Programmable wake up of memory transfer controllers in a memory transfer engine
US6708259B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 1, 2002 |
| Grant date | Mar 16, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 11, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/1668
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Methods for waking up an idle memory transfer controller (MTC) in response to an event from an external source. The first mechanism, Parameter List Pointer (PLP) FIFO Wake Up, wakes up an MTC after an external agent writes to an MTC's PLP FIFO. This activates the MTC's run bit, making the MTC eligible to execute instructions if chosen to do so by the memory transfer engine arbiter. This mechanism allows the MTC to distinguish between multiple possible originators of multiple possible wake-up events; wake-up events may be queued. Events may be directed to particular MTCs or to the next MTC available to process the event. The second mechanism wakes up an MTC after an external agent writes to an MTC's external wake-up address. This sets the MTC's run bit, making the MTC eligible to execute instructions if chosen to do so by the memory transfer engine arbiter. This approach only recognizes one event and one source. Events may not be queued using this approach.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.