Patent ID: 6363446
Filing Date: 2002-03-26
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for selectively encoding bus grant lines to reduce I/O pin requirements, comprising:receiving a plurality of grant lines emanating from a bus arbitration circuit for granting control of a bus to devices on the bus, the plurality of grant lines being divided into a first subset of grant lines and a second subset of grant lines; encoding the plurality of grant lines into a plurality of encoded grant lines, the number of encoded grant lines being smaller than the number of grant lines; selecting a plurality of outputs from between the plurality of encoded grant lines and the first subset of grant lines; and driving the plurality of outputs off of a semiconductor chip through a plurality of output pins; wherein during a first mode of operation the first subset of grant lines is selected to be driven through the plurality of output pins, and during a second mode of operation the plurality of encoded grant lines is selected to driven through the plurality of output pins.