`Gulick et al.
`
`[19]
`
`1111111111~ I~ 11111111111111111~ Ill ~11111111111111~ II
`US005797028A
`5,797,028
`Patent Number:
`Date of Patent:
`Aug. 18, 1998
`
`[45]
`
`[11]
`
`[54] COMPUTER SYSTEM HAVING AN
`IMPROVED DIGITAL AND ANALOG
`CONFIGURATION
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors: Dale E. Gulick; Andy Lambrecht;
`Mike Webb; Larry Hewitt. all of
`Austin; Brian Barnes. Round Rock. all
`of Tex.
`
`[73] Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc ..
`Sunnyvale. Calif.
`
`[21] Appl. No.: SU,488
`
`[22] Filed:
`
`Sep. 11, 1995
`
`Int. CI.6
`...................................................... G06F 15/00
`[51]
`[52] U.S. Cl. .................................. 395/800.32; 364/228.6;
`364/DIG. 1
`[58) Field of Search ............................... 395/800. 800.32.
`395/800.35. 800.01; 364/489. 228.6. DIG. 1
`
`[56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENf DOCUMENTS
`
`4.742,544
`5,027,214
`5.091,951
`5,lll,409
`
`511988 Kupnicki et al .......................... 380/14
`611991 Fujimori ................................. 348/233
`211992 Ida et al. ................................... 381163
`511992 Gasper et al ........................... 3951807
`
`5.210.806
`5.434.913
`5.592.391
`
`511993 Kihara et al ............................ 3811103
`7fl995 Tung et al .............................. 3791202
`111997 Muyshondt et al ..................... 364/489
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`PCI Local Bus-PC/ Multimedia Design Guide-Revision
`LO-Mar. 29. 1994. 43 pages.
`
`Primary Examiner-John E. Harricy
`Attorne); Agent, or Firm-Conley. Rose & Tayon: Jeffrey C.
`Hood
`
`(57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A computer system including separate digital and analog
`system chips which provides increased performance over
`current computer architectures. The computer system of the
`present invention includes a digital system chip which
`performs various digital functions. including multi.media
`functions and chipset functions. and a separate analog chip
`which performs analog functions. including digital to analog
`and analog to digital conversions. Thus the present invention
`optimizes silicon use and design by splitting up digital and
`analog functions on separate chips. The system of the
`present invention also separates digital noise from analog
`noise. allowing a higher degree of integration while increas(cid:173)
`ing stabilicy.
`
`32 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets
`
`v-102
`
`CPU
`
`- Video
`132
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`
`134
`- Spkrs
`
`r
`136)
`
`114
`
`Analog
`System
`Chip
`
`1128
`
`Digital
`System
`Chip
`USB Ports
`u
`LI
`
`I
`Hard
`Disk
`
`122
`
`PCI Bus
`
`l
`Network
`Card
`
`124
`
`110
`
`Main
`Memory
`
`II
`
`Floppy
`Drive
`
`~141
`
`7
`120
`
`1
`'
`
`Apple Inc. v. Parthenon
`Ex. 1005 / Page 1 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 1
`
`
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`
`142~ MIC
`
`144---1 ROM
`CD I
`
`146---l Tuner,
`
`TV
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 2 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 2
`
`
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`
`226
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`234 Memory
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`204
`
`2071 ROW I
`
`RAM
`
`Purpose
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`DSP
`
`2Q6
`
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`
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`to 201---(cid:173)
`
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`
`D f
`
`260
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`2Q2
`
`232
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`Digitalr
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 3 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 3
`
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`
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`244
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`242
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`I
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 4 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 4
`
`
`
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`Fig. 4
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`Inputs
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`414
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`
`442
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`4Q4
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`4Q2
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 5 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 5
`
`
`
`"' = N
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`00
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`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 6 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 6
`
`
`
`-... = N
`
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`Fig. 6
`
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`Management
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`
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`
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`
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`:
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`
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`
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`
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`
`222
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`2Q6
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`Audio
`
`204
`
`I
`
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`
`Engine
`
`2Q2
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 7 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 7
`
`
`
`QIO
`N
`Q
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`
`CPU
`
`120
`
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`
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`
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`
`/
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 8 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 8
`
`
`
`QtJ
`N
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`Fig. 8
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`176
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`
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`
`134
`Monitor Spkrs
`Video
`
`132
`
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`
`I
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`
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`I
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`
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`
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`
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`
`ROM
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`TV
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
`Logic
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`
`106A
`
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`
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`
`CPU
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 9 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 9
`
`
`
`~
`N
`Q
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`........
