Importance

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Abstract

Deadlock detection and masking systems are incorporated into a bus coupler intercoupling at least two buses, wherein at least one master is coupled to each bus and at least one slave is coupled to at least one of the buses. The bus coupler also includes an arbiter coupled to the buses to determine which master may control each bus. The deadlock detection system detects a potential arbitration deadlock condition between two master devices seeking control of a bus and access to a slave. Once a potential arbitration deadlock is detected, the masking system is activated to prohibit the second master from gaining control of the second bus for a random period of time. The random time delay acts as a mask to provide the first master device an opportunity to reaccess the slave device and avoid the deadlock situation. By providing a random masking period complementary, synchronized arbitration deadlocks are avoided.

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First Claim