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Abstract

A coprocessor includes processing units, control circuitry, and circuitry for connecting the coprocessor to a host processor. The connecting circuitry includes slave circuitry and master circuitry. The slave circuitry receives requests for coprocessor operations from the host processor's bus and provides signals to the control circuitry so that requested operations are performed. The master circuitry receives requests for data transfer operations from the control circuitry; the master circuitry requests host bus operations and also transfers data between the coprocessor and the host bus to perform requested data transfer operations. The control circuitry includes a control/status register and a control store. The slave circuitry can change data in the control/status register or transfer data from the control/status register to the host bus. The slave circuitry can also transfer data between the host bus and the control store. The master circuitry includes a bus connected to each of the processing units through a register and connected to the host bus through a pipeline of registers. The master circuitry can provide an address or data to be written to the host bus from any of the processing units, and can provide data being read from the host bus to each of a set of processing units. The master circuitry can perform single word or multi-word DMA read and write operations, and can also use the control store as a mailbox for communication with the host processor or other host bus masters. The processing units can operate on data in horizontal format so that corner turning is unnecessary.

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