Patent · US Expired

Arbiter circuit for establishing priority control of read, write and refresh operations with respect to memory array

US4956820A · kind A · utility

40Cited by
4References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 26, 1988
Grant dateSep 11, 1990
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 26, 2008

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C11/4096
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An arbiter circuit providing priority control of dynamic memory operations as a memory access signal control circuit which regulates the order in which dynamic memory access signals, such as read, write and refresh signals, are executed in effecting particular operating functions of a dynamic memory. The arbiter circuit has a first circuit element to temporarily hold a given access signal or signals, a second circuit element to inhibit transfer of any access signal when another access signal is already being executed, a third circuit element to synchronize individual access signals that are generated asynchronously, and a fourth circuit element to reset arbiter circuit upon the end of each access signal. The memory access signals or request signals are queued as necessary according to a priority allocation such that a write request signal heads the priority list, followed by a refresh request signal and a read request signal in order.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.