Patent · US Expired

Circuit for sharing a memory of a microcontroller with an external device

US5587957A · kind A · utility

71Cited by
4References
5Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 29, 1995
Grant dateDec 24, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 29, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F13/1605
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A device for sharing a memory of a microcontroller with an external device is provided. The device according to the present invention includes a communication unit for exchanging information between the external device and the memory, a bus controlled circuitry for exchanging information between CPU of the microcontroller and the memory. The bus control circuitry is also adapted to generate CPU status signals. The device for sharing a memory space of a microcontroller further includes memory arbitration circuitry, coupled to the communication unit and to the bus control circuitry, for receiving the CPU control status signals and responsive to this signals operatively coupling the communication unit to the memory when the CPU status signals indicate that the CPU will not access the memory for a predetermined time.

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