Programmably configurable host adapter integrated circuit including a RISC processor
First Claim
1. A host adapter integrated circuit comprising:
- a reduced instruction set computing processor, hereinafter said RISC processora first bus interface module circuit connectable to a first bus external to said host adapter integrated circuit, and coupled to said RISC processor;
wherein said first bus interface module circuit transfers information to and from said first bus in response to instructions from said RISC processor; and
said first bus is an I/O bus for at least one peripheral device; and
a second bus interface module circuit connectable to a host computer bus, and coupled to said RISC processor;
wherein said second bus interface module circuit transfers information to and from said host computer bus in response to instructions from said RISC processor;
said RISC processor, said first bus interface module circuit and said second bus interface module circuit are included in said host adapter integrated circuit; and
said first bus interface module circuit transfer of said information to and from said I/O bus for at least one peripheral device, and said second bus interface module circuit transfer of said information to and from said host computer bus are performed in response to bus master host adapter functions performed by said host adapter integrated circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The host adapter integrated circuit is a one chip high performance bus master host adapter for (i) connecting a first bus having a specified protocol for transferring information over the first bus and a first data transfer speed to a second bus having a specified protocol for transferring information over the second bus and a second data transfer speed, and (ii) transferring information between the two buses. The host adapter integrated circuit, hereinafter host adapter, includes a novel reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a first interface module circuit connectable to the first bus and coupled to the RISC processor, a second interface module circuit connectable to the second bus and coupled to the RISC processor, and a memory circuit means connected to the first interface module circuit and to the second interface module circuit and coupled to the RISC processor. An I/O bus interconnects the first interface module circuit, the second interface module circuit, the memory circuit means, and the RISC processor. The I/O bus supports a read and a write operation by the RISC processor in single clock cycle of the RISC processor. The host adapter supports many features found in traditional add-in card SCSI host adapters. These features include bus master transfers, fast/wide SCSI, one interrupt per command, scatter/gather, overlapped seeks, tagged queuing, etc.
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Citations
100 Claims
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1. A host adapter integrated circuit comprising:
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a reduced instruction set computing processor, hereinafter said RISC processor a first bus interface module circuit connectable to a first bus external to said host adapter integrated circuit, and coupled to said RISC processor; wherein said first bus interface module circuit transfers information to and from said first bus in response to instructions from said RISC processor; and said first bus is an I/O bus for at least one peripheral device; and a second bus interface module circuit connectable to a host computer bus, and coupled to said RISC processor; wherein said second bus interface module circuit transfers information to and from said host computer bus in response to instructions from said RISC processor; said RISC processor, said first bus interface module circuit and said second bus interface module circuit are included in said host adapter integrated circuit; and said first bus interface module circuit transfer of said information to and from said I/O bus for at least one peripheral device, and said second bus interface module circuit transfer of said information to and from said host computer bus are performed in response to bus master host adapter functions performed by said host adapter integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. In a host computer having a memory, a host computer bus, and a SCSI bus, a host adapter system comprising:
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a host adapter integrated circuit, connectable to said host computer bus and to said SCSI bus, including; a reduced instruction set computing processor, hereinafter said RISC processor; a SCSI module connectable to said SCSI bus, and coupled to said RISC processor wherein said SCSI module transfers information to and from said SCSI bus in response to instructions from said RISC processor; and a host interface module connectable to said host computer bus, and coupled to said RISC processor wherein said host interface module transfers information to and from said host computer bus in response to instructions from said RISC processor; and a host adapter driver, operative in said host computer, for controlling operation of said host adapter integrated circuit wherein said host adapter driver communicates with said host adapter integrated circuit over said host computer bus. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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82. In a host adapter integrated circuit having a RISC processor, a first bus interface module and a second bus interface module, a bus structure comprising:
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a source address bus connected to said RISC processor, said first bus interface module, and said second bus interface module; a source data bus connected to said RISC processor, said first bus interface module, and said second bus interface module; a destination address bus connected to said RISC processor, said first bus interface module, and said second bus interface module; a destination data bus connected to said RISC processor, said first bus interface module, and said second bus interface module; and a plurality of control signal lines; wherein said bus structure supports a read operation and a write operation in one RISC processor clock cycle; said first bus interface module transfers data to and from an I/O bus for at least one peripheral device; and said second bus interface module transfers data to and from a host computer bus within host computer; said first bus interface module transfers of said information to and from said I/O bus for at least one peripheral device, and said second bus interface module transfers of said information to and from said host computer bus are performed in response to bus master host adapter functions performed by said host adapter integrated circuit using said bus structure.
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83. In a host adapter integrated circuit, a sequencer comprising:
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a reduced instruction set computing processor, hereinafter said RISC processor, having an address space wherein said RISC processor is included within said host adapter integrated circuit and said address space defines memory addressable by said RISC processor; and a memory, operatively connected to said RISC processor, wherein said memory is within the address space of said RISC processor; and firmware for said RISC processor included in said host adapter integrated circuit is stored in a portion of said memory contained within said host adapter integrated circuit; and
said RISC processor in said host adapter integrated circuit supports operations of said host adapter integrated circuit as a high speed bus master host adapter between a SCSI bus and a host computer bus by executing said firmware. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94)
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95. In a host adapter integrated circuit, a programmable SCSI bus interface module comprising:
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a first programmable SCSI cell wherein said first programmable SCSI cell is programmably configurable to support one of a differential SCSI bus and a single-ended SCSI bus; and a second programmable SCSI cell wherein said second programmable SCSI cell supports a single-ended SCSI bus; and a control module coupled to said first and second programmable SCSI cells; wherein said first and second programmable SCSI cells are programmably configured by setting and clearing bits in said control module. - View Dependent Claims (96, 97, 98, 99)
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100. A host adapter integrated circuit comprising:
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host computer bus interface module for connecting to a host computer bus external to said host adapter integrated circuit; a SCSI bus interface module for connecting to a SCSI bus external to said host adapter integrated circuit; and a data FIFO memory circuit connected to said host computer bus and SCSI bus interface modules, and having a programmable data threshold wherein upon the amount of data in said data FIFO memory circuit reaching said programmable data threshold, said data FIFO memory circuit generates a signal to said host computer bus interface module and in response thereto, said host computer bus interface module generates a signal seeking control of said first bus, and further wherein said programmable data threshold is configured to facilitate transfer of said data between said host computer bus and said SCSI bus.
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Specification