Patent ID: 7464195

Claim:
A method for detecting a presence of a device, the method comprising: providing a clock driver having a pair of differential clock signal lines capable of connection to a device, wherein one signal line of the pair of signal lines carries a clock signal, while the other wire carries the inverse of the signal; providing a presence detection signal for transmission through the pair of differential clock signal lines; determining whether the presence detection signal is received through the pair of differential clock signal lines; identifying the absence of the device if no presence detection signal is received through the pair of differential clock signal lines, further comprising; enabling the presence detection signal on one of the differential clock signal lines when the absence of the device is identified; and disabling the differential clock signals through the differential clock signal lines when the absence of the device is identified; identifying the presence of the device if the presence detection signal is received through the pair of differential clock signal lines, further comprising: enabling differential clock signals through the pair of differential clock signal lines when the presence of the device is identified; and disabling the presence detection signal through the pair of differential clock signal lines when the presence of the device is identified; and notifying a system management module of the presence of the device.