Microelectronic elements with master/slave configurability

摘要

A semiconductor chip that may be configured to function as either a master chip or a slave chip. The semiconductor chip may be included in a microelectronic assembly including a plurality of vertically stacked semiconductor chips, with each of the chips containing functional circuit blocks that enable each semiconductor chip to function as either a master chip or a slave chip under in accordance with a state input stored on the same chip, or received from another chip in the stacked assembly or from another component of a system in which the stacked assembly is configured to operate.

主权项

1. A semiconductor chip comprising:
a plurality of data lines connectable to an off-chip data bus for transmitting data signals between the semiconductor chip and at least one other semiconductor chip; a chip select control for designating the semiconductor chip as a master chip or as a slave chip; and master chip circuitry configured to perform operations as a master chip in a state in which the chip select control designates the semiconductor chip as a master chip, the master chip circuitry including circuits for converting between a first format of first data signals on the data lines or on the data bus and a second format of second data signals at an external data input-output interface of the semiconductor chip, the semiconductor chip further comprising control logic coupled to receive an address and an output of the chip select control, and a set of switches coupled between the data bus and the data lines of such chip configured to enable the transfer of signals between the data bus and the data lines in a state in which the chip select control designates the semiconductor chip as a master chip; and when the chip select control designates the semiconductor chip as a slave chip, to enable the transfer of signals between the data bus and the data lines of the semiconductor chip only when the received address defines an address within the semiconductor chip.