Method and system for unifying memory access for CPU and IO operations
US7739474B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 7, 2006 |
| Grant date | Jun 15, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 29, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F12/1483
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for unifying access to a physical memory by operations using virtual addresses of the same virtual address space are provided. The operations may be generated by at least one central processing unit (CPU operations) and/or by at least one IO device (IO operations). The system may include a bus arranged to transfer data and virtual addresses of the same virtual address space from the central processing unit (CPU) and the IO device to a unified memory management unit (UMMU), a unified memory management unit (UMMU) arranged to translate the virtual addresses to physical addresses, and to protect the physical memory from illegal access attempts of the CPU operations and the IO operations. The system may further include a memory controller arranged to manage access to the physical memory. The access is done by using physical addresses.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.