Bus controller and associated device drivers for use to control a peripheral bus having at least one store-and-forward segment

Abstract

A bus controller and its associated device drivers are provided to a digital system to operate and control a peripheral bus, including the selective operation of at least a first portion of the peripheral bus in a store-and-forward manner. The device drivers include a number of programming instructions. Upon programmed with the programming instructions, a digital system is enabled to operate the bus controller to facilitate communication with a first bus agent in this first portion. The programming instructions package a number of request packets destined for the first bus agent into a multi-packet package, schedule the multi-packet package to be transmitted in bulk, at a first communication speed, to a first hub in the first portion, for the first hub to buffer the request packets, and then forward the request packets to the first bus agent, on a packet-by-packet basis and at a second communication speed. In one embodiment, the second communication speed is slower than the first communication speed. In one embodiment, the programming instructions further schedule communications destined for a second bus agent of this first portion, for transmission to the first hub, at the first communication speed, for the first hub to repeat the communications for the second bus agent without buffering, at also the first communication speed.