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:
Oct. 03, 2006
Filed:
Apr. 06, 2004
John W. Mitten, Cary, NC (US);
Christopher G. Riedle, Cary, NC (US);
David Richard Barach, Boxborough, MA (US);
Kenneth H. Potter, Jr., Raleigh, NC (US);
Kent Hoult, Lexington, MA (US);
Jeffery B. Scott, Cary, NC (US);
John W. Mitten, Cary, NC (US);
Christopher G. Riedle, Cary, NC (US);
David Richard Barach, Boxborough, MA (US);
Kenneth H. Potter, Jr., Raleigh, NC (US);
Kent Hoult, Lexington, MA (US);
Jeffery B. Scott, Cary, NC (US);
Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A data path protocol eliminates most of the conventional read transactions required to transfer data between devices interconnected by a split transaction bus, such as a HyperTransport (HPT) bus. To that end, each device is configured to manage its own set of buffer descriptors, unlike previous data path protocols in which only one device managed all the buffer descriptors. As such, neither device has to perform a read transaction to retrieve a 'free' buffer descriptor from the other device. As a result, only write transactions are performed for transferring descriptors across the HPT bus, thereby decreasing the amount of traffic over the bus and eliminating conventional latencies associated with read transactions. In addition, because descriptors are separately managed in each device, the data path protocol also conserves processing bandwidth that is traditionally consumed by managing ownership of the buffer descriptors within a single device.