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`
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`
`Memory
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`
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`
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`
`120
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
`I
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
`11
`
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`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 10 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 10
`
`
`
`"' = N
`
`O'J
`
`"--l
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`
`Function
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`
`228
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`:
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`
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`
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`
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`
`234
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
`213
`
`Purpose
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`
`DSP
`
`242
`
`\
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 11 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 11
`
`
`
`00
`N
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`
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`rJ). =(cid:173)~
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`
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`Audio
`
`4!0
`
`Inputs
`System
`Audio
`
`416
`
`Transceiver
`
`IR
`
`414
`
`Transceiver
`
`Radio
`
`442
`
`I
`
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`
`~
`~
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`00
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`
`Mixers
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`432
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`
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`
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`
`i---416
`
`Port
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`
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`
`Input
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`
`EJ~2
`
`c
`
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`
`Input
`
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`Input
`TV Tuner o-412
`
`Converter
`
`Analog
`
`AID
`
`4Q2
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 12 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 12
`
`
`
`5.797.028
`
`2
`For example. a video card includes digital circuitry which
`performs polygon rendering. texture mapping and other
`pixel manipulation operations. and also includes the digital
`memory portion of a RAMDAC (random access memory
`5 digital to analog converter). A video card also includes
`analog circuitry which performs the digital to analog con(cid:173)
`version and generates RGB (red. green and blue) analog
`voltages which drive a video monitor. Likewise. a sound
`card includes digital circuitry which performs audio pro-
`10 cessing functions such as MIDI wavetable synthesis. etc ..
`and also includes analog circuitry to generate the appropriate
`analog audio signals that are provided to the speakers.
`As multimedia and communication applications become
`more prevalent, multimedia and communication hardware
`15 will correspondingly become essential components in per(cid:173)
`sonal computer systems. Therefore. an improved computer
`system architecture is desired which is optimized for mul(cid:173)
`timedia and communication applications as well as for
`non-realtime applications.
`
`1
`COMPUTER SYSTEM HAVING AN
`ThlPROVED DIGITAL AND ANALOG
`CONFIGURATION
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention relates to a computer system having
`separate digital and analog system chips which is optimized
`for real-time multimedia and communications applications.
`wherein the digital chip integrates digital portions of mul(cid:173)
`timedia and communications processing and the analog chip
`integrates analog portions of multimedia and communica(cid:173)
`tions processing.
`DESCRIPfION OF THE RELATED ART
`Computer architectures generally include a plurality of
`devices interconnected by one or more various buses. For
`example. modern computer systems typically include a CPU
`coupled through bridge logic to main memory. The bridge
`logic also typically couples to a high bandwidth local
`expansion bus. such as the peripheral component intercon(cid:173)
`nect (PCI) bus or the VESA (Video Electronics Standards 20
`Association) VL bus. Examples of devices which can be
`coupled to local expansion buses include video accelerator
`cards. audio cards, telephony cards. SCSI adapters, network
`interface cards. etc. An older type expansion bus is generally
`coupled to the local expansion bus. Examples of such 25
`expansion buses included the industry standard architecture
`(ISA) bus. also referred to as the AT bus. the extended
`industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, or the microchan(cid:173)
`nel architecture (MCA) bus. Various devices may be coupled
`to this second expansion bus, including a fax/modem. sound 30
`card. etc.
`Personal computer systems were originally developed for
`business applications such as word processing and
`spreadsheets. among others. However. computer systems are
`currently being used to handle a number of real time 35
`applications. including multimedia applications having
`video and audio components, video capture and playback.
`telephony applications. and speech recognition and
`synthesis. among others. These real time applications typi(cid:173)
`cally require a large amount of system resources and band(cid:173)
`width.
