Uni and bi-directional signal transfer modes in peripheral controller and method of operating same
First Claim
1. A peripheral controller suitable for connecting a selected one of a plurality of peripheral devices to a computer system comprising a processor, a memory and a direct memory access controller interconnected by a system control bus, the peripheral controller comprising a plurality of programmable line driver/receiver devices each capable of operating selectively in a unidirectional signal transfer mode in which the transfer of signals between the computer system and the selected peripheral device is in a selected one of input and output directions and in a bidirectional signal transfer mode when the transfer of said data is in both said input and output directions;
- and a re-configurable logic array adapted to be configured to implement a particular interface required for the selected peripheral device under the control of configuration control data generated by the processor and communicated to the peripheral controller, said configuration control data also being useable to place at least one of the programmable line driver/receiver devices into an appropriate one of said signal transfer modes whereby the peripheral controller is capable of implementing transfer of signals between the computer system and the selected peripheral device under the control of the processor.
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Abstract
A peripheral controller is described which is suitable for connecting a selected one of a plurality of peripheral devices to a computer system. The peripheral controller comprises programmable bidirectional line driver/receiver devices which can be operated in an input only mode, an output only mode or a bidirectional mode and which can be set into an appropriate mode by configuration control data sent from the computer system to the peripheral controller. The peripheral controller also includes a re-configurable logic array which can be configured under the control of the configuration control data to implement a particular interface required for the selected peripheral device. This increases the efficiency of use of a peripheral interface.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A peripheral controller suitable for connecting a selected one of a plurality of peripheral devices to a computer system comprising a processor, a memory and a direct memory access controller interconnected by a system control bus, the peripheral controller comprising a plurality of programmable line driver/receiver devices each capable of operating selectively in a unidirectional signal transfer mode in which the transfer of signals between the computer system and the selected peripheral device is in a selected one of input and output directions and in a bidirectional signal transfer mode when the transfer of said data is in both said input and output directions;
- and a re-configurable logic array adapted to be configured to implement a particular interface required for the selected peripheral device under the control of configuration control data generated by the processor and communicated to the peripheral controller, said configuration control data also being useable to place at least one of the programmable line driver/receiver devices into an appropriate one of said signal transfer modes whereby the peripheral controller is capable of implementing transfer of signals between the computer system and the selected peripheral device under the control of the processor.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of operating a computer system comprising a processor, a memory, a direct memory access controller, a peripheral controller and a plurality of peripheral devices connected to the peripheral controller, the peripheral controller comprising a plurality of programmable line driver/receiver devices each capable of operating selectively in a unidirectional signal transfer mode in which the transfer of signals to and from the selected peripheral device is in a selected one of input and output directions and in a bidirectional signal transfer mode when the transfer of said signals is in both said input and output directions, the processor, memory, direct memory access controller and peripheral controller being interconnected by a processor system control bus, the computer system further comprising a reconfigurable logic array adapted to be configured to implement a particular interface required for the selected peripheral device, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
- communicating a configuration file from the processor over the processor system control bus;
programming said programmable line driver/receiver devices to place at least one of the programmable line driver/receiver devices into an appropriate one of said signal transfer modes; and
configuring said reconfigurable logic array thereby to configure the peripheral controller in accordance with the interface requirements of a selected one of the peripheral devices.
- communicating a configuration file from the processor over the processor system control bus;
Specification