System and method for providing a virtual memory architecture narrower and deeper than a physical memory architecture
First Claim
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1. A method of presenting a logical memory to a user design implemented by configurable circuits of an integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:
- reading a multi-bit memory word from a physical memory on the IC;
using a particular set of configurable circuits that are configured as a barrel shifter that shifts said multi-bit memory word to generate a shifted multi-bit word; and
from a plurality of outputs of the barrel shifter, receiving a subset of bits of said shifted multi-bit word as a narrower multi-bit memory word of the logical memory with fewer bits than the shifted multi-bit word.
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Abstract
Some embodiments provide a method of presenting virtual memory as narrower and deeper than a physical memory. The method receives a memory address location including a set of real memory address bits and a set of virtual memory position bits. The method retrieves an original memory word from a physical memory using the real memory address bits. The method shifts the original memory word by an amount determined by the virtual memory position bits by using a barrel shifter, creating a shifted memory word. The method reads a part of the shifted memory word.
195 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of presenting a logical memory to a user design implemented by configurable circuits of an integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:
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reading a multi-bit memory word from a physical memory on the IC; using a particular set of configurable circuits that are configured as a barrel shifter that shifts said multi-bit memory word to generate a shifted multi-bit word; and from a plurality of outputs of the barrel shifter, receiving a subset of bits of said shifted multi-bit word as a narrower multi-bit memory word of the logical memory with fewer bits than the shifted multi-bit word. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of presenting a logical memory as narrower and deeper than a physical memory, the method comprising:
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receiving a logical memory address location comprising a set of P integer bits; decomposing the set of P bits into a set of N integer physical memory address bits and a set of M integer logical memory position bits, wherein N+M=P; retrieving an original memory word from the physical memory using said set of N bits; shifting said original memory word by an amount determined by said set of M bits by using a barrel shifter to create a shifted multi-bit word; and reading a multi-bit part of said shifted multi-bit word as a narrower multi-bit memory word of the logical memory without reading the rest of said shifted multi-bit word. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An integrated circuit (IC) comprising:
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a) a digital memory; b) a set of configurable circuits connected by a plurality of topologically parallel direct offset connections that allow the set of configurable circuits to act as a barrel shifter when said circuits are configured as multiplexers of the barrel shifter, wherein said barrel shifter comprises (i) a set of inputs communicatively connected to said digital memory and (ii) a set of outputs; c) a first set of circuits for using a set of memory location bits to identifying a location of a data word within said digital memory; and d) a second set of circuits for using the set of memory location bits to determine a number of bits for said barrel shifter to shift said data word to create a shifted data word, wherein a sub-set of said set of outputs of said barrel shifter is for outputting a narrow data word of a virtual memory, said narrow data word comprising a portion of said shifted data word. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification