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Glen Culler & Associates

Glen J Culler

John L Richardson

William L Proctor

Robert B Pearson

Michael McCammon

A bus arbitration system for use in a data processing system which operates on clocked cycles for determining priorities in accessing a system memory and one or more local memories associated with processor units is shown. Each of the processor units are operatively coupled through a local bus to its associated local memory. A system bus interconnects the processor units and local memories in parallel to the local bus and the system is connected to an input/output device and the system memory. The bus arbitration system monitors requests made by processor units or the input/output device for access to the system memory or a local memory during the clock cycle. A determination section of a bus arbitration module determines whether access is available over the system data bus or a local data bus. A priority logic section identifies the existence of a conflict due to one or more of the processor units and the input/output device requesting access over the system bus to either the system memory or the same associated local memory during the clock cycle and for granting a request to a selected one of the processor units or the input/output device for accessing either the system memory or one of the associated local memories over the system bus. When a processor unit is denied access to the system bus, and in the absence of a conflict in request for the same associated local memory, a request is granted to a processor unit to access its associated local memory over its local bus during the clock cycle.

Bus arbitration system and method

An instruction sequencer for programming parallel operations of functional units in response to an instruction stream is shown. The instruction sequencer includes a random access memory for storing instruction segments which program the operations of the functional units. An instruction address register contains instruction addresses for selected locations in the memory having instruction segments stored therein. A memory address circuit reads out an instruction stream comprising instruction segments from the memory in response to the stored instruction address and stores the same in an instruction buffer register. A rotating network, which is operatively coupled to the instruction buffer register, rotates the instruction stream so as to position a selected instruction segment at a predetermined location in a rotating network. A control circuit determines whether the rotating network is required to rotate the instruction stream and, if so, directs the rotating network to position the selected instruction segment at the predetermined location in the rotating network. A first decoding circuit receives and decodes the selected instruction segment to produce a first control signal. A shifting circuit receives the rotated instruction stream and shifts the same an amount equal to at least the width of the selected instruction segment and then applies the same to a second decoding circuit which produces a second control signal. The first and second control signals are adapted to be applied to and commence operation of the functional units in parallel.

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Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America

Glen J Culler