channels 322 are controlled by the lightning controllers 34, 36 disposed at both ends of the cable 32. The 324 can be used to transfer data, including the Quick Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI-E) interface and/or DisplayPort data.

4 is a block diagram of a serial connection system of interface devices according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the interface device serial connection system 40 of the present embodiment includes a host 42, a first type of interface device 44, and a second type of interface device 46. The functions are as follows: the host 42 is, for example, a desktop computer or a notebook. Terminal devices such as computers and workstations, including a processor and various input and output interfaces, can be connected to peripheral devices and process programs executed by the user. The host 42 also includes a storage device such as a memory or a hard disk, and can store programs or other materials executed by the processor. It should be noted that the host 42 further has a first controller 422 and a first interface 424, and the first controller 422 can provide data transmission of the first channel and the second channel through the first interface 424. The first controller 422 is, for example, a lightning controller that supports dual channel data transmission of the lightning interface, and provides a dual channel data transmission function through the first interface 424.

The first type of interface device 44 is, for example, a graphics processing device (including a graphics processing unit (GPU)) that uses a lightning interface to transmit data, a display device, a storage device, a programming device, or other peripheral devices, and has a second controller 442, The second interface is 444 and the third interface is 446. The second interface 444 is connected in series with the first interface 424, the third interface 446 is connected to the second interface 444, and the second controller 442 is connected to the second interface 444 and the third interface 446. The data of the first channel output by the host 42 can be transmitted to the second controller 442 via the second interface 444 and then transmitted to the third interface 446 by the second controller 442. The data of the second channel output by the host 42 can be directly transmitted to the third interface 446 via the second interface 444.

The second type of interface device 46 can also be a graphics processing device (including a graphics processing unit (GPU)) that uses a lightning interface to transmit data, a display device, a storage device, a burning device, or other peripheral devices, and has a third controller 462, The fourth interface 埠 464 and the fifth interface 埠 466. The fourth interface 464 is connected in series to the third interface 446, the fifth interface 466 is connected in series to the fourth interface 464, and the third controller 462 is connected in series to the fourth interface 464 and the fifth interface 466. The data of the second channel output by the first type interface device 44 can be transmitted to the third controller 462 via the fourth interface 464 and then transmitted to the fifth interface 466 by the third controller 462.

The lightning controllers configured in the host 42, the first type of interface device 44, and the first type of interface device 46 only need to support dual channel data transmission, and do not need to support four channels of data. Transmission, thereby reducing the production cost of the interface device.

In addition, since the data of the second channel is directly transmitted from the second interface 444 of the first type interface device 44 to the third interface 446, even if the first type interface device 44 is abnormal or faulty, the data of the second channel It is still possible to pass directly over the first type of interface device 44 and to the second type of interface device 46 that is serially connected after the first type of interface device 44. Similarly, since the data of the first channel is directly transmitted to the fifth interface 466 directly by the fourth interface 464 of the second type interface device 46, even if the second type interface device 46 is abnormal or malfunctions, the first channel The data may still pass directly over the second type of interface device 46 and be transmitted to another first type of interface device (not shown) that is serially connected to the second type of interface device 46. With the above architecture, the interface device serial connection system 40 of the present embodiment can further implement the fault tolerance function of the data.

For example, the first type of interface device 44 and the second type of interface device 46 can be used as two disks in a disk array (RAID), for example, as RAID 0 and RAID 1, respectively. If the data transmission paths of the first channel and the second channel provided by the host 42 are taken apart, the system architecture as shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained. The host device 42 transmits the backup data to the first type interface device 44 and the second type interface device 46 through the first channel and the second channel, respectively, and the backup data can be stored in the first type interface device 44 and the second class respectively. Interface device 46. Thereby, even if any one of the first type interface device 44 and the second type interface device 46 is abnormal or faulty, the other device retains the backup data, thereby achieving the data fault tolerance function.

