Interface for managing information exchanges on a communications bus
First Claim
1. An interface arrangement for managing the exchange of information between units connected by a communications bus, said units including at least one control unit and a plurality of peripheral units, each of said units having a distinct address, any one of said units being capable of transmitting and receiving information comprising data and a destination address, said destination address corresponding to the address of the one of said units which receives transmitted information wherein said interface arrangement comprises:
- (a) a plurality of data reception means, each of said data reception means being connected to receive information from said communications bus and to transmit information to an associated one of said units;
(b) a plurality of data transmission means, each of said data transmission means being connected to transmit information to said communications bus and to receive information from said associated one of said units;
(c) scanning means for generating address signals in a predetermined sequence, said scanning means being connected to transmit said address signals to said communications bus, said address signals representing the addresses of said units and said predetermined sequence corresponding to the order of priority of said units for access to said communications bus by said units;
(d) a plurality of priority comparison means, each of said priority comparison means being connected to receive said address signals from said communications bus and to transmit control signals to an associated one of said data transmission means; and
(e) a plurality of destination address comparison means, each of said destination address comparison means being connected to receive destination address signals from said communications bus and to transmit control signals to an associated one of said data reception means,wherein each of said priority comparison means compares said address signals generated by said scanning means with signals representing the address of an associated unit and generates an equality signal in response to correspondence, each of said destination address comparison means compares destination address signals received from said communications bus with signals representing the address of an associated unit and generates an equality signal in response to correspondence, each of said priority comparison means in which said equality signal was not generated being disabled from transmitting a data transmission enabling signal to said associated data transmisssion means and each of said destination address comparison means in which said equality signal was not generated being disabled from transmitting a data reception enabling signal to said associated data reception means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interface for managing information exchanges on a communications bus between at least one control unit and peripheral units, or between said peripheral units.
The exchanged information includes data and a destination address of said data. The interface is characterized in that it comprises for each unit, data transmission circuitry connected to the unit and to the bus for managing the data transmission on the bus to the unit having the destination address, data reception circuitry connected to the units and to the bus, for managing the reception of data by the unit having the destination address, and management circuitry for managing the addressing of the units during exchanges and in particular for managing access priorities to the bus, without necessitating the intervention of the control unit.
This interface can be used for information exchanges between processing or measuring units.
23 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An interface arrangement for managing the exchange of information between units connected by a communications bus, said units including at least one control unit and a plurality of peripheral units, each of said units having a distinct address, any one of said units being capable of transmitting and receiving information comprising data and a destination address, said destination address corresponding to the address of the one of said units which receives transmitted information wherein said interface arrangement comprises:
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(a) a plurality of data reception means, each of said data reception means being connected to receive information from said communications bus and to transmit information to an associated one of said units; (b) a plurality of data transmission means, each of said data transmission means being connected to transmit information to said communications bus and to receive information from said associated one of said units; (c) scanning means for generating address signals in a predetermined sequence, said scanning means being connected to transmit said address signals to said communications bus, said address signals representing the addresses of said units and said predetermined sequence corresponding to the order of priority of said units for access to said communications bus by said units; (d) a plurality of priority comparison means, each of said priority comparison means being connected to receive said address signals from said communications bus and to transmit control signals to an associated one of said data transmission means; and (e) a plurality of destination address comparison means, each of said destination address comparison means being connected to receive destination address signals from said communications bus and to transmit control signals to an associated one of said data reception means, wherein each of said priority comparison means compares said address signals generated by said scanning means with signals representing the address of an associated unit and generates an equality signal in response to correspondence, each of said destination address comparison means compares destination address signals received from said communications bus with signals representing the address of an associated unit and generates an equality signal in response to correspondence, each of said priority comparison means in which said equality signal was not generated being disabled from transmitting a data transmission enabling signal to said associated data transmisssion means and each of said destination address comparison means in which said equality signal was not generated being disabled from transmitting a data reception enabling signal to said associated data reception means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20)
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- 12. The interface arrangement as defined in claim 21, wherein said bus comprises a plurality of priority determination address lines, and said scanning means comprises a counting means connected to output said address signals to said plurality of priority determination address lines and a clocking means connected to output clocking signals to said counting means, wherein each of said predetermined sequence of address signals comprises a plurality of binary signals representing the increasing count carried out by said counting means.
Specification