Patent ID: 8060678

Claim:
An interconnect bus, comprising: a first signal line configured to carry data that is formatted according to a specified bus protocol; a second signal line configured to carry a periodic signal simultaneously with the data carried over the first signal line, wherein the periodic signal is intended for sampling the data; wherein the second signal line is configured to carry the periodic signal when the interconnect bus is operating in data transmission mode, and wherein the second signal line is configured to not carry the periodic signal when the interconnect bus is operating in static state mode; wherein the first signal line is configured to not carry the data when the interconnect bus is operating in static state mode; and wherein the first signal line and the second signal line are configured to convey command/control state information associated with the specified bus protocol when the interconnect bus is operating in static state mode, and wherein when the interconnect bus is operating in static state mode, respective combinations of driven static states of the first signal line and the second signal line correspond to respective command/control states indicated by the command/control state information.