`One problem that has arisen is that computer systems
`originally designed for business applications are not well
`suited for the real-time requirements of modem multimedia
`and communications applications. For example. modern
`personal computer system architectures still presume that
`the majority of applications executing on the computer
`system are non real-time business applications such as word
`processing and/or spreadsheet applications. which execute
`primarily on the main CPU. In general. computer systems
`have not traditionally been designed with multimedia and/or
`communication hardware as part of the system. and thus the
`system is not optimized for multimedia applications. Rather.
`multimedia and/or communication hardware is typically
`designed as an add-in card for optional insertion in an
`expansion bus of the computer system.
`In many cases. multimedia hardware cards situated on an
`expansion bus do not have the required access to system
`memory and other system resources for proper operation. In
`addition. since the computer system architecture is not 60
`optimized for real-time applications, multimedia and com(cid:173)
`munications hardware cards generally do not make efficient
`use of system resources. As an example. hardware cards
`which perform video. audio and/or communications func(cid:173)
`tions each typically include a digital portion which processes
`digital data and an analog portion which processes analog
`data.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention comprises a computer system
`which provides increased performance over current com(cid:173)
`puter architectures. The computer system of the present
`invention includes a digital system chip which performs
`various digital functions. including multimedia and commu(cid:173)
`nication functions. and a separate analog chip which per(cid:173)
`forms analog functions. Thus the present invention opti(cid:173)
`mizes silicon use and design by splitting up digital and
`analog functions on separate chips. The system of the
`present invention also separates digital noise from analog
`noise. allowing a higher degree of integration while increas(cid:173)
`ing stability.
`In the preferred embodiment. the computer system
`includes a CPU coupled through chip set or bridge logic to
`main memory. The bridge logic also couples to a local
`expansion bus such as the PCI bus. Various devices may be
`connected to the PCI bus. including a network interface
`40 card. as well as other peripherals. The bridge logic and main
`memory also couple to a digital system chip which performs
`various digital functions in the computer system. In one
`embodiment. the digital system chip couples directly to the
`CPU and main memory. and the digital system chip includes
`45 the PO bridge logic. the main memory controller logic. and
`other chipset logic.
`The digital system chip includes one or more DSP engines
`that perform video. graphics. audio and/or telephony appli(cid:173)
`cations. The DSP engines may comprise either dedicated
`5-0 video. audio and/or communication engines or general pur(cid:173)
`pose DSP engines. The digital system chip also performs
`various digital operations in the computer system. including
`one or more of power management functions. floppy con(cid:173)
`troller functions, serial and parallel 1/0 port functions. and
`55 hard disk interface functions. As desired, the digital system
`chip may perform other functions. including. EIDE support
`and SCSI support. Thus the digital system chip performs a
`number of real-time digital functions. including audio and
`video functions. as well as others.
`An analog system chip is connected directly to the digital
`system chip and performs various analog functions. includ(cid:173)
`ing analog-to-digital (ND) conversion and digital to analog
`(DIA) conversion for various functions. including video,
`audio. modern functionality. and a telephone handset. among
`65 others. In one embodiment. the analog system chip only
`includes analog portions of the ND and DIA logic
`functionality. and the digital portion of the ND and D/ A
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 13 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 13
`
`
`
`5.797.028
`
`4
`FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a computer system including
`digital and analog system chips coupled to a PCI expansion
`bus according to an alternate embodiment of the present
`invention;
`FIG. 9 illustrates the computer system of FIG. 8 including
`a plurality of digital and analog system chips. wherein the
`system includes a bus comprised between the digital and
`analog system chips;
`FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the digital system chip of
`10 FIGS. 8 and 9; and
`FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the analog system chip of
`FIGS. 8 and 9.
`
`3
`logic is comprised in the digit.al system chip. The_ analog
`system chip further includes video ports for co~pling to a
`video monitor. audio ports for coupling to an audio DAC or
`speakers. and one or more communication ports for trans(cid:173)
`ferring analog information. In one embodim~nt. the an~log 5
`system chip includes one or more of a radio transceiver,
`infrared (IR) transceiver. analog mixer. and a NTSC
`(National Television Standards Committee) converter. The
`analog system chip further includes analog inputs for receiv(cid:173)
`ing input from various peripherals. such as a microphone,
`CD-ROM. stereo system and TV tuner. among others.
