Programmable event counter system
US6356615B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 13, 1999 |
| Grant date | Mar 12, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 13, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2201/88
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Certain events occurring throughout a microprocessor chip are monitored by a counter system (1) containing a number of digital electronic counters (3, 5, 7 & 9) consolidated at a single location on the processor chip. Those events are communicated to the counter system via electrical leads extending to those functional units in the processor responsible for signaling an event occurrence. Under program control, each counter can be selectively connected (11, 13, 15 & 17) to a selected one of the various functional event producing units. By means of selection logic (19, 21, 23 & 25) separate events originating from multiple functional units may be logically combined, whereby the event counted is a Boolean logic combination of multiple underlying events.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.