Data Synchronization For Circuit Resources Without Using A Resource Buffer

• US 20120047260A1
• Filed: 08/22/2011
• Published: 02/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mosys Incorporated (Peraso, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Mosys Incorporated (Peraso, Inc.)
• Inventors: Patel, Jay
• Granted Patent: US 9,118,611 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/9057 Arrangements for supporting packet reassembly or resequencing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/041 using special codes as synchronising signal

Abstract

A resource synchronizer synchronizes transmission of data to a SerDes of a device so that the SerDes is capable of providing the data to a resource of the device without buffering the data between the SerDes and the resource.

Claims

1. A method of resource-synchronizing data transmitted on a communication link between a first device and a second device, the communication link having at least one data lane, wherein the second device has a resource that is accessible based on an access schedule, the method comprising:

determining a timing offset based on the access schedule of the second device;

communicating the timing offset to the first device, and

delaying transmission of data from the first device to the second device through the communication link by the timing offset so that the data is received at the resource when the resource is accessible according to the access schedule.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication link is a multi-lane communication link, and link-synchronization is performed prior to the resource-synchronization.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the access schedule of the resource in the second device is programmable.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the access schedule provides a repeating access pattern for the resource of the second device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the access schedule indicates entry points for accessing individual portions of the resource of the second device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the access schedule is a repeating sequence that indicates when the resource is available for access.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a scheduler in the first device schedules the transmissions of data from the first device to the second device according to the access schedule of the resource of the second device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the access schedule is a cyclical schedule, and wherein both the first device and the second device are synchronized to the cyclical schedule.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource is a memory.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the access schedule is a fixed access schedule.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a memory having an access schedule;

a SerDes coupled to the memory; and

a resource synchronizer configured to determine a timing offset for transmission of data to the SerDes so that the SerDes is capable of forwarding the data to the memory according to the access schedule without the need for buffering the data between the SerDes and the memory.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the memory includes a plurality of portions each of which is accessible at different times according to the access schedule.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the resource-synchronizer includes a scheduler for maintaining a plurality of partitions each corresponding to a portion of the memory.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the access schedule is a fixed access schedule.

15. An electronic communication system, comprising:

a first device for communicating information; and

a second device coupled to the first device via a communication link, the second device comprising a SerDes and a resource coupled to the SerDes, the resource having an access schedule for accessing the resource, wherein the second device in configured to determine a timing offset for delaying transmission of training sequence from the first device to the second device so that the SerDes is capable of providing the data to the resource according to the access schedule without the need for buffering the data between the SerDes and the resource once training is complete.

16. The electronic communication system of claim 15, wherein the first device includes a scheduler configured to schedule transmission of data from the first device to the second device according to the access schedule.

17. The electronic communication system of claim 15, wherein the second device communicates an offset to the first device for synchronizing the first device with the resource on the second device based on the access schedule of the resource.

18. The electronic communication system of claim 15 further comprising:

a plurality of first devices coupled to the second device; and

wherein the resource of the second device is divided into partitions, each accessible according to the access schedule, and wherein the second device is configured to determine respective offsets for each link to the shared resource based on the access schedule and communicate the offsets to the plurality of first devices.

19. The electronic communication system of claim 15, wherein the resource of the second device is shared by a plurality of first devices, and the access schedules communicated in parallel to the plurality of first devices, and respective offsets are sent to the plurality of first devices.

20. The electronic communication system of claim 15, wherein the access schedule is a fixed access schedule.