Decoupled DMA transfer list storage technique for a peripheral resource controller
US5619728A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 20, 1994 |
| Grant date | Apr 8, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 20, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/28
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A peripheral resource controller such as a caching disk array controller is provided for controlling the transfer of data between a host bus and a peripheral resource, such as an array of hard disk drives. The peripheral resource controller includes a bus interface controller for providing an interface between the host bus and a local bus of the peripheral controller. The bus interface controller further includes a peripheral bus interface which accommodates accesses to a peripheral bus and a DMA controller for controlling direct memory access operations between a local memory of the peripheral controller and a system memory of the host computer. A DMA transfer list memory is coupled to the peripheral bus for storing DMA transfer information. The DMA controller fetches host and local address as well as block size information from the DMA transfer list memory to thereby effectuate DMA operations. In one specific implementation, a local processor of the peripheral controller loads the DMA transfer information into the DMA transfer list memory by causing the execution of one or more memory write cycles on the local bus. A local bus interface of the bus interface controller responds as…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.