Patent ID: 8381031

Claim:
A method of requesting service from a remotely located integrated circuit die by transmitting service requests from an integrated circuit die having at least one transmission signal pin configured to transmit service requests to another integrated circuit die and at least one receiving signal pin configured to receive service requests from another integrated circuit die, the method comprising: determining a remote service requirement; transmitting a service request to a neighboring integrated circuit die; waiting to receive a first acknowledgement signal; waiting to receive a second acknowledgement signal negating the first acknowledgement signal; wherein determining, transmitting, and waiting are performed by electronic hardware; and wherein the first acknowledgement signal indicates a non-acknowledgement of the service request, and the second acknowledgement signal indicates an acknowledgement of the service request; wherein the service request is transmitted from a transmission signal pin on the integrated circuit die to the neighboring integrated circuit die; and wherein the integrated circuit die is configured to receive the first acknowledgement signal and the second acknowledgement signal on the same transmission signal pin from which the service request is transmitted, thereby leaving a receiving signal pin configured to receive service requests from the neighboring integrated circuit die free for other communication during transmission of the service request and during receipt of the first acknowledgement signal and the second acknowledgement signal.