Multi-threaded bus master
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer system comprising:
- a bus;
bus devices, each bus device configured to assert a request signal to request the bus; and
an arbiter configured to mask or not to mask the request signal of a retried bus device depending upon whether the retried bus device is a multi-threaded device, wherein the request signal is not masked if the retried bus device is a multi-threaded device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Access to bus devices on a bus is granted in a computer system, with each bus device asserting a request signal to request the bus. A detector determines if a bus device is multi-threaded or single-threaded. An arbiter masks or does not mask the request signal of a retried bus device based on whether the bus device is a multi-threaded device. The arbiter masks the request signal of a retried bus device if it is a single-threaded device, but does not mask the request signal if the retried bus device is a multi-threaded device. The bus device request includes a delayed request transaction, and the bus includes a PCI bus.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. A computer system comprising:
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a bus; bus devices, each bus device configured to assert a request signal to request the bus; and an arbiter configured to mask or not to mask the request signal of a retried bus device depending upon whether the retried bus device is a multi-threaded device, wherein the request signal is not masked if the retried bus device is a multi-threaded device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer system comprising:
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a bus; a bus device capable generating a bus transaction on the bus; a comparator for comparing a first bus transaction of a predetermined type associated with the bus device with a second bus transaction generated by the bus device to determine if the bus device is a multi-threaded device, wherein the bus device is determined to be the multi-threaded device if the second bus transaction differs from the first bus transaction. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of granting access to bus devices on a bus in a computer system, comprising:
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each bus device asserting a request signal to request the bus; masking or not masking the request signal of a retried bus device depending on whether the retried bus device is a multi-threaded device, wherein the recuest signal is not masked if the bus device is a multi-threaded device. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of detecting a multi-threaded bus device on a bus in a computer system, comprising:
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comparing a first bus transaction of a predetermined type associated with the bus device with a second bus transaction generated by the bus device; and indicating the bus device as being a multi-threaded device based on the comparison, wherein the bus device is determined to be the multi-threaded device if the second bus transaction differs from the first bus transaction. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. Apparatus for granting access to bus devices on a bus in a computer system, each bus device asserting a request signal to request the bus, the apparatus comprising:
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a detector for determining if a bus device is multi-threaded; and an arbiter masking or not masking the request signal of a retried bus device depending on whether the retried bus device is a multi-threaded device, wherein the request signal is not masked if the bus device is a multi-threaded device. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. Apparatus for detecting a multi-threaded bus device on a bus in a computer system, wherein a bus device on the bus is capable of generating bus transactions, the apparatus comprising:
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receiving circuitry for receiving the bus transactions; and a comparator for comparing a first bus transaction of a predetermined type generated by the bus device with a second bus transaction generated by the bus device and delivering a signal indicating that the bus device is the multi-threaded device in response to the second bus transaction differing from the first bus transaction. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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44. A computer system comprising:
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a bus; bus devices, each bus device asserting a request signal to request the bus; a detector for determining if a bus device is multi-threaded, wherein the detector compares a first bus transaction generated by the bus device with a second bus transaction generated by the bus device, the detector indicating the bus device as being a multi-threaded device if the first bus transaction is different from the second bus transaction; and an arbiter, the arbiter masking the request signal of a bus device if the bus device has been retried and it is a single-threaded device, and the arbiter not masking the request signal of the bus device if the bus device has been retried but it is a multi-threaded device.
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45. A computer system comprising:
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a bus; a bus device coupled to the bus that is configured to assert requests for the bus; a decoder that compares information associated with a first retried request from the bus device with a second, subsequent request from the bus device; and an arbiter that is configured not to mask the second request if the comparison indicates that the first and second requests have different sources. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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49. A computer system comprising:
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a bus; a first bus device adapted to assert a request signal to request the bus; a delayed transaction queue adapted to store at least a first delayed bus transaction associated with the first bus device; and a comparator for comparing a retried bus transaction generated by the first bus device with the first delayed bus transaction to determine if the bus device is multi-threaded, wherein the bus device is determined to be the multi-threaded device if the second bus transaction differs from the first bus transaction; and an arbiter configured to mask the request signal if the first bus device is not the multi-threaded device.
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Specification