Patent ID: 6529984
Filing Date: 2003-03-04
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method of arbitrating on a bus coupling together a plurality of nodes and having two arbitration phases comprising:(a) selecting a current bus owner, the current arbitration phase being either of the two phases; (b) the current bus owner resulting from (a) receiving any one or more of the following: a request from a node to be the bus owner when the bus changes to the opposite phase from the current phase, a request from a node to be the bus owner for the bus in its current phase, and an idle message from a node not requesting to be the bus owner and including an indication of which phase the node has determined to be the current phase; (c) changing the phase of the bus when all of the requests and idle messages received in (b) by the current bus owner include only requests from a node to be the bus owner when the bus changes to the opposite phase from the current phase and idle messages including an indication that the nodes sending the idle messages have all correctly determined the arbitration phase of the bus.