Apparatus and method for preventing bus contention among a plurality of data sources
US5251305A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 4, 1991 |
| Grant date | Oct 5, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 4, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/4072
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for preventing bus contention among a plurality of data sources is described which creates signals to be used to disable two of three data sources which share a common bus immediately prior to a bus access cycle. The circuit employs a negative edge triggered flip-flop. This flip-flop generates disable signals which are shifted in phase by 90.degree. with respect to the bus access clock signal. These signals are active one-quarter of a clock cycle before a new bus cycle begins. The early disable serves to clear the bus for access by substantially eliminating the possibility that a slowly responding disabled data source is still active while a quickly responding enabled data source has just become active. The early disabling of the data signals does not result in loss of data. When all data sources on the bus are turned off, a high signal simply goes higher and a low signal rises slowly. The third data source and the disable circuitry for the other two sources are fabricated on the same integrated circuit to compensate for variations in speed from one circuit to the next.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.