Addressing scheme supporting variable local addressing and variable global addressing

• US 6,941,440 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2003
• Issued: 09/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kelly, James D., Rowlands, Joseph B., Moll, Laurent R., Gulati, Manu, Oner, Koray
• Primary Examiner(s): HUYNH, KIM NGOC
• Application Number:
  US10/439,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20040044806A1
• Time in Patent Office: 845 Days
• Field of Search: 711202-203, 711147-148, 709/213, 709/216, 710/3
• US Class Current: 711/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/1684 using multiple buses

Abstract

A node comprises at least one agent and an input/output (I/O) circuit coupled to an interconnect within the node. The I/O circuit is configured to communicate on a global interconnect to which one or more other nodes are coupled during use. Addresses transmitted on the interconnect are in a first local address space of the node, and addresses transmitted on the global interconnect are in a global address space. The first local address space includes at least a first region used to address at least a first resource of the node. The node is programmable, during use, to relocate the first region within the first local address space, whereby a same numerical value in the first local address space and a second local address space corresponding to one of the other nodes coupled to the global interconnect refers to the first resource in the node during use.

Claims

1. A node comprising:

at least one agent and an input/output (I/O) circuit coupled to an internal interconnect within the node to communicate between the agent and the I/O circuit, wherein the I/O circuit is configured to communicate on a global interconnect to which one or more other nodes are coupled during use, and wherein an address transmitted on the internal interconnect to access a first resource of the node is to a first local address space of the node, and wherein an address transmitted on the internal interconnect to communicate on the global interconnect is in a global address space;

wherein the node is programmed, during use, to map the first local address space to a second local address space, in which the second local address space has a numerical value that does not conflict with resources of other node or nodes that communicate on the global interconnect and to allow the same numerical value for the second local address space and address spaces corresponding to the other node or nodes coupled to the global interconnect to refer to the first resource in the node by use of the numerical value.

2. The node as recited in claim 1 wherein the node is programmed, during use, to map a corresponding region of the global address space to allow the same numerical value to be used as a global address by all of the nodes coupled to the global interconnect to refer to the first resource.

3. The node as recited in claim 1 wherein the agent comprises a memory controller configured to couple to a memory, and wherein the first resource is included in the memory.

4. The node as recited in claim 3 wherein the memory controller is programmed, during use, to respond to the first local address space as relocated in the second local address space.

5. The node as recited in claim 1 wherein the I/O circuit includes one or more local I/O devices addressed by the first local address space, and wherein the I/O circuit is programmed, during use, to respond to the first local address space as relocated in the second local address space.

6. The node as recited in claim 1 wherein the second local address space is used to reference a plurality of resources.

7. The node as recited in claim 1 wherein the I/O circuit includes an overflow buffer configured to capture transmissions on the global interconnect.

8. The node as recited in claim 1 to maintain internode coherency using a cache-coherent nonuniform memory access scheme.

9. A system comprising:

a global interconnect, wherein addresses transmitted on the global interconnect are included in a global address space;

a first node coupled to the global interconnect, the first node having a first local address space to reference a first resource addressed by a first numerical value; and

a second node coupled to the global interconnect, the second node having a second local address space to reference a second resource also addressed by the first numerical value;

wherein the second node is programmed, during use, to map the second local address space to a third local address space in the second node, in which the third local address space does not conflict with the first numerical value of the first local address space and in which a second numerical value addresses the second resource.

10. The system as recited in claim 9 wherein the second node is programmed, during use, to map a corresponding region of addresses to allow the same first numerical value to be used as a global address by the two nodes to refer to the first resource and to allow the same second numerical value to be used as a global address by the two nodes to refer to the second resource.

11. The system as recited in claim 10 wherein the first local address space is mapped to a fourth local address space.

12. The system as recited in claim 9 wherein the first node comprises a first memory controller configured to couple to its memory and wherein the first resource is included in the memory of the first memory controller, and the second node also comprises a second memory controller configured to couple to its memory and the second resource is included in the memory of the second memory controller.

13. The system as recited in claim 12 wherein the second memory controller is programmed, during use, to respond to the second local address space as relocated in the third local address space.

14. The system as recited in claim 9 wherein the second node includes one or more local I/O devices addressed by the second local address space, and wherein the first node is programmed, during use, to respond to the second local address space as relocated in the third local address space.

15. The system as recited in claim 9 wherein the third local address space is used to reference a plurality of resources.

16. A method comprising:

configuring a first node to map a first local address space for the first node to reference a first resource; and

programming the first node to relocate the first local address space to a second local address space, in which a numerical value to access the second local address space does not conflict with a resource in a second node that communicates with the first node on a global interconnect from using the same numerical value.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein configuring the first node comprises programming a global address to local address map storage in the first node to map the first local address space to the second local address space.

18. The method as recited in claim 16 further comprising programming the second node to relocate a local address space of the second node to prevent conflict of its corresponding numerical value on the global interconnect.