Patent ID: 6052754
Filing Date: 2000-04-18
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
An apparatus for providing communication comprising:a secondary communication bus;a plurality of circuit blocks coupled to said secondary communication bus wherein each circuit block comprises: a bus interface unit; and other functional circuitry, wherein each bus interface unit communicates with a portion of said secondary communication bus through external bus control circuits and wherein each bus interface unit facilitates communication between said other functional circuitry and said secondary communication bus, wherein each bus interface unit internally comprises:a duplicated master port unit for establishing a communication of information over said secondary communication bus;a duplicated slave port unit for responding to a master port in transmitting or receiving information from said secondary communication bus; andan external arbitration control unit coupled to control said external bus control circuits of said plurality of bus interface units with control signals to establish dedicated communication pathways between a duplicated master port and a duplicated slave port.