Method and apparatus for controlling access to an asynchronous

Abstract

A method and apparatus for communication circuit acquisition in an information processing system for high throughput communication of digital information is disclosed. High throughput is achieved by providing acquire logic circuitry for acquiring a communication circuit among a multiplicity of communication circuits, which are preferably four-wire, full duplex bidirectional channels for serial communication of digital information, and by preferably providing full duplex, bidirectional communication of messages at a first rate and half duplex, unidirectional communication of large blocks of data at a second higher rate over the communication circuits. The acquire logic circuitry frees the processor included in a communication controller associated with each information processing element to perform other data processing functions so that the processor is not burdened by monitoring the availability of the communication circuits for transmission of digital information. The method and apparatus facilitate circuit implementation of an architecture for high throughput fault tolerant serial communication of digital information in a loosely coupled information processing system. Other features are also disclosed.