The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 17, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 21, 1995
James P Kardach, Saratoga, CA (US);
Sung-Soo Cho, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Debra T Cohen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
John W Horigan, Mountain View, CA (US);
Neil W Songer, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A computer system performs direct memory access (DMA) transfers according to a DMA transfer protocol. The computer system may comprise a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus that includes an electrical interface as specified by a PCI Local Bus standard. A DMA agent, system memory, and a DMA controller are coupled to the bus. The DMA controller uses the electrical interface of the PCI bus to control a DMA transfer between system memory and the DMA agent. According to one embodiment, a system I/O controller is coupled between the DMA controller and the PCI bus. The system I/O controller passes DMA control information from the DMA controller to the DMA agent using the electrical interface of the PCI bus. The electrical interface of the PCI bus includes a plurality of address lines and a grant signal line coupled to the DMA agent, wherein the system that I/O controller transmits DMA control information to the DMA agent while asserting the grant signal line.