Patent ID: 7315909

Claim:
An arbitration method for a data transfer device in an architecture that includes n functional blocks, access to a resource by said functional blocks being regulated by an arbitration block, the method comprising: exchanging information from a first one of said functional blocks via high level primitives defining particular commands selected from a subset of commands, and generating in response to said high level primitives a first critical rank vector that includes first and second components that are numerical values; exchanging information from a second one of said functional blocks via high level primitives defining particular commands selected from a subset of commands, and generating in response to said high level primitives a second critical rank vector that includes first and second components that are numerical values; receiving the critical rank vectors generated and applying an arbitration mechanism to at least one of the components of the critical rank vectors to uniquely identify the block accessing said resource; and performing an adaptation function acting at least on one of said critical rank vector components.