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United States Patent 7,102,390

Frans, et al. September 5, 2006

Method and apparatus for signal reception using ground termination and/or non-ground termination

Abstract
Receiving units with inputs that may be ground-terminated and with inputs that are selectively ground-terminated or non-ground terminated are enabled with signal level shifting and a termination mode selection input. In a first exemplary implementation, a receiving unit is capable of having ground-terminated inputs. However, common mode voltage of the signal that is input to decoding data recovery circuitry is above ground because the input signal may be level shifted in between the ground-terminated inputs and the decoding data recovery circuitry. In a second exemplary implementation, a mode selection is accomplished by switching a voltage divider into operation and bypassing a level shifter for a non-ground terminated mode. For a ground terminated mode, the voltage divider is switched out of operation and the level shifter is switched into operation for its signal output to be decoded. Pre-amplification may also be employed to improve signal strength.

Inventors: Frans; Yohan U. (Palo Alto, CA), Nguyen; Nhat M. (San Jose, CA), Wang; Yueyong (Sunnyvale, CA)

Assignee: Rambus Inc. (Los Altos, CA)

Appl. No.: 11/058,088

Filed: February 15, 2005

Hat tip to FinzToRite for the link - the strike is over. (Any Donkey had to agree to spring load his options.)