Flexible multiport multiformat burst buffer
First Claim
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1. A video image memory system comprising:
- a buffer memory having at least one input data port for accepting incoming data to be stored in said buffer memory, at least one write address port for receiving addresses designating locations where said incoming data is to be stored in said buffer memory, at least one output data port for outputting data retrieved from said buffer memory, and at least one read address port for receiving addresses designating locations of stored data in said buffer memory to be outputted,each of said locations corresponding to one of a plurality of storage registers in said buffer memory;
a plurality of data sources connected to said at least one input data port for generating data to be buffered by said buffer memory;
a read addressing means for each of said data sources, each of said read addressing means being connected to said at least one read address port for generating an address for retrieving data associated with each of said data sources from said buffer memory;
a write addressing means for each of said data sources, each of said write addressing means being connected to said at least one write address port for generating an address for storing data associated with each of said data sources into said buffer memory; and
a boundary control circuit connected to said buffer memory for allocating a different group of said registers in said buffer memory to buffer data from different ones of said data sources such that each group of registers only contains data from a single one of said data sources, said boundary control circuit selecting a size of each group of registers depending upon a particular mode of operation selected for said video image memory system, said mode being selected based on requirements of said buffer memory to buffer said data from said data sources,said boundary control circuit being connected to control each of said read addressing means and each of said write addressing means to selectively address only those registers in a designated group of registers, each group of registers being designated to store data from only a single data source.
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Abstract
A multimedia video processor chip for a personal computer in employs a multi-port central cache memory to queue all the incoming data to be stored in a DRAM and all the outgoing data being retrieved from the DRAM. Such a cache memory is used in one of several modes in which the cache memory is partitioned by cache boundaries into different groups of storage areas. Each storage area of the cache is dedicated to storing data from a specific data source. The cache boundaries are chosen such that, for a given mode, the storage areas are optimized for worst case conditions for all data streams.
47 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A video image memory system comprising:
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a buffer memory having at least one input data port for accepting incoming data to be stored in said buffer memory, at least one write address port for receiving addresses designating locations where said incoming data is to be stored in said buffer memory, at least one output data port for outputting data retrieved from said buffer memory, and at least one read address port for receiving addresses designating locations of stored data in said buffer memory to be outputted, each of said locations corresponding to one of a plurality of storage registers in said buffer memory; a plurality of data sources connected to said at least one input data port for generating data to be buffered by said buffer memory; a read addressing means for each of said data sources, each of said read addressing means being connected to said at least one read address port for generating an address for retrieving data associated with each of said data sources from said buffer memory; a write addressing means for each of said data sources, each of said write addressing means being connected to said at least one write address port for generating an address for storing data associated with each of said data sources into said buffer memory; and a boundary control circuit connected to said buffer memory for allocating a different group of said registers in said buffer memory to buffer data from different ones of said data sources such that each group of registers only contains data from a single one of said data sources, said boundary control circuit selecting a size of each group of registers depending upon a particular mode of operation selected for said video image memory system, said mode being selected based on requirements of said buffer memory to buffer said data from said data sources, said boundary control circuit being connected to control each of said read addressing means and each of said write addressing means to selectively address only those registers in a designated group of registers, each group of registers being designated to store data from only a single data source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of operating a system for buffering data to be stored in and retrieve from a video memory, said method comprising the steps of:
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selecting one or more data streams from a set of data streams to be buffered by a buffer memory; and allocating a different group of registers in said buffer memory to buffer data from different ones of said data streams which have been selected, such that each group of registers only contains data from a single one of said data streams, a size of each group of registers depending upon a particular mode of operation selected for said system, said mode being selected based on requirements of said buffer memory to buffer data from said data streams selected. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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Specification