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:
Aug. 18, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 20, 1997
Rita M O'Brien, Austin, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
An arbiter connects a plurality of devices to a bus. The arbiter determines priority among the devices based on the relative need of the devices. Relative need is determined for each device based on the fullness of a buffer, such as a first-in first-out buffer, corresponding to each device. A gauge informs the arbiter of the fullness value for each buffer from which relative need, and hence priority, is calculated. In addition, the arbiter can incorporate the speed of each device's buffer into its priority determination. The relative device priorities can thus be changed dynamically as the buffers associated with the devices read and write data via the bus. Similarly, the relative priority of a given device can change when the device changes from an input mode to an output or from an output mode to an input mode.