Patent ID: 6195723
Filing Date: 2001-02-27
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method of providing an interconnection between two or more peripheral devices of a computer system, comprising the steps of:connecting a bridge to a system bus;connecting a primary peripheral bus to the bridge;connecting a plurality of peripheral devices to a plurality of secondary peripheral buses;selectively establishing and removing a connection from the primary peripheral bus to one of the secondary peripheral buses; andcommunicating between a first one of the plurality of peripheral devices and a second one of the plurality of peripheral devices using the bridge as an agent acting for the first peripheral device wherein the bridge (i) responds to all accesses as if the bridge were a target of the accesses, (ii) buffers a transaction between the first and second peripheral devices, (iii) after buffering the transaction, arbitrates for the primary peripheral bus, and (iv) after arbitrating for the primary peripheral bus, places the transaction back out on the primary peripheral bus.