Adaptive communication interface

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention include a communication interface and protocol for allowing communication between devices, circuits, integrated circuits and similar electronic components having different communication capacities or clock domains. The interface supports communication between any components having any difference in capacity and over any distance. The interface utilizes request and acknowledge phases and signals and an initiator-target relationship between components that allow each side to throttle the communication rate to an accepted level for each component or achieve a desired bit error rate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 generating a request signal on a first line;   sending data over a communication medium in response to the request signal; and   generating an acknowledge signal on a second line to throttle a transfer of data in response to a first delayed version of the acknowledgment signal received from a target.