`In an alternate embodiment. the digital system chip
`couples to the PCI bus. The digital syste_m chip ma.y .be
`comprised on the motherboard or. alternatively. the digital
`chip is comprised on a modular expansion card adapted ~or
`insertion into a connector slot on the PCI bus. thus allowrng
`for improved modularity and upgradeability. The analog
`system chip preferably couples directly to the digital system
`chip. and the analog system chip couples to various
`peripherals. including a monitor and speakers.
`In one embodiment. the computer system includes a
`separate intermediate bus coupled between the digital sys(cid:173)
`tem chip and the analog system chip. In this embodiment.
`one or more digital system chips are coupled to the PCI bus.
`wherein the one or more digital system chips connect to the
`intermediate bus. One or more analog system chips are also
`coupled to the intermediate bus. This configuration allows
`for improved modularity and upgradeability. This configu(cid:173)
`ration also allows communication between each of the
`digital system chips and analog sy_stem_ ~ips. as well . as
`communication between the respective digital system chips
`and communication between the respective analog system
`chips.
`Therefore. the present invention comprises a novel com(cid:173)
`puter system architecture which increa~e~ the perfo~n':
`of real-time applications. A dedicated digital system chip is
`included in the system which performs various digital mul(cid:173)
`timedia and communication operations. and an analog sys(cid:173)
`tem chip is coupled directly to the digital system chip which
`performs various corresponding analog ~uncti~ns: This .s~pa
`ration of digital and analog functionality optimizes silicon
`use and reduces noise issues while also providing improved
`performance.
`
`15
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPITON OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
`Incorporation by Reference
`PCISystemArchitecture by Tom Shanley and Don Ander(cid:173)
`son and available from Mindshare Press. 2202 Buttercup
`Dr., Richardson. Tex. 75082 (214) 231-2216. is hereby
`20 incorporated by reference in its entirety.
`. .
`The Intel Peripherals Handbook. 1994 and 1995 editions.
`available from Intel Corporation. are hereby incorporated by
`reference in their entirety. Also, data sheets on the Intel
`82430FX PClset chipset. also referred to as the Triton
`25 chipset. are hereby incorporated by reference in their
`entirety. including the 82430 Cache Memory Subsystem
`data sheet (Order No. 290482-004 ). the 82420/82430 POset
`ISA and EISA bridge data sheet (Order No. 290483-004).
`and the Intel 82430FX PCiset Product Brief (Order No.
`30 297559-001). all of which are available from Intel
`Corporation, Literature Sales, P.O. Box 7641. Mt. Prospect.
`Ill. 60056-7641 (1-800-879-4683). and all of which are
`hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
`U.S. Pat. No. 4,994.801 titled "Apparatus Adaptable for
`35 Use in Effecting Communication Between an Analog Device
`and a Digital Device". which was filed on Oct. 30. 1989. and
`which issued Feb. 19. 1991. whose inventors are Saf Asghar.
`John Bartkowiak. and Miki Moyal, and which is assigned to
`Advanced Micro Devices Corporation. is hereby incorpo-
`40 rated by reference in its entirety.
`Computer System Block Diagram
`Referring now to FIG. 1. a block diagram of a computer
`system according to the present invention is shown. As
`shown. the computer system includes a central processing
`45 unit (CPU) 102 which is coupled through a CPU local bus
`to a host/PCI/cache bridge or chipset lOli. The chipset
`includes arbitration logic 107 as shown. The chipset Hli is
`preferably similar to the Triton chipset available from Intel
`Corporation. A second level or L2 cache memory (not
`50 shown) may be coupled to a cache controller in the chipset.
`as desired. The bridge or chipset lOli couples through a
`memory bus 108 to main memory 110. The main memory
`11 O is preferably DRAM (dynamic random access memory)
`or EDO (extended data out) memory. as desired.
`The host/PCI/cache bridge or chipset ltli also interfaces
`to a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus 120. In the
`preferred embodiment. a PCI local bus is used. However. it
`is noted that other local buses may be used. such as the
`VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) VL bus.
`60 Various types of devices may be connected to the PCI bus
`120.
