Patent ID: 8117370
Filing Date: 2012-02-14
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. An integrated circuit (IC) for a handheld computing unit to facilitate docking to an extended computing unit in one of a plurality of docking modes, the IC comprises: a processing module; on-chip memory; one or more block input/output (I/O) interfaces for coupling to one or more off-chip block I/O devices; one or more character I/O interfaces for coupling to one or more off-chip character I/O devices when active; a main memory interface for coupling to off-chip main memory; a baseband processing module coupled to convert outbound data into an outbound symbol stream and to convert an inbound symbol stream into inbound data; a radio frequency (RF) section coupled to convert the outbound symbol stream into an outbound RF signal and to convert an inbound RF signal into the inbound symbol stream; a processing module interface for coupling the processing module to an off-chip connection structure, wherein, when the handheld computing unit that includes the IC is docked to the extended computing unit in the one of a plurality of docking modes, the off-chip connection structure couples the handheld computing unit to the extended computing unit wherein, an IC bus structure coupled to the processing module, the on-chip memory, the one or more block I/O interfaces, the one or more character I/O interfaces, the main memory interface, and the baseband processing module.