Patent ID: 8751709

Claim:
A method comprising: selecting a first mode or a second mode of communication between a first apparatus and a second apparatus using a first control, the first control being a mode control, the first apparatus including a reference oscillator circuit, wherein: the first mode is a parallel interface mode for a parallel interface between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, the parallel interface including a first plurality of pins, and the second mode is a serial interface mode for a serial interface between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, the serial interface including a second plurality of pins, the first plurality of pins and the second plurality of pins both including an overlapping set of pins, the reference oscillator circuit being used to provide clocking for data transfer in the second mode; providing the selected mode of communication and communicating data between the first apparatus and the second apparatus using the selected mode of communication; and enabling or disabling the reference oscillator circuit using a second control, the second control being a reference oscillator control independent of the first control.