`In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. a digital system chip
`112 according to the present invention is coupled to the
`chipset 106. The digital system chip 112 perf?rms various
`65 digital functions. including multimedia functions su~h. as
`video and audio. as discussed further below. The d1g1tal
`system chip 112 includes a Universal Serial Bus (USB)
`
`55
`
`BRIEF DESCRWfION OF THE DRAWINGS
`A better understanding of the present invention can be
`obtained when the following detailed description of the
`preferred embodiment is considered in conjunction with the
`following drawings. in which:
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system including
`a digital system chip and an analog system. chip ~cording to
`the preferred embodiment of the present mvention;
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the digital system chip of
`FIG. 1;
`FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an alternate embodiment of
`the digital system chip of FIG. 1 according to the present
`invention;
`FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the analog system chip of
`FIG. 1;
`FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computer system including
`a digital system chip and an analog chip according to an
`alternate embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. ti is a block diagram of the digital system chip of
`FIG. 5;
`FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computer system including
`a digital system chip and an analog chip according to a third
`embodiment of the present invention;
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 14 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 14
`
`
`
`5.797.028
`
`5
`interface as well as a parallel/serial port interface. The
`digital system chip 112 also preferably includes an ISDN
`(Integrated Services Digital Network) interface. The digital
`system chip 112 also preferably couples to floppy drive 141.
`Various other devices may be coupled to the digital system
`chip 112. such as a hard drive or other digital devices. The
`digital system chip 112 preferably only comprises digital
`circuitry.
`The digital system chip 112 preferably communicates
`with devices on the PCI bus 120 through the chipset 106. In
`one embodiment. the digital system chip 112 includes a PCI
`interface for coupling directly to the PCI bus 120. In this
`embodiment. the digital system chip 112 can arbitrate for the
`PCI bus and can communicate directly with devices on the
`PCI bus with less involvement of the chipset logic 106. The
`digital system chip 112 is also preferably coupled to other
`devices in the computer system to perform power manage(cid:173)
`ment functions. as well as other functions. as desired.
`An analog system chip 114 is coupled to the digital system
`chip 112. The analog system chip 114 performs various 20
`analog functions. including analog to digital (AID)
`conversion. digital to analog (D/A) conversion, and modem
`functionality. among others. The analog system chip 114 is
`coupled to provide outputs to various analog devices.
`including a video monitor 132 and speakers 134. The analog
`system chip 114 also includes an analog modem output 136
`for coupling to a telephone line. The analog system chip 114
`also couples to various devices to receive various analog
`inputs, including a microphone 142. a CD-ROM 144. and a
`TV tuner 146. It is noted that only the analog output of the
`CD-ROM is provided to the analog system chip 114. The
`analog system chip 114 preferably substantially comprises
`analog circuitry. and preferably only includes digital "front(cid:173)
`end" circuitry for interfacing to the digital system chip 112.
`Various devices may be coupled to the PCI bus 120. For
`example. a hard disk 122 and a network interface controller
`124 are shown coupled to the PCI bus 120. A SCSI (small
`computer systems interface) adapter (not shown) may also
`be coupled to the PCI bus 120. In one embodiment. the
`digital system chip 112 includes a hard disk interface for
`coupling to a hard disk and a SCSI interface for coupling to
`SCSI devices. In addition. the digital system chip 112 may
`also include network interface circuitry such as Ethernet or
`token ring circuitry for interfacing to a network. However. in
`the preferred embodiment. the digital system chip 112 does
`not include network circuitry. but rather network functions
`are performed by a modular network card coupled to the PCI
`bus 120. Various other devices may be connected to the PCI
`bus 120. as is well known in the art.
`Expansion bus bridge logic (not shown) is also preferably
`coupled to the PCI bus 120. The expansion bus bridge logic
`interfaces to an expansion bus (not shown). The expansion
`bus may be any of varying types. including the industry
`standard architecture (ISA) bus. also referred to as the XI'
`bus. the extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus.
`or the microchannel architecture (MCA) bus. Various
`devices may be coupled to the expansion bus. such as
`expansion bus memory (not shown).
`Digital System Chip Block Diagram
`Referring now to FIG. 2. a more detailed block diagram
`illustrating the digital system chip 112 is shown. The digital
`system chip 112 includes a connector 201 for connecting to
`analog system chip 114. and also includes a connector 203
`for coupling to the chipset logic 106. Although not shown in
`FIG. 2. the various devices in the digital system chip 112 are
`interconnected through respective data channels or signal
`traces to form a functional unit. The digital system chip 112
`
`6
`also preferably includes one or more input/output (1/0)
`channels for transmitting data to the analog system chip 114
`and to the chipset logic 106.
