Importance

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Abstract

A CPU includes a number of functional units that cooperate together to execute instructions. On-chip memory is divided into several sections, each of which is connected to an associated internal bus. All of the functional units are connected to each of the internal busses so that each of the functional units can read from and write to all memory locations. To conduct a transaction with memory, a functional unit determines which memory location it requires, and then arbitrates for mastership of the bus associated with the section of memory containing that memory location. By providing two or more internal busses, two or more bus transactions can occur simultaneously. A virtual bus is provided to facilitate transactions between functional units. The virtual bus is a bus arbiter without an associated physical bus. To conduct a transaction with another functional unit, the functional unit arbitrates for mastership of the virtual bus, the virtual bus monitors the internal busses or communicates with the other bus arbiters to determine which of the internal busses is unoccupied and, upon receiving a request to access the virtual bus, assigns one of the internal busses to the requesting functional unit. Using a virtual bus is advantageous since requesting access to the virtual bus has the affect of arbitrating for each of the physical busses simultaneously. Thus, the amount of time spent arbitrating for access to the physical busses is minimized. Also, since the physical busses typically do not run at 100% capacity, allocating use of the physical busses to non-memory transactions maximizes use of the physical busses without significantly distracting from the ability of the functional units to access memory. Finally, using a virtual bus instead of an additional physical bus takes up much less space than would be required if a dedicated physical bus were provided for transactions between functional units.

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First Claim