Patent · US Expired

First-in first-out memory device and method for accessing the device

US5228002A · kind A · utility

33Cited by
4References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateApr 26, 1991
Grant dateJul 13, 1993
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 26, 2011

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F5/14
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

To reduce the access time of a FIFO, a storage device is provided for storing pre-loaded data to be read from the memory array of the FIFO. Thus during each read operation, the pre-loaded data in the storage device is read and the next unit of data to be read during the next read operation is pre-loaded from the array into the storage device. A second storage device is provided for storing the first unit of data written into the array after the array is empty. Thus during the first read operation after the array is rendered non-empty by one or more consecutive write operations, the first unit of data stored in the second storage device is read during the first read operation. This avoids reading garbage from the first storage device which is pre-loaded during the last read operation before the FIFO is empty.

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