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. 27, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 29, 1997
Lee K. Lau, Don Mills, CA;
ATI Technologies, Inc., Thornhill, CA;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for extending an on-chip processing device's access to memory are accomplished by depositing a processing circuit, memory, and configuration circuitry on a die. When the memory has sufficient digital storage capabilities for the processing circuit, the configuration circuitry directly couples an address bus and data bus between the memory and the processing device. When the memory does not have sufficient digital storage capabilities for the processing circuit, the configuration circuitry reconfigures the memory. In additional, the configuration circuitry extends the address bus to an external memory and combines the internal data bus with an external data bus. Configured in this manner, the processing device can access both the on-chip memory and the external memory as a single addressable memory, thereby increasing the memory available to the processing circuit.