`In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2. the digital
`s system chip 112 includes a video/graphics engine 202 which
`performs video and graphics operations such as polygon
`rendering. texture mapping. and other pixel manipulation
`operations. among others. The video/graphics engine 202
`performs operations similar to currently available graphics
`10 accelerators from companies such as S3. Tseng. Weitek. and
`others. The digital system chip 112 may also include a
`dedicated MPEG (Motion Pictures Electronics Group)
`decoder (not shown).
`The digital system chip 112 also includes an audio engine
`1s 204 which performs digital audio processing operations such
`as MIDI and wavetable synthesis. among others. the audio
`engine 204 performs operations similar to currently avail(cid:173)
`able sound cards such as SoundBlaster or SoundBlaster-
`compatible cards.
`The digital system chip 112 also preferably includes a
`general purpose DSP engine 206 which is programmable to
`perform various functions. such as MPEG decoding. LZ
`compression. and other advanced video. audio. and/or com(cid:173)
`munications functions. A read only memory (ROM) 207 is
`25 preferably coupled to the DSP Engine 206 which stores
`instructions for use by the DSP Engine 206. Alternatively. a
`non-volatile RAM or SRAM is used which receives down(cid:173)
`loadable instructions from the main memory 110. In one
`embodiment. the DSP engine 206 is a dedicated communi-
`30 cation engine which performs digital communication
`operations. such as ISDN operations and/or telephony
`operations. In another embodiment. the digital system chip
`112 includes a dedicated communication engine (not shown)
`in addition to the general purpose DSP engine 206. and the
`35 dedicated communication engine performs ISDN and/or
`telephony operations.
`In one embodiment. the digital system chip 112 includes
`multimedia memory (not shown) for storing multimedia
`data, such as video data and audio data. The multimedia
`40 memory corresponds to video RAM (VRAM) found on
`current video accelerator cards. and is also used for storing
`audio data as well as other multimedia and communications
`data. The multimedia memory preferably comprises VRAM.
`DRAM (dynamic RAM). SRAM (static RAM). or EDO
`45 (extended data out) RAM. as desired. Alternatively. the
`multimedia memory is located off-chip and is coupled
`directly to the digital system chip 112.
`In one embodiment. the digital system chip 112 does not
`include multimedia memory. but rather video data and audio
`so data are stored in the system memory 110 according to a
`unified memory architecture. In this embodiment. the digital
`system chip 112 preferably includes a memory buffer 234
`and a direct memory access (DMA) engine 236 for trans(cid:173)
`ferring data from the main memory 110 to the memory
`55 buffer 234 in the digital system chip 112.
`In one embodiment. the video engine 202 and audio
`engine 204 couple through one or more 1/0 channels to
`respective digital 1/0 ports 232. including video and audio
`ports. The digital video port is included for providing digital
`60 video data to peripheral devices. such as an MPEG decoder
`or a digital video display. The digital audio port is included
`for providing digital audio data to digital peripheral devices.
`such as for external mixing. as desired. In an embodiment
`which includes a dedicated communication engine. the
`65 digital system chip 112 preferably includes one or more
`digital communication ports 232 for coupling to an ISDN
`line or other digital line.
`
`Ex. 1005 / Page 15 of 20
`
`Petitioners HTC Corp. & HTC America, Inc. - Ex. 1005, p. 15
`
`
`
`5.797.028
`
`s
`
`8
`7
`store microcode corresponding to video, audio and commu-
`As shown. the digital system chip 112 also preferably
`nication processing instructions. or receive downloadable
`includes a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface 222 for
`microcode from the system memory 110.
`interfacing to a Universal Serial Bus. The Universal Serial
`Analog System Chip
`Bus is a bus specification proposed by Microsoft and Intel
`Referring now to FIG. 4. the analog system chip 114 is
`which is designed to replace the various peripheral connec-
`shown. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 4. the
`tors on current PCs with a single connector for most
`analog system chip 114 includes analog to digital (A/D)
`peripherals. s