It should be noted that the above system architecture can also support the serial connection of multiple first type interface devices and the second type interface device, and the serial connection method is to connect the first type interface device to the host device or the second interface device. Thereafter, and after the second type of interface device is serially connected to the first interface device. Through the daisy-chain serial connection feature of the lightning interface, the interface device serially connected to the host can share the transmission bandwidth of the lightning interface and thus provide the functions required by the host.

For example, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an interface device serial connection system according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the interface device serial connection system 60 of the present embodiment includes a host 61, first type interface devices 62, 64, 66, and second type interface devices 63, 65, 67. It can be seen from the figure that, through the system architecture of the embodiment, the data of the first channel provided by the host 61 is only sent to the controllers of the first type of interface devices 62, 64, 66, and the first type of interface device 62, 64, 66 processing; on the other hand, the data of the second channel provided by the host 61 will only be sent to the controller of the second type of interface device 63, 65, 67, and the second type of interface device 63, 65, 67 Process it.

It is worth mentioning that if the data transmission paths of the first channel and the second channel provided by the host 61 are taken apart, the system architecture as shown in FIG. 7 can be obtained. Among them, in terms of the specification of the lightning interface, the transmission of each channel in both directions can reach the transmission capacity of 10 billion bits per second (GigaBit, Gb), and the bandwidth of this channel is determined by the path. All interface devices are shared. Accordingly, the present invention further selects an interface device (such as a graphics processing device) having a higher bandwidth requirement and an interface device (such as a CD player) having a lower bandwidth requirement according to the bandwidth requirement of each interface device, and is configured together. The transmission efficiency is optimized by configuring other interface devices with lower bandwidth requirements on the data transmission path of the other channel.

For example, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission path of a serial device serial connection system according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 8 , the interface device serial connection system 80 of the present embodiment includes a host 81 , an external dock 82 , a hard disk 83 , a hard disk 84 , a graphics processing device 85 , and an optical disk drive 86 . The host 81 provides the data transmission function of the first channel and the second channel through the lightning interface, and the external socket 82, the hard disk 83, and the hard disk 84 are disposed on the data transmission path of the first channel, and share the first channel. On the other hand, the graphics processing device 85 and the optical disk drive 86 are disposed on the data transmission path of the second channel, and share the transmission bandwidth of the second channel. Among them, since the usage rate of the optical disk drive 86 is low and the bandwidth requirement is low, the transmission bandwidth of the second channel can be almost provided to the graphics processing device 85, thereby optimizing the transmission performance.

In summary, the interface device and the serial connection system and method of the present invention adopt a design in which two data transmission channels of the lightning interface are staggered, so that the controller of the interface device only needs to process data transmission of two channels, thereby reducing the The production cost of the interface device. In addition, the above design also enables the interface device serially connected to the host to process the data of different channels separately, and is not affected by the interface device failure, thereby effectively utilizing the transmission performance of the interface and supporting the data fault tolerance function.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

12, 32. . . Cable

122, 124, 322, 324. . . aisle

14, 16, 246, 266, 286, 34, 36. . . Lightning controller

22, 42, 61, 81. . . Host

24, 26, 28. . . Lightning interface device

242, 244, 262, 264, 282, 284. . . Lightning interface埠

40, 60, 80‧‧ ‧ interface device tandem system

44, 62, 64, 66‧‧‧ first type interface devices

46, 63, 65, 67‧‧‧ second type interface devices

422‧‧‧First controller

424‧‧‧First interface埠

442‧‧‧second controller

444‧‧‧Second interface

446‧‧‧ Third interface埠

462‧‧‧ Third controller

464‧‧‧Fourth interface埠

466‧‧‧Fifth Interface埠

82‧‧‧External seat

83, 84‧‧‧ hard disk

85‧‧‧Graphic processing device

86‧‧‧CD player

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of data transmission of a lightning interface according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a daisy-chain serial connection architecture of a conventional lightning interface.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of data transmission of a lightning interface according to an embodiment of the invention.

