Equal-opportunity bandwidth regulation

• US 20060031542A1
• Filed: 08/04/2004
• Published: 02/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Berreth, Frank
• Granted Patent: US 7,590,065 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4059 where the synchronisation uses buffers, e.g. for speed matching between buses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements

Abstract

Systems and methods for equal opportunity bandwidth regulation are described. In one aspect, data is received from a transmitting entity of one or more transmitting entities. Responsive to receiving the data, the data is transmitted across a bus to a target entity. This transmission is accomplished by dynamically regulating data transmission bandwidth on the bus such that each data transmitting entity of the transmitting entities has a substantially equal opportunity to have bus bandwidth allocated to tranmit data associated with the data transmitting entity.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving data from one or more transmitting entities; and

responsive to the receiving, transmitting the data across a bus to a target entity, the transmiting comprising;

dynamically regulating data transmission bandwidth for a tranmitting entity on the bus such that each data transmitting entity of the one or more transmitting entities has a substantially equal opportunity to transmit data associated with the data transmitting entity.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the transmitting is associated with a command output ring buffer (CORB) transmitting the data to the target entity.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the dynamically regulating is a function of a specific configurable or dynamically changing time interval.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data is from one or more device drivers or a computer-program, and wherein the data is received by a bus driver.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data comprises a command from a device driver or a data packet from a computer-program.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the bus is a high definition audio bus.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprises determining, for a given time period, if the bus will accommodate all of the data.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprises:

determining, for a given time period, that the bus will accommodate the data; and

responsive to the determining, filling an output ring buffer with the data.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, and further comprising:

identifying a portion of the data that is tagged for isochronous command transfer;

determining whether isochronous data transfer is enabled; and

if isochronous command transfer is enabled, inserting the portion into a portion of an output buffer reserved for isochronous transfer.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the target entity is a codec.

11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the codec is a high definition codec.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data comprises multiple data packets, and wherein dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprises:

determining, for a given time period, that the bus will not accommodate every one of the multiple data packets;

responsive to the determining, calculating a quantum bandwidth value based on a byte size of each data packet and a total number of the one or more transmitting entities, the total number being the number; and

for each of the one or more transmitting entities, filling an output buffer with the quantum bandwidth value number of data packet(s) associated with the transmitting entity.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein sequentially filling further comprises:

determining that the transmitting entity is associated with a number of outstanding data packets greater than accounted for by the quantum bandwidth value; and

responsive to the determining, only filling the output buffer with the quantum bandwidth value number of the outstanding data packets.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein sequentially filling further comprises filling at least a portion of the number of outstanding data packets into the output buffer after the one or more data packets associated with a next transmitting entity of the one or more transmitting entities have been inserted into the output buffer.

15. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-program instructions executable by a processor, the computer-program instructions comprising instructions for:

receiving data from a transmitting entity of one or more transmitting entities; and

responsive to the receiving, transmitting the data across a bus to a target entity, the transmitting comprising;

dynamically regulating data transmission bandwidth for assignment to a transmitting entity such that each data transmitting entity of the one or more transmitting entities has a substantially equal opportunity to have bus bandwidth allocated to tranmit data associated with the data transmitting entity.

16. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the transmitting is associated with command output ring buffer (CORB) transfers of the data to the target entity.

17. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the instructions for dynamically regulating dynamically regulate as a function of a specific configurable or dynamic changing time interval.

18. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the bus is a high definition audio bus.

19. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the instructions for dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprise computer-program instructions for determining, for a given time period, if the bus will accommodate all of the data.

20. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the instructions for dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprise computer-program instructions for:

determining, for a given time period, that the bus will accommodate the data; and

responsive to the determining, filling an output ring buffer with the data.

21. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, and further comprising computer-program instructions for:

identifying a portion of the data that is tagged for isochronous command transfer;

determining whether isochronous data transfer is enabled; and

if isochronous command transfer is enabled, inserting the portion into a portion of an output buffer reserved for isochronous transfer.

22. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the target entity is a computer-program executable by the processor or a hardware device.

23. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the data comprises multiple data packets, and wherein the instructions for dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprise computer-program instructions for:

determining, for a given time period, that the bus will not accommodate every one of the multiple data packets;

responsive to the determining, calculating a quantum bandwidth value based on a byte size of each data packet and a total number of the one or more transmitting entities, the total number being the number; and

for each of the one or more transmitting entities, filling an output buffer with the quantum bandwidth value number of data packet(s) associated with the transmitting entity.

24. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the instructions for sequentially filling further comprise computer-program instructions for:

determining that the transmitting entity is associated with a number of outstanding data packets greater than accounted for by the quantum bandwidth value; and

responsive to the determining, only filling the output buffer with the quantum bandwidth value number of the outstanding data packets.

25. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 24, wherein the instructions for sequentially filling further comprise computer-program instructions for filling at least a portion of the number of outstanding data packets into the output buffer after the one or more data packets associated with a next transmitting entity of the one or more transmitting entities have been inserted into the output buffer.

26. A computing device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor, the computer-program instructions comprising instructions for;

receiving data from a transmitting entity of one or more transmitting entities; and

responsive to the receiving, transmitting the data across a bus to a target entity, the transmiting comprising;

dynamically regulating data transmission bandwidth for assignment to a transmitting entity such that each data transmitting entity of the one or more transmitting entities has a substantially equal opportunity to have bus bandwidth allocated to transmit data associated with the data transmitting entity.

27. A computing device medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the transmitting is performed via command output ring buffer (CORB) transfers of the data to the target entity.

28. A computing device medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the instructions for dynamically regulating dynamically regulate as a function of a specific configurable or dynamic changing time interval.

29. A computing device medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the data is from a computer-program executable by the processor or one or more device drivers, and wherein the data is received by a bus driver.

30. A computing device medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the instructions for dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprise computer-program instructions for determining, for a fixed time period, if the bus will accommodate all of the data.

31. A computing device medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the instructions for dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprise computer-program instructions for:

determining, for a given time period, that the bus will accommodate the data; and

responsive to the determining, filling an output ring buffer with the data.

32. A computing device medium as recited in claim 26, and further comprising computer-program instructions for:

identifying a portion of the data that is tagged for isochronous command transfer;

determining whether isochronous data transfer is enabled; and

if isochronous command transfer is enabled, inserting the portion into a portion of an output buffer reserved for isochronous transfer.

33. A computing device medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the target entity is a computer-program or a hardware device.

34. A computing device medium as recited in claim 26, wherein the data comprises multiple data packets, and wherein the instructions for dynamically regulating the bandwidth further comprise computer-program instructions for:

determining, for a given time period, that the bus will not accommodate every one of the multiple data packets;

responsive to the determining, calculating a quantum bandwidth value based on a byte size of each data packet and a total number of the one or more transmitting entities, the total number being the number; and

for each of the one or more transmitting entities, sequentially filling an output buffer with the quantum bandwidth value number of data packet(s) associated with the transmitting entity.

35. A computing device medium as recited in claim 34, wherein the instructions for filling the output buffer further comprise computer-program instructions for:

determining that the transmitting entity is associated with a number of outstanding data packets greater than accounted for by the quantum bandwidth value; and

responsive to the determining, only filling the output buffer with the quantum bandwidth value number of the outstanding data packets.

36. A computing device comprising:

receiving means to receive data from a transmitting entity of one or more transmitting entities; and

responsive to the receiving means, transmitting, means to transmit the data across a bus to a target entity, the transmiting comprising;

dynamically regulating, means to dynamically regulate data transmission bandwidth for assignment to a transmitting entity such that each data transmitting entity of the one or more transmitting entities has a substantially equal opportunity to have bus bandwidth allocated to tranmit data associated with the data transmitting entity.

37. A computing device medium as recited in claim 36, wherein the data comprises multiple data packets, and wherein the dynamically regulating means further comprises:

determining means to determine, for a fixed time period, that the bus will not accommodate every one of the multiple data packets;

responsive to the determining means, calculating means to calculate a quantum bandwidth value based on a byte size of all data packet(s) submitted by the one or more transmitting entities and a total number of the one or more transmitting entities, the total number being the number; and

for each of the one or more transmitting entities, filling the output buffer means to fill an output buffer with the quantum bandwidth value number of data packet(s) bytes associated with the transmitting entity.

38. A computing device medium as recited in claim 37, wherein the sequentially filling means further comprises:

determining means to determine that the transmitting entity is associated with a number of outstanding data packets greater than accounted for by the quantum bandwidth value; and

responsive to the determining means, filling means to only fill the output buffer with the quantum bandwidth value number of outstanding data packet(s) bytes.

39. A computing device medium as recited in claim 38, wherein the sequentially filling means further comprises filling means to fill at least a portion of the number of outstanding data packets into the output buffer after the one or more data packets associated with a next transmitting entity of the one or more transmitting entities have been inserted into the output buffer.