Patent ID: 8151131

Claim:
A signal synchronization method of performing signal synchronization between a device which operates in synchronization with a first clock signal and a processor which operates in synchronization with a second clock signal with a different cycle from that of the first signal, changes a request signal from an inactive state to an active state when data communication with the device is requested, then maintains the request signal in the active state when detecting an acknowledgement signal for the request signal and successively issuing the subsequent request, and changes the request signal to the inactive state when not successively issuing the subsequent request, the signal synchronization method comprising: (a) converting the request signal, which is input by the processor, into a synchronized request signal which is synchronized with the first clock signal; (b) outputting the synchronized request signal to the device without masking the synchronized request signal until a mask start time and outputting the synchronized request signal which is changed into the inactive state by masking the synchronized request signal after the mask start time, the mask start time being set as a time at which the first clock signal is changed from the inactive state to the active state after the output synchronized request signal is changed from the inactive state to the active state and the device is able to receive the synchronized request signal; (c) converting the maintained request signal in the active state into the synchronized request signal, which is input from the processor and is synchronized with the first clock signal, when the processor, which has input the acknowledgement signal, issues the subsequent request while maintaining the request signal in the active state; and (d) outputting the synchronized request signal, which is changed into the inactive state by masking the synchronized request signal, to the device before a predetermined mask duration elapses from the mask start time, and outputting the synchronized request signal, which is not masked, to the device after the mask duration elapses from the mask start time, wherein the mask duration is set to be not less than a time period from the mask start time to a time at which the converting (c) of the maintained request signal in the active state into the synchronized request signal can be performed regardless of the timing difference between the first clock signal and the second clock signal.