4 is a block diagram of a serial connection system of interface devices according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission path of a serial device serial connection system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a serial connection system of interface devices according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission path of a serial device serial connection system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission path of a serial device serial connection system according to an embodiment of the invention.

40. . . Interface device tandem system

42. . . Host

44. . . First type interface device

46. . . Second type interface device

422. . . First controller

424. . . First interface埠

442. . . Second controller

444. . . Second interface埠

446. . . Third interface埠

462. . . Third controller

464. . . Fourth interface埠

466. . . Fifth interface埠

Claims (14)

An interface device serial connection system includes: a host having a first controller and a first interface, wherein the first controller provides a first channel and a second channel for data transmission through the first interface; a first type of interface device having a second controller, a second interface layer, and a third interface layer, wherein the second interface layer is connected in series with the first interface layer, and the third interface layer is connected in series with the second interface layer The interface 埠 is such that the data of the first channel is transmitted to the second controller via the second interface, and then transmitted by the second controller to the third interface, and the data of the second channel is transmitted through the second interface. Directly transmitting to the third interface device; and a second type of interface device having a third controller, a fourth interface layer, and a fifth interface layer, wherein the fourth interface layer is connected in series with the third interface layer The fifth interface is connected in series with the fourth interface, so that the data of the second channel is transmitted to the third controller via the fourth interface, and then transmitted by the third controller to the fifth interface, the first interface One channel of data is directly through the fourth interface Input to the fifth interface port. The interface device serial connection system of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of first type interface devices, which are respectively connected in series with the second type interface device to process data transmitted via the first channel. The interface device serial connection system of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of second type interface devices connected in series to the first type interface device Thereafter, the data transmitted via the second channel is processed. The interface device tandem system of claim 1, wherein the first controller, the second controller, and the third controller are lightning controllers that support dual channel data transmission. The interface device tandem system according to claim 1, wherein the first type interface device and the second type interface device comprise a graphic processing device, a display device, a storage device or a burning device that uses a lightning interface to transmit data. . The interface device tandem system of claim 1, wherein the first type of interface device and the second type of interface device respectively serve as two disks in a disk array. A method for serially connecting an interface device includes: providing a host having a first controller and a first interface; serially connecting a first type of interface device to the host, so that the data of the first channel is via the first A second interface of the interface device is transmitted to a second controller and then transmitted by the second controller to a third interface, and the data of the second channel is directly transmitted to the third via the second interface Interface 埠; and serially connecting a second type of interface device to the first type of interface device, such that the data of the second channel is transmitted to a third controller via a fourth interface of the second type of interface device The third controller transmits to a fifth interface, and the data of the first channel is directly transmitted to the fifth interface through the fourth interface. The interface device serial connection method of claim 7, further comprising: connecting another type of interface device in the second type of interface device to process data transmitted via the first channel. The interface device serial connection method of claim 8, further comprising: concatenating another second type of interface device after the another first type of interface device to process data transmitted via the second channel. The interface device serial connection method of claim 7, further comprising: transmitting a backup data to the first type interface device and the second type interface device through the first channel and the second channel; and storing The backup data is in the first type of interface device and the second type of interface device. The interface device serial connection method according to claim 7, wherein the first controller, the second controller, and the third controller are lightning controllers that support dual channel data transmission. The interface device serial connection method according to claim 7, wherein the first type interface device and the second type interface device comprise a graphic processing device, a display device, a storage device or a burning device that uses a lightning interface to transmit data. . An interface device includes: a first interface 串 connected in series with a host or another interface device for receiving data transmitted through a first channel and a second channel, wherein the interface device a first type of interface device; a controller, connected to the first interface, receiving data of the first channel, and outputting the processed data of the first channel; and a second interface, connecting the first The interface and the controller receive, by the second interface, the data of the second channel from the first interface and transmit the data to a second type of interface device, and receive the processed first by the second interface Channel information. The interface device of claim 13, wherein the first channel and the second channel are respectively one of two data transmission channels of a lightning interface.