Motorola Corporation

Terry E Downs

Chinh H Le

Gerald E Vauk, Jr

An integrated circuit microprocessor (30) reads data from an external memory device (22, 23) through early overlapping memory access cycles, thus allowing efficient accesses to slower-speed memory. The microprocessor (30) drives a first address and activates a chip enable signal during a first clock period. The chip enable signal causes the external memory device to latch the first address and begin a first memory access. During a second, subsequent clock period, the microprocessor (30) provides a second address and again activates the chip enable signal. During a third clock period, subsequent to the second clock period, the microprocessor (30) latches a first data element associated with the first address. This early overlapping memory access type allows a memory device with a slow memory core to pipeline the second access prior to completion of the first access, increasing system efficiency.

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Farmington Hills, MI, United States of America

